There is, then, the strongest evidence against his insanity. But a sane man of course he could not have been, if the statements made in these depositions are true.

But they manifestly are untrue. The whole account is a tale devised-but not cunningly.

"What," I again ask, "could have caused my brother to commence this retrograde march ?” The same cause that, I believe, led to his deaththe treachery of his half-breed companions.

I have alluded to the evil passions of this race, and to the hostility which they had previously exhibited towards my brother. One of the most dangerous of this class was John Bird; the others I believe to have been mere puppets in his hands. Bird was the son of an old officer of the Company. He had received some education and instruction from his father; but was nourished and brought up in all the fierce excitement of a prairie life.

The secret of the north-west passage, which Bird and his fellows conceived to be exclusively contained in the papers carried by my brother, was one which he believed to be worth a large sum. In the statement of Bruce we have an

allusion to the papers. It never could have been supposed by my brother, had not the suspicion been raised in his mind by something

dropped by his companions, that the possession of his papers would be an object sufficient to induce his murder. He, of course, knew well that the possession of his papers could not be of the slightest value to his companions. How then can we account for his asking Legros "if it was not intended to murder him for his papers?" Clearly the suggestion must, originally, have come through themselves.

I believe that class animosity, joined to a desire of enriching himself, as he thought he should do, by possessing himself of the secret of the north-west passage, led Bird to plan my brother's murder.

That my brother discovered the plot at River Chienne, and that he feigned sickness, as a pretence for turning back from thence.

There is positive evidence in the map, that two days, the 13th and 14th, were occupied in this retrograde movement,-days and nights passed in mutual watchings and suspicions; and, finally, that in the night of the 14th Bird and Legros were shot by my brother in self-defence; his own life being either sacrificed at the same time, or desperate wounds inflicted upon him.

The story of a report being heard as the party approached in the morning-of a ball whistling over their heads-and their subsequent firing at

the encampment, are sheer inventions-they are evidently inconsistent and improbable, and the statements made by Logan and Flett, in regard to the position of his body, are directly contradictory. They found him either dead, or wounded, and dispatched him.

Such is my belief of the true circumstances of this sad tragedy, arrived at after a very minute examination of all the details given,—a belief which I think none of my readers will consider ill-founded.

His remains, after lying for some months at the scene of death were removed to Red River colony, and now repose in its churchyard.

He perished a fortnight before he had completed his thirty-second year.

My brother's stature was rather under the middle size, his height being only five feet five and a half inches, but he was broad-shouldered, and strongly limbed-with, however, much symmetry of figure.

His face was round and full, and its expression was open and engaging; brown hair clustered in thick curls* over a brow of massive breadth

After his arduous labours in Arctic discovery, "grey did somewhat mingle with his brown." This was the only alteration in his appearance, caused by three years' physical fatigues and mental anxieties, such as have seldom if ever been surpassed.

The eyes were small, and had a merry twinkle, giving an air of laughing cheerfulness to the upper part of his countenance; while, in striking contrast, the expression of the mouth was that of stern decision.

Of his character I need say little. It may well be judged by his actions, and by the extracts which I have given from his confidential correspondence. He was brave, judicious, enthusiastic, and persevering; while his love and affection to his relatives were indeed "such as the world, as it goes, knows little of."

He won for himself, under very trying and discouraging circumstances, the highest distinction that could be achieved in the field of Arctic discovery. After achieving it he unhappily and prematurely perished.

"Ex pede Herculem!" He possessed qualities, which, had his lot been cast in a more genial sphere of action, would have raised him to useful eminence, which, in any rank of life, would have made him beloved and respected.

CHAPTER XIX.

The Rewards of Service.-The Author's Correspondence with Sir Robert Peel, Bart.-Sir John Barrow, Bart.-The Hudson's Bay Company.-Sir George Simpson.

As already stated, the intelligence of my brother's death reached me at the Sandwich Islands in January 1841: I at once took shipping and landed in England in the month of May.

His narrative of the expedition, which I was well aware he had carefully prepared before leaving Fort Simpson, I found was not yet received from the American officer, at "Lac qui parle," into whose hands it had been delivered by the survivors of the party, Regarding this narrative I felt much anxiety, as its publication was now the only further evidence that could be given of my brother's merits and services. But I found to my surprise that an arrangement had been made for its temporary suppression, and ultimate embodiment in a work proposed to be compiled by another at some future time. *

*This contemplated arrangement was intimated in a letter