Of the bravery of the Lake of the Woods Ojibbeway I did not form a very high estimate.  Two instances related to me by Mr. Macpherson will suffice to show that opinion to have been well founded.  Since the days when the Bird of Ages dwelt on the Coteau-des-Prairies the Ojibbeway and the Sioux have warred against each other; but as the Ojibbeway dwelt chiefly in the woods and the Sioux are denizens of the great plains, the actual war carried on between them has not beena unusually destructive.  The Ojibbeways dislike to go far into the open plains; the Sioux hesitate to pierce the dark depths of the forest, and the war is generally confined to the border land, where the forest begins to merge into the plains.  Every now and again, however, it becomes necessary to go through the form of a war-party, and the young men depart upon the war-path against their hereditary enemies.  To kill a Sioux and take his scalp then becomes the great object of existence.  Fortunate is the brave who can return to the camp bearing with him the coveted trophy.  Far and near spreads the glorious news that a Sioux scalp has been taken, and for many a night the camps are noisy with the shouts and revels of the scalp dance from Winnipeg to Rainy Lake.  It matters little whether it be the scalp of a man, a woman, or a child; provided it be a scalp it is all right.  There is the record of the two last war-paths from the Lake of the Woods.

Thirty Ojibbeways set out one fine day for the plains to war against the Sioux, they followed the line of the Rosseaui river, and soon emerged from the forest.  Before them lay a camp of Sioux.  The thirty braves, hidden in the thickets, looked at the camp of their enemies; but the more they looked the less they liked it.  They called a council of deliberation; it was unanimously resolved to retire to the Lake of the Woods:  but surely they must bring back a scalp, the women would laugh at them!  What was to be done?  At length the difficulty was solved.  Close by there was a newly-made grave, a squaw had died and been buried.  Excellent idea; one scalp was as good as another.  So the braves dug up the buried squaw-, took the scalp, and departed for Rat Portage.  There was a great dance, and it was decided that each and every one of the thirty Ojibbeways deserved well of his nation.

But the second instance is still more revolting.  A very brave Indian departed alone from the Lake of the Woods to war against the Sioux; he wandered about, hiding in the thickets by day and coming forth at night.  One evening, being nearly starved, he saw the smoke of a wigwam; he went towards it, and found that it was inhabited only by women and children, of whom there were four altogether.  He went up and asked for food; they invited him to enter the lodge; they set before him the best food they had got, and they laid a buffalo robe for his bed in the warmest corner of the wigwam.  When night came, all slept; when midnight came the Ojibbeway quietly arose from his couch, killed the two women, killed the two children, and departed for the Lake of the Woods with four scalps.  Oh, he was a very brave Indian, and his name went far through the forest!  I know somebody who would have gone very far to see him hanged.