UP THE GREAT RIVER 7

After Colman had been buried in a grave by the
side of the beautiful sheet of water which he had
known for so short a time, the Half Moon worked
her way cautiously from the Lower Bay through
the Narrows to the inner harbor and reached the
tip of the island which stands at its head. What is
now a bewildering mass of towers and palaces of
industry, looking down upon a far-extended fleet of
steam and sailing vessels, was then a point, wooded
to the water's edge, with a scattered Indian village
nestling among the trees.

A Moravian missionary, writing at the beginning
of the nineteenth century, set down an account
from the red man's point of view of the arrival of
the Half Moon. This account he claimed to have
received from old Indians who held it as part of
their tribal traditions. As such it is worth noting
and quoting, although as history it is of more than
doubtful authenticity. The tradition runs that the
chiefs of the different tribes on sighting the Half
Moon supposed it to be a supernatural visitor and
assembled on " York Island " to deliberate on the
manner in which they should receive this Manito
on his arrival. Plenty of meat was provided for
a sacrifice, a grand dance was arranged, and the
medicine-men were set to work to determine the