A BAND OF OUTLAWS IN CANADA.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1867, 2 October 1874, Page 3

A BAND OF OUTLAWS IN CANADA.

Canada is at this moment vexed with a Cave of Adullum of her own, which ig likely to yield her no small annoyance and trouble. TowarJs the west of the vast Dominion, southward from Mackenzie Bay down to the Montana Territory, rung the giant range of the Bocky Mountains, cutting off British Columbia from Canada proper. Upon British soil, at the foot of these natural fortresses, where Canada on the north and the United States on the south march together, and where the huge masses of primeval granite divide New Georgia on the west from Saskatchewan on the east, a band of as pestilent rascals as ever infested the borders of civilisation have taken up their head-quarters, and have for some years put the executive of; the Dominion at deliberate defiance. Humour asserts them to be about 500 strong, and of every nationality under Heaven. Mexican rowdies, desperadoes from Colorado and Nevado, wild men from Oregon, deserters from the .Federal army, escaped convicts, half-castes, and a few native Indians—such is the heterogeneous material of which this little bandof Ishmaelites is composed ; and here, amid the almost inaccessible mountain fastnesses, they have built themselves a, strong fort, and openly avowed tlieir intention to hold their own against all 'comers. Their main business appears to be the illicit distillation of whisky, which they barter with the native Indians for skins, and so drive a roaring and most lucrative trade, theprofitsof which might tempt even New York itself. For wives and companions in their solitude they have Indian women, procured either by purchase or violence; and beyond the trouble of attending to their still—which' sits upon them as lightly as does the charge of their Chartreuse factory upon the Trappist monks of the old Abbey in the Alps—they know neither care nor responsibility, and acknowledge fealty to ' no flag. The profits of their nefarious trade have enabled them to arm themselves to the teeth with revolvers, breechloaders, and repeating rifles of the most approved and latest patterns; and some few months ago, by a daringly conceived and well-executed raid, they surprised a detachment of United States troops in an isolated fort, and carried off a large stand of Spencer carbines and six pieces of field artillery. These last are now mounted in. position iu the mountain fastness, and as several members of the gang are deserters from tho Federal army, and skilled in artillery drill, the fortress's strength is' one which can well affjrd to laugh an ordinary siege to scorn; while, even should tho assault be successful, the desperadoes have a secure retreat amongst the beetling crags that tower over their heads, and of tvhich they know by heart every peak and pass. Meanwhile, we are glad to learn the position of the Adullamites is threatened. The Government of the Dominion is resolved to put them down with a high hand, and has despatched against them a force of mounted cavalry, 300 strong, under the command of Colonel French, of the English Eoyal Artillery, and . equipped with two nine-pounder Armstrong fieldpieces. The invading army lias to traverse 800 miles of territory, and it is calculated that it will take it six weeks or a month at least to reach the bandits' stronghold. There a wild and reckless resistance is expected. The majority of the desperadoes are escaped convicts, and will fight with halters round their necks. Their numerical strength as matched against that of their opponents is as five to three, and the position of the beleaguered fortress will give the besieged a considerable advantage. There is, of. course, the possibility tliat, as the regulars close in upon tliem, tho baudits may. . disperse, leaving their still and surplus store of whisky behind them as loot for the invaders. But the chance of such a result is considered to be very small.