"While the gentlemen's love lives were never shown in journals, the men's, if they were noteworthy, were sometimes sketched in lightly. Certainly Raymond's was noteworthy, being no less than a Fort Simpson version of Romeo and Juliet. You will remember Raymond, the blacksmith, who was accident prone. The worst accident that overtook him was falling in love. It happened to him in the fall of 1839 when he was innocently engaged in the project of making tin porringers for the trade. "Raymond's love was a girl in the Tongass camp. Alas, she had a husband so that neither the fort nor the Indians would sanction the match. The lovers met by Fort Simpson as it was night and that was not easy since locked gates and high pickets separated them. Raymond reached the trysting place by wriggling through one of the drains that had been dug to carry rainfall under the stockade. Before daylight he wriggled back inside." A Pour of Rain Meilleur's work was resurrected, recognized as a lost classic of Canadian history. Raincoast Books decided to reissue A Pour of Rain. This new edition has been modified with language that is more culturally sensitive as much of the material deals with the native peoples of the area. It also includes a brief update of the status of Port Simpson, now called Kw'alaams, and a stimulating foreword by well-known journalist Stephen Hume who refers to Meilleur's "eloquent, beautifully modulated literary voice" and calls A Pour of Rain " a document of great importance to British Columbians." Meilleur is delighted with the latest edition of A Pour of Rain and the fact that it will be out in time for Christmas. She still feels passionate about the material she spent so many years gathering and hopes that it will find Its way into the high schools and colleges. She says, "I'd like the people of British Columbia to know that we had a colourful past that wasn't just a political history." A Pour of Rain, $24.95, will be published by Raincoast Books in November. Robert Held Glass Made in Vancouver 'Earth, 'Wootf, (jjfour, f i x t u r e Jor 'Home, tTjody Spirit 3080 Edgemont Blvd., North Vancouver, BC (604) 986-4863 Monday 10:00 - 4:00, Tuesday - Saturday 9:30 - 5:30 November | December