or FUR, in Commerce, signifies the skin of several wild beasts, dressed in alum with the hair on; and used as a part of drefs, by princes, magistrates, and others. The kinds most in ule are those of the ermine, fable, caftor, hare, rabbit, &c. See MUSTELA.

It was not till the later ages that the furs of beasts became an article of luxury. The more refined nations of ancient times never made ule of them; thoſe alone whom the former fligmatized as barbarians were clothed in the skins of animals. Strabo describes the Indians covered with the skins of lions, panthers, and bears; and Seneca, the Scythians clothed with the skins of foxes and the leffer quadrupeds. Virgil exhibits a picture of the savage Hyperboreans, familiar to that which our late circumnavigators can witness to in the clothing of the wild Americans, unfeen before by any polished people.

Gens effrenae virum Riphæo tunditur Euro; Et pecudum fulvis velantur corpora setis.

Most part of Europe was at this time in fimilar circumstances. Caesar might be as much amazed with the skin-dressed heroes of Britain, as our celebrated Cook was at thoſe of his new-discovered regions. What time has done to us, time, under humane conquerors, may effect for them. Civilization may take place; and thoſe spoils of animals, which are at prefent eſsential for clothing, become the mere objects of ornament and luxury.

It does not appear that the Greeks or old Romans ever made ule of furs. It originated in thoſe regions where they moft abounded, and where the severity of the climate required that species of clothing. At firft it consisted of the skins only, almost in the state in which they were torn from the body of the beast; but as soon as civilization took place, and manufactures were introduced, furs became the lining of the drefs, and often the elegant facing of the robes. It is probable that the northern conquerors introduced the fashion into Europe. We find, that about the year 522, when Totila king of the Vifigoths reigned in Italy, the Suehtons (a people of modern Sweden), found means, by help of the commerce of numberless intervening people, to transmit, for the ule of the Romans, saphilinas pelles, the precious skins of the sables. As luxury advanced, furs, even of the moft valuable species, species, were used by princes as linings for their tents: thus Marco Polo, in 1252, found those of the Cham of Tartary lined with ermines and sables. He calls the last zibelines and xambolineet. He says that those and other precious furs were brought from countries far north; from the land of Darkness, and regions almost inaccessible by reason of morasses and ice. The Welsh set a high value on furs as early as the time of Howell Dda, who began his reign about 940. In the next age, furs became the fashionable magnificence of Europe. When Godfrey of Boulogne and his followers appeared before the emperor Alexis Comnenus, on their way to the Holy Land, he was struck with the richness of their dressles, tam ex offro quam aurifrigio et niveo operé harmelino et ex mardrino gristroque et vario. How different was the advance of luxury in France from the time of their great monarch Charlemagne, who contented himself with the plain fur of the otter! Our Henry I. wore furs; yet in his distress was obliged to change them for warm Welsh flannel. But in the year 1337 the luxury had got to such a head, that Edward III. enacted, that all persons who could not spend a hundred a-year should absolutely be prohibited the use of this species of finery. These, from their great expense, must have been foreign furs, obtained from the Italian commercial states, whose traffic was at this period boundless. How strange is the revolution in the fur-trade! The north of Asia at that time supplied us with every valuable kind; at present we send, by means of the possession of Hudson's Bay, furs, to immense amount, even to Turkey and the distant China.

History of the FUR Trade.—During Captain Cook's last voyage to the Pacific ocean, besides the various scientific advantages which were derived from it, a new source of wealth was laid open to future navigators, by trading for furs of the most valuable kind on the north-west coast of America. The first vessel which engaged in the new branch of trade pointed out by that great navigator, was equipped by some gentlemen in China. She was a brig of 60 tons and 20 men, commanded by James Hanna. She sailed from the Typa the end of April 1785; proceeded to the northward, along the coast of China; passed through Diemen's straits, the south end of Japan; and arrived at Nootka in August following. Soon after her arrival, the natives, whom Captain Cook had left unacquainted with the effect of fire-arms, tempted probably by the diminutive size of the vessel (farce longer than some of their own canoes) and the small number of her people, attempted to board her in open day; but were repulsed with considerable slaughter. This was the introduction to a firm and lasting friendship. Captain Hanna cured such of the Indians as were wounded; an unreveled confidence took place; they traded fairly and peaceably; a valuable cargo of furs was procured; and the bad weather setting in, he left the coast in the end of September, touched at the Sandwich islands, and arrived at Macao the end of December of the same year.

Captain Hanna failed again from Macao in May 1786, in the snow Sea-Otter of 100 tons and 30 men, and returned to Macao in February 1787. In this second voyage he followed his former track, and arrived at Nootka in August; traced the coast from thence as far as 53 degrees, and explored the extensive found discovered a short time before by Mr Strange, and called by him Queen Charlotte's found, the latitude of which is 51 degrees north, longitude 128 west.

The snow Lark, Captain Peters, of 220 tons and 40 men, sailed from Macao in July 1786. Her destination was Kamtschatka (for which she was provided with a suitable cargo of arrack, tea, &c.), Copper islands, and the N. W. coast. Captain Peters was directed to make his passage between Japan and Korea, and examine the islands to the north of Japan, said to be inhabited by hairy people; which, if Captain Cook had lived, would not have been left to the French to determine. No account having been received of this vessel since her departure, there is every reason to fear she has perished.

In the beginning of 1786, two coppered vessels were fitted out at Bombay, under the direction of James Strange, Esq. who was himself a principal owner. These vessels were, the snow Captain Cook of 300 tons, and now Experiment of 100 tons. They proceeded in company from the Malabar coast to Batavia; passed through the straits of Macassar, where the Experiment was run upon a reef, and was obliged to haul ashore upon Borneo to repair; from thence they steered to the eastward of the Palos islands; made Sulphur island; and arrived at Nootka the end of June following. From Nootka, where they left their surgeon's mate (Mackay) to learn the language and collect skins against their intended return (but who was brought away in the Imperial Eagle the following year), they proceeded along the coast to Queen Charlotte's found, of which they were the first discoverers; from thence in a direct course to Prince William's found. After some stay there, the Experiment proceeded to Macao (their vessels being provided with passes by the governor-general of Goa): the Captain Cook endeavoured to get to Copper island, but without success, being prevented by constant west winds.

Two coppered vessels were also fitted out by a society of gentlemen in Bengal, viz. the snow Nootka of 200 tons, and the snow Sea Otter of 100 tons, commanded by John Meares and William Tipping, lieutenants in the royal navy. The Nootka failed in March 1786 from Bengal; came through the China seas; touched at the Bafnees, where they were very civilly treated by the Spaniards, who have taken possession of these islands; arrived at Oonaalashka the beginning of August; found there a Russian galliot and some furriers; discovered accidentally near Cape Grevelle a new strait near Cook's river, 15 leagues wide and 30 long; saw some Russian hunters in a small bay between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Bear; and arrived in Prince William's found the end of September. They determined wintering in Snug Corner Cove, lat. 60. 30. in preference to going to the Sandwich islands, which seem placed by Providence for the comfort and refreshment of the adventurers in this trade, and were frozen up in this gloomy and frightful spot from the end of November to the end of May. By the severity of the winter, they lost their third and fourth mates, surgeon, boatswain, carpenter, and cooper, and twelve of the fore-mast-men; and the remainder were so enfeebled as to be under the necessity of applying ing to the commanders of the King George and Queen Charlotte, who just at this time arrived in the sound, for some hands to assist in carrying the vessel to the Sandwich islands, where, giving over all further thoughts of trade, they determined (after getting a sea-flock of fift off Cape Edgecumbe) immediately to proceed. The Nootka arrived at Macao the end of October 1787.

The Imperial Eagle, Captain Barkley, fitted out by a society of gentlemen at Ostend, sailed from Ostend the latter end of November 1786; went into the bay of All Saints; from thence, without touching anywhere, to the Sandwich islands, and arrived at Nootka the beginning of June; from thence to the south, as far as 47° 30', in which space he discovered some good and spacious harbours. In the lat. of 47° 46', lost his second mate, purser, and two seamen, who were upon a trading party with the long-boat, and imprudently trusting themselves ashore unarmed, were cut off by the natives. This place seems to be the same that Don Antonio Mourelle calls the Ilha de los Dolores, where the Spaniards going ashore to water, were also attacked and cut off.

The King George of 320, and the Queen Charlotte of 200 tons, commanded by Captains Portlock and Dixon, who served under Captain Cook in his last voyage, were fitted out by a society of gentlemen in England, who obtained a privilege to trade to the north-west coast of America, from the South Sea and East India companies.

These vessels failed from England the beginning of September 1785; touched at the Falkland islands, Sandwich islands, and arrived at Cook's river in the month of August. From thence, after collecting a few furs, they steered in the end of September for Prince William's sound, intending, it is said, to winter there; but were prevented entering by heavy storms and extreme bad weather, which obliged them to bear away, and seek some other part of the coast to winter at. The storms and bad weather accompanied them till they arrived off Nootka sound, when they were so near the shore, that a canoe came off to them: but though thus near accomplishing their purpose, a fresh storm came on, and obliged them finally to bear away for the Sandwich islands, where they remained the winter months; and returning again to the coast, arrived in Prince William's sound the middle of May. The King George remained in Prince William's sound; and during her stay, her long-boat discovered a new passage from the sound into Cook's river. The Queen Charlotte proceeded along the coast to the south; looked into Behring's bay, where the Russians have now a settlement; examined that part of the coast from 56° to 58°, which was not seen by Captain Cook, and which consists of a cluster of islands, called by Captain Dixon Queen Charlotte's Islands, at a considerable distance from the main, which is thus removed farther to the eastward than it was supposed to be: some part of the continent may, however, be seen from the east side of these islands; and it is probable the distance does not anywhere exceed 50 leagues. On this estimation, Hudson's House, lat. 53°, long. 166° 27' west, will not be more than 800 miles distant from that part of this coast in the same parallel. It is therefore not improbable, that the enterprising spirit of our Canadian furriers may penetrate to this coast (the communication with which is probably much facilitated by lakes or rivers), and add to the comforts and luxuries of Europe this invaluable fur, which in warmth, beauty, and magnificence, far exceeds the richest furs of Siberia. Queen Charlotte's islands are inhabited by a race of people differing in language, features, and manners, from all the other tribes of this coast. Among other peculiarities, they are distinguished by a large incision in the under lip, in which is inserted a piece of polished wood, sometimes ornamented with mother of pearl shell, in shape and size like a weaver's shuttle, which undoubtedly is the most effectual mode of deforming the human face divine that the ingenious depravity of taste of any savage nation has yet discovered. These ships, after disposing of their furs in China, were loaded with teas on account of the English company, sailed from Wampoa, and arrived in England, after an absence of three years.

The year after the departure of the King George and Queen Charlotte, the same society to which they belonged fitted out two other vessels, viz, the Prince's Royal of 60 tons, and the Prince of Wales of 200 tons, commanded by Captains Colnet and Duncan, the former of whom had served under Captain Cook. These vessels left England in August 1786; touched at New Year's harbour on Staten Land, where they left an officer and 12 men to kill seals against the arrival of a vessel which was to follow them from England; from thence they proceeded directly to Nootka, where they arrived the 6th of July, sickly and in bad condition, and found here the Imperial Eagle, which had left Europe some months after them. Leaving Nootka, they steered along the shore to the northward, and soon after fell in with the Queen Charlotte.

In the beginning of 1788, Captain Mears sailed again with two other vessels, the Felice, which he commanded himself, and the Iphigenia, Captain Douglas, to Nootka sound. Here he purchased of the chief of the district a spot, on which he built a house for his residence and more convenient intercourse with the natives, hoisting the British colours thereon, surrounding it with a breast-work, and mounting a three pounder on the front. Having so done, he sent Mr Douglas in the Iphigenia to trade along the northern coast, while he himself proceeded to the south; and by presents to the chiefs obtained the ports Cox and Effingham, and the promise of an exclusive trade with the natives of the district, and also some other places, which he took possession of in the name of the king. Captain Douglas likewise, by presents to the chiefs of the countries he visited, obtained similar privileges, no other European vessel having sailed there before him.

On their return to Nootka, they found a vessel finished which the commander had laid down before his departure. This, which he named the North West America, he left at Nootka with the Iphigenia, while he failed with a cargo of furs in the Felice to China.

A few days after his arrival at China, two vessels, the Prince of Wales and Prince's Royal, came to Canton from their trading voyage above mentioned. Captain Mears, fearing a competition of interests might be injurious to both parties, proposed a copartnership, which was mutually agreed to; and another ship was purchased by the firm, and called the Argonaut. In the month of April 1787, Captain Mears gave Mr Colnet the command of the Prince's Royal and Argonaut, which were loaded with stores and articles estimated sufficient for three years trade, besides several artificers, and near 70 Chinese, who intended to become settlers on the north-west coast of America, under protection of the new company.

In the mean while, the Iphigenia, and North-West America (the vessel built at Nootka) having wintered, in Sandwich islands, returned to Nootka in the latter end of April. Soon after which, two Spanish ships of war, under the command of Don Martinez, anchored in the sound. For a few days mutual civilities passed between the Spanish captain and Mr Douglas; but at the end of about a week, Don Martinez summoned the latter on board his own ship the Princessa, telling him he was his prisoner, and that the king of Spain had commanded him, Don Martinez, to seize all vessels he should find on that coast. He therefore instructed his officers to take possession of the Iphigenia, which they accordingly did in the name of his Catholic majesty; and the officers and crew were conveyed as prisoners on board the Spanish ships, where they were put in irons, and otherwise ill treated. Immediately after this, Don Martinez took possession of the little settlement, hoisting the standard of Spain, and modestly declaring all the lands from Cape Horn to 65 degrees north latitude belonged to his master. To aggravate the insult, he forcibly employed the crew of the Iphigenia in building batteries, &c. and offered no kind of violence to two American vessels that were at the same time in the harbour. At this time the North-West America was sent to explore the Archipelago of St Lazarus. On her return to Nootka, she met with a similar treatment, and the skins she had collected were seized, with the rest of her cargo.

A few days after the Prince's Royal (which we have mentioned as leaving Canton in company with the Argonaut) arrived. The Spanish commander, for reasons that do not appear, suffered her to depart. The skins collected by the North-West America were shipped on board her for the benefit of her owner, and she proceeded to trade in the neighbouring islands. On the 3d of July, the Argonaut arrived at the sound; and Don Martinez, after making every profession of civility to Mr Colnet the commander, took possession of the said ship in the name of his master, and made prisoners of the crew. Soon after, the Prince's Royal returning to receive instructions from Mr Colnet, director of the enterprise, was seized by the Spanish captain.

The crews of the British vessels were differently disposed of; some sent to China by the American vessels, and others to Spanish America: but the Chinese were all detained, and employed in the mines which were opened on the lands purchased by Captain Mears. What these mines consisted of, we are nowhere informed. Mr Colnet was so much affected at the failure of the enterprise, as to be deprived of reason.

This, as soon as known, occasioned a spirited representation from the British court to that of Spain; at the same time that vigorous preparations were made for war in case adequate satisfaction should be refused.

Matters, however, were prevented from coming to extremities, by a compliance on the part of Spain, after many delays and much artifice of negotiation, with the requisitions of Britain: in consequence of which, among other advantages unnecessary to be here recited, the whole trade from California to China is completely laid open; and the British allowed the full exercise of navigation and commerce in those parts of the world which were the subject of discussion.

In some accounts of the voyages above mentioned, the fur trade in those parts has been greatly magnified. In that published by Captain Portlock, however, this officer observes, that the gains hitherto have certainly not been enviably great; though the merchants have no doubt found the trade lucrative.

History of the Fur Trade from Canada to the North-west.—The following account of this trade is extracted from Mr Mackenzie's Narrative of his voyages and Travels from Montreal, through the North-west Continent of America, and to the Pacific ocean.

"The fur trade, he says, from the earliest settlement of Canada, was considered of the first importance to that colony. The country was then so populous, that, in the vicinity of the establishments, the animals whose skins were precious, in a commercial view, soon became very scarce, if not altogether extinct. They were, it is true, hunted at former periods, but merely for food and clothing. The Indians, therefore, to procure the necessary supply, were encouraged to penetrate into the country, and were generally accompanied by some of the Canadians, who found means to induce the remote tribes of natives to bring the skins which were most in demand, to their settlements, in the way of trade.

"It is not necessary for me to examine the cause, but experience proves that it requires much less time for a civilized people to deviate into the manners and customs of savage life, than for savages to rise into a state of civilization. Such was the event with those who thus accompanied the natives on their hunting and trading excursions; for they became so attached to the Indian mode of life, that they lost all relish for their former habits and native homes. Hence they derived the title of Coureurs des Bois, because a kind of pedlars, and were extremely useful to the merchants engaged in the fur trade; who gave them the necessary credit to proceed on their commercial undertakings. Three or four of these people would join their stock, put their property into a birch-bark canoe, which they worked themselves, and either accompanied the natives in their excursions, or went at once to the country where they knew they were to hunt. At length, these voyages extended to 12 or 15 months, when they returned with rich cargoes of furs, and followed by great numbers of the natives. During the short time requisite to settle their accounts with the merchants, and procure fresh credit, they generally contrived to squander away all their gains, when they returned to their favourite mode of life: their views being answered, and their labour sufficiently rewarded, by indulging themselves in extravagance and dissipation during the short space of one month in 12 or 15.

"The indifference about amassing property, and the pleasure of living free from all restraint, soon brought on a licentiousness of manners which could not long escape the vigilant observation of the missionaries, who had much reason to complain of their being a disgrace to the Christian religion; by not only swerving from its duties themselves, but by thus bringing it into disrepute with those of the natives who had become converts to it; and, consequently, obstructing the great object to which those pious men had devoted their lives. They, therefore, exerted their influence to procure the suppression of these people, and accordingly, no one was allowed to go up the country to traffic with the Indians, without a licence from the government.

"At length, military posts were established at the confluence of the different large lakes of Canada, which, in a great measure, checked evil consequences that followed from the improper conduct of these foresters, and, at the same time, protected the trade. Besides, a number of able and respectable men retired from the army, prosecuted the trade in person, under their respective licences, with great order and regularity, and extended it to such a distance, as, in those days, was considered to be an astonishing effort of commercial enterprise. These persons and the missionaries having combined their views at the same time, secured the respect of the natives, and the obedience of the people necessarily employed in the laborious parts of this undertaking. These gentlemen denominated themselves commanders, and not traders, though they were entitled to both those characters: and, as for the missionaries, if sufferings and hardships in the prosecution of the great work which they had undertaken, deserved applause and admiration, they had an undoubted claim to be admired and applauded: they spared no labour and avoided no danger in the execution of their important office; and it is to be seriously lamented, that their pious endeavours did not meet with the success which they deserved: for there is hardly a trace to be found, beyond the cultivated parts, of their meritorious functions.

"This cause of the failure must be attributed to a want of due consideration in the mode employed by the missionaries to propagate the religion of which they were the zealous ministers. They habituated themselves to the savage life, and naturalized themselves to the savage manners, and, by thus becoming dependant, as it were, on the natives, they acquired their contempt rather than their veneration. If they had been as well acquired with human nature, as they were with the articles of their faith, they would have known, that the uncultivated mind of an Indian must be disposed by much preparatory method and instruction to receive the revealed truths of Christianity, to act under its sanctions, and be impelled to good by the hope of its rewards, or turned from evil by the fear of its punishments. They should have begun their work by teaching some of those useful arts which are the inlets of knowledge, and lead the mind by degrees to objects of higher comprehension. Agriculture so formed, to fix and combine society, and so preparatory to objects of superior consideration, should have been the first thing introduced among a savage people: it attaches the wandering tribe to that spot where it adds so much to their comforts; while it gives them a sense of property, and of lasting possession, instead of the uncertain hopes of the chase, and the fugitive produce of uncultivated wilds. Such were the means by which the forests of Paraguay were converted into a scene of abundant cultivation, and its savage inhabitants introduced to all the advantages of a civilized life.

"The Canadian missionaries should have been contented to improve the morals of their own countrymen, so that by meliorating their character and conduct, they would have given a striking example of the effect of religion in promoting the comforts of life to the surrounding savages; and might by degrees have extended its benign influence to the remotest region of that country, which was the object, and intended to be the scene, of their evangelic labours. But by bearing the light of the gospel at once to the distance of 2500 miles from the civilized part of the colonies, it was soon obscured by the cloud of ignorance that darkened the human mind in those distant regions.

"The whole of their long route I have often travelled, and the recollection of such a people as the missionaries having been there, was confined to a few superannuated Canadians, who had not left that country since the cession to the English, in 1763, and who particularly mentioned the death of some, and the distressing situation of them all. But if these religious men did not attain the objects of their persevering piety, they were, during their mission, of great service to the commanders who engaged in those distant expeditions, and spread the fur trade as far west as the bank of the Saskatchewan river, in 53° north latitude, and longitude 102° west.

"At an early period of their intercourse with the savages, a custom was introduced of a very excellent tendency, but is now unfortunately discontinued, of not selling any spirituous liquor to the natives. This admirable regulation was for some time observed, with all the respect due to the religion by which it was sanctioned, and whole several centuries followed the violation of it. A painful penance could alone restore the offender to the suspended rites of the sacrament. The casuality of trade, however, discovered a way to gratify the Indians with their favourite cordial, without incurring the ecclesiastical penalties, by giving, instead of selling it to them.

"But notwithstanding all the restrictions with which commerce was oppressed under the French government, the fur trade was extended to the immense distance which has been already stated; and surmounted many most discouraging difficulties, which will be hereafter noticed; while, at the same time, no exertions were made from Hudson's Bay to obtain even a share of the trade of a country which, according to the charter of that company, belonged to it, and, from its proximity, is so much more accessible to the mercantile adventurer.

"Of these trading commanders, I understood, that two attempted to penetrate to the Pacific ocean, but the utmost extent of their journey I could never learn; which may be attributed, indeed, to a failure of the undertaking.

"For some time after the conquest of Canada, this trade was suspended, which must have been very advantageous to the Hudson's Bay company, as all the inhabitants to the westward of Lake Superior were obliged to go to them for such articles as their habitual use had rendered necessary. Some of the Canadians who had lived long with them, and were become attached tached to a savage life, accompanied them thither annually, till mercantile adventurers again appeared from their own country, after an interval of several years, owing, I suppose, to an ignorance of the country in the conquerors, and their want of commercial confidence in the conquered. There were, indeed, other discouragements, such as the immense length of the journey necessary to reach the limits beyond which this commerce must begin; the risk of property; the expenses attending such a long transport; and an ignorance of the language of those who, from their experience, must be necessarily employed as the intermediate agents between them and the natives. But, notwithstanding these difficulties, the trade, by degrees, began to spread over different parts to which it had been carried by the French, though at a great risk of the lives, as well as the property, of their new possessors, for the natives had been taught by their former allies to entertain hostile dispositions towards the English, from their having been in alliance with their natural enemies the Iroquois; and there were not wanting a sufficient number of discontented, disappointed people to keep alive such a notion; so that for a long time they were considered and treated as objects of hostility. To prove this disposition of the Indians, we have only to refer to the conduct of Pontiac, at Detroit, and the surprising taking of Michilimakinac, about this period.

"Hence it arose, that it was so late as the year 1765, before which the trade I mean to consider commenced from Michilimakinac. The first who attempted it were satisfied to go the length of the river Camenitiquia, about 30 miles to the eastward of the Grande Portage, where the French had a principal establishment, and was the line of their communication with the interior country. It was once destroyed by fire. Here they went, and returned successful in the following spring to Michilimakinac. Their success induced them to renew their journey, and incited others to follow their example. Some of them remained at Camenitiquia, while others proceeded to and beyond the Grande Portage, which since that time has become the principal entrepot of that trade, and is situated in a bay, in latitude 48. north, and longitude 92. west. After passing the usual season there, they went back to Michilimakinac as before, and encouraged by the trade, returned in increased numbers. One of these, Thomas Curry, with a spirit of enterprise superior to that of his contemporaries, determined to penetrate to the furthest limits of the French discoveries in that country; or at least till the frost should stop him. For this purpose he procured guides and interpreters, who were acquainted with the country, and with four canoes arrived at Fort Bourbon, which was one of their posts, at the west end of the Cedar lake, on the waters of the Saskatchewan. His risk and toil were well recompensed, for he came back the following spring with his canoes filled with fine furs, with which he proceeded to Canada, and was satisfied never again to return to the Indian country.

"From this period people began to spread over every part of the country, particularly where the French had established settlements."*

After continuing the detail of the history of the trade for which we must refer to the work itself, Mr. MacKenzie proceeds to inform us of the concern which he himself had in it, when in the year 1785, he was assumed as a partner, on condition of going into the Indian country to take an active share in the business. After some struggles, from jealousy and rivalry, with another company who had been some time in the trade, a union between the two companies was formed. This happened in 1787, and the following is Mr. MacKenzie's account of its success, and of the extent and mode of conducting this trade.

"This commercial establishment, 'he proceeds,' was now founded on a more solid basis than any hitherto known in the country; and it not only continued in full force, vigour, and prosperity, in spite of all interference from Canada, but maintained at least an equal share of advantage with the Hudson's Bay Company, notwithstanding the superiority of their local situation. The following account of this self-erected concern will manifest the cause of its success.

"It assumed the title of the North-West Company, and was no more than an association of commercial men, agreeing among themselves to carry on the fur trade, unconnected with any other business, though many of the parties engaged had extensive concerns altogether foreign to it. It may be said to have been supported entirely upon credit; for, whether the capital belonged to the proprietor, or was borrowed, it equally bore interest, for which the allocation was annually accountable. It consisted of twenty shares, unequally divided among the persons concerned. Of these, a certain proportion was held by the people who managed the business in Canada, and were styled agents for the Company. Their duty was to import the necessary goods from England, store them at their own expense at Montreal, get them made up into the articles suited to the trade, pack and forward them, and supply the cash that might be wanting for the outfits; for which they received, independent of the profit on their shares, a commission on the amount of the accounts, which they were obliged to make out annually, and keep the adventure of each year distinct. Two of them went annually to the Grande Portage, to manage and transact the business there, and on the communication at Detroit, Michilimakinac, St Mary's, and Montreal, where they received furs, packed up, and shipped the company's furs for England, on which they had also a small commission. The remaining shares were held by the proprietors, who were obliged to winter and manage the business of the concern with the Indians, and their respective clerks, &c. They were not supposed to be under any obligation to furnish capital, or even credit. If they obtained any capital by the trade, it was to remain in the hands of the agents; for which they were allowed interest. Some of them, from their long services and influence, held double shares, and were allowed to retire from the business at any period of the existing concern, with one of those shares, naming any young man in the company's service to succeed him in the other. Seniority and merit were, however, considered as affording a claim to the succession, which, nevertheless, could not be disposed of without the concurrence of the majority of the concern; who, at the same time relieved the preceding person from any responsibility respecting the share that he transferred, and accounted for it according to the annual value or rate of the property; so that the feller could have no advantage but that of getting the the share of stock which he retained realised, and receiving for the transferred share what was fairly determined to be the worth of it. The former was also discharged from all duty, and became a dormant partner. Thus, all the young men who were not provided for at the beginning of the contract, succeeded in succession to the character and advantages of partners. They entered into the company's service for five or seven years, under such expectations, and their reasonable prospects were seldom disappointed: there were, indeed, instances when they succeeded to shares, before their apprenticeship was expired, and it frequently happened that they were provided for while they were in a state of articled clerkship. Shares were transferable only to the concern at large, as no person could be admitted as a partner who had not served his time to the trade. The dormant partner indeed might dispose of his interest to any one he chose, but if the transaction were not acknowledged by his associates, the purchaser could only be considered as his agent or attorney. Every share had a vote, and two-thirds formed a majority. This regular and equitable mode of providing for the clerks of the company, excited a spirit of emulation in the discharge of their various duties, and in fact, made every agent a principal, who perceived his own prosperity to be immediately connected with that of his employers. Indeed, without such a spirit, such a trade could not have become so extended and advantageous, as it has been and now is.

"In 1788, the gross amount of the adventure for the year did not exceed 40,000l.: but by the exertion, enterprise, and industry of the proprietors, it was brought in eleven years to triple that amount and upwards; yielding proportionate profits, and surpassing, in short, any thing known in America.

"Such, therefore, being the prosperous state of the company, it, very naturally, tempted others to interfere with the concern in a manner by no means beneficial to the company, and commonly ruinous to the undertakers.

"In 1793 the concern underwent a new form, the shares were increased to forty-fix, new partners being admitted, and others retiring. This period was the termination of the company, which was not renewed by all the parties concerned in it, the majority continuing to act upon the old stock, and under the old firm; the others beginning a new one; and it now remains to be decided, whether two parties, under the same regulations and by the same exertions, though unequal in number, can continue to carry on the business to a successful issue. The contrary opinion has been held, which, if verified, will make it the interest of the parties again to coalesce: for neither is deficient in capital to support their obstinacy in a losing trade, as it is not to be supposed that either will yield on any other terms than perpetual participation.

"It will not be superfluous in this place, to explain the general mode of carrying on the fur trade.

"The agents are obliged to order the necessary goods from England in the month of October, eighteen months before they can leave Montreal; that is, they are not shipped from London until the spring following, when they arrive in Canada in the summer. In the course of the following winter they are made up into such articles as are required for the savages; they are then packed into parcels of ninety pounds weight each, but cannot be sent from Montreal until the May following; so that they do not get to market until the ensuing winter, when they are exchanged for furs, which come to Montreal the next fall, and from thence are shipped, chiefly to London, where they are not sold or paid for before the succeeding spring, or even as late as June; which is forty-two months after the goods were ordered in Canada; thirty-fix after they had been shipped from England; and twenty-four after they had been forwarded from Montreal; so that the merchant, allowing that he has twelve months credit, does not receive a return to pay for those goods, and the necessary expenses attending them, which is about equal to the value of the goods themselves, till two years after they are considered as cash, which makes this a very heavy business. There is even a small proportion of it that requires twelve months longer to bring round the payment, owing to the immense distance it is carried, and from the shortness of the seasons, which prevent the furs, even after they are collected, from coming out of the country for that period (A).

"The articles necessary for this trade, are coarse woollen cloths of different kinds; milled blankets of different sizes; arms and ammunition; twift and carrot tobacco; Manchester goods; linens, and coarse sheetings; thread, lines, and twine; common hardware; cutlery and ironmongery of several descriptions; kettles of brass and copper, and sheet-iron; silk and cotton handkerchiefs; hats, shoes, and hose; calicoes and printed cottons, &c., &c. &c. Spirituous liquors and provisions are purchased in Canada. These, and the expense of transport to and from the Indian country, including wages to clerks, interpreters, guides, and canoe-men, with the expense of making up the goods for the

(A) "This will be better illustrated by the following statement:

<table> <tr> <th>Event</th> <th>Date</th> </tr> <tr> <td>We will suppose the goods for 1798;</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>The orders for the goods are lent to this country</td> <td>25th Oct. 1796.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>They are shipped from London</td> <td>March 1797.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>They arrive in Montreal</td> <td>June 1797.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>They are made up in the course of that summer and winter.</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>They are sent from Montreal</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>They arrive in the Indian country, and are exchanged for furs the following winter</td> <td>May 1798.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Which furs come to Montreal</td> <td>1798-9.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>And are shipped for London, where they are sold in March and April, and paid for in</td> <td>Sept. 1799.</td> </tr> <tr> <td>May or June</td> <td>1800.</td> </tr> </table> FUR

the market, form about half the annual amount against the adventure.

"This expenditure in Canada ultimately tends to the encouragement of British manufacture, for those who are employed in the different branches of this business, are enabled by their gains to purchase such British articles as they must otherwise forego.

"The produce of the year of which I am now speaking, consisted of the following furs and peltries:

106,000 Beaver skins, 2100 Bear skins, 1500 Fox skins, 4000 Kitt fox skins, 4000 Otter skins, 17,000 Mulqualh skins, 32,000 Marten skins, 1800 Mink skins, 500 Buffalo robes, and a quantity of castoreum.

6000 Lynx skins, 600 Wolverine skins, 1650 Fisher skins, 100 Raccoon skins, 3800 Wolf skins, 700 Elk skins, 750 Deer skins, 1200 Deer skins dressed,

"Of these were diverted from the British market, being sent through the United States to China, 13,364 skins, fine beaver, weighing 19,283 pounds; 1250 fine otters, and 1724 kitt foxes. They would have found their way to the China market at any rate, but this deviation from the British channel arose from the following circumstance:

"An adventure of this kind was undertaken by a respectable house in London, half concerned with the North-West Company in the year 1792. The furs were of the best kind, and suitable to the market; and the adventurers continued this connexion for five successive years, to the annual amount of 40,000l. At the winding up of the concern of 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, in the year 1797, (the adventure of 1796 not being included, as the furs were not sent to China, but disposed of in London), the North-West Company experienced a loss of upwards of 40,000l. (their half,) which was principally owing to the difficulty of getting home the produce procured in return for the furs from China, in the East India Company's ships, together with the duty payable, and the various restrictions of that company. Whereas, from America there are no impediments; they get immediately to market, and the produce of them is brought back, and perhaps sold in the course of twelve months. From such advantages the furs of Canada will no doubt find their way to China by America, which would not be the case if British subjects had the same privileges that are allowed to foreigners, as London would then be found the best and safest market.

"But to return to our principal subject.—We shall now proceed to consider the number of men employed in the concern: viz. 50 clerks, 71 interpreters and clerks, 1120 canoe men, and 35 guides. Of these, five clerks, 18 guides, and 350 canoe men, were employed for the summer season in going from Montreal to the Grande Portage, in canoes, part of whom proceeded from thence to Rainy Lake, as will be hereafter explained, and are called pork-eaters, or goers and comers. These were hired in Canada or Montreal, and were absent from the 1st of May till the latter end of September. For this trip the guides had from 800 to 1000 livres, and a suitable equipment; the foreman and fleersman from 400 to 600 livres; the middle men from 250 to 350 livres, with an equipment of one blanket, one shirt, and one pair of trowlers; and were maintained during that period at the expense of their employers. Independent of their wages, they were allowed to traffic, and many of them earned to the amount of their wages. About one-third of these went to winter, and had more than double the above wages, and equipment. All the others were hired by the year, and some times for three years; and of the clerks many were apprentices, who were generally engaged for five or seven years, for which they had only 100l. provision and clothing. Such of them who could not be provided for as partners, at the expiration of this time, were allowed from 100l. to 300l. per annum, with all necessaries, till provision was made for them. Those who acted in the twofold capacity of clerk and interpreter, or were so denominated, had no other expectation than the payment of wages to the amount from 1000 to 4000 livres per annum, with clothing and provisions. The guides, who are a very useful set of men, acted also in the additional capacity of interpreters, and had a stated quantity of goods, considered as sufficient for their wants, their wages being from 1000 to 3000 livres. The canoe men are of two descriptions, foremen and fleersmen, and middlemen. The two first were allowed annually 1200, and the latter 400, livres each. The first class had what is called an equipment, consisting of two blankets, two shirts, two pair of trowlers, two handkerchiefs, 14 pounds of tobacco, and some trifling articles. The latter had 10 pounds of tobacco, and all the other articles: those are called north men, or winterers; and to the last class of people were attached upwards of 700 Indian women and children, valued at the expense of the company.

"The first class of people are hired in Montreal five months before they set out, and receive their equipments, and one-third of their wages in advance; and an adequate idea of the labour they undergo may be formed from the following account of the country through which they pass, and their manner of proceeding.

"The necessary number of canoes being purchased, at about 300 livres each, the goods formed into packages, and the lakes and rivers free of ice, which they usually are in the beginning of May, they are then dispatched from La Chine, eight miles above Montreal, with eight or ten men in each canoe, and their baggage; and 65 packages of goods, 600 weight of biscuit, 200 weight of pork, three bushels of peafe, for the men's provision; two oil cloths to cover the goods, a sail, &c. an axe, a towing-line, a kettle, and a sponge to bail out the water, with a quantity of gum, bark, and watape, to repair the vessel. An European on seeing one of these flender vessels thus laden, heaped up, and sunk with her gunwale within fix inches of the water, would think his fate inevitable in such a boat, when he reflected on the nature of her voyage; but the Canadians are so expert that few accidents happen."