For some time after the conquest, the fur trade was in a great measure suspended, partly because the con querors were not sufficiently acquainted with the coun try, and with the language of the agents; and partly, because they were exposed to great personal hazard among the Indians, whom the French had inspired with the utmost hatred against the British. But these ob stacles were gradually surmounted; and a very keen competition was excited among the traders. This spirit of rivalry, however, gave rise to endless contests and innumerable irregularities; and, with the exception of a very few individuals, the agents in general conducted themselves in so imprudent and disorderly a manner, as to draw upon themselves the determined hostility of the Indians. A resolution was actually adopted by the principal tribes to free themselves from such trouble some neighbours, by a general massacre of the traders ; and they were prevented from putting their plhn into execution only by one of the most dreadful calamities, that could have befallen a people ; by the fatal ravages of the small-pox, which raged among them with the fury of a pestilence, spread itsbaneful influence with the rapidity of a conflagration, swept away whole tribes at once, and rendered immense tracts of country entireh desolate.
The country being thus depopulated, and the traders also reduced in number, the merchants in Canada formed a junction of interests in the year 1784, under the denomination of the North West Company; the traders forgot their animosities, and engaged with great spirit in the service of the new establishment; but it was not till the year 1799, when the demand for furs, as an article of dress, became more general, that the speculation was productive of much profit. The num ber of persons who hold shares in this company amounts to more than forty ; and the clerks, voyageurs, and In dians employed in their service are upwards of three thousand. The business in the north-west territory is conducted by young men in the service of the company, who are chiefly composed of adventurous young Scottish Highlanders, and who have under them a body of Ca nadians, hunters, and canoenien. These repair to the country of the Indians, and establish trading posts among them, frequently at so great a distance, that it requires more than one summer to send them the goods, with which they are to traffic, and to procure the furs, which they have collected. In these distant regions they re main for several years, subject to numberless privations, and subsisting in a great measure by hunting; while those who manage the concerns of the company, and who have the principal shares in the undertaking, gene • rally reside at Montreal. To these posts more than fifty canoes arc sent annually, loaded with merchandise, and navigated by nearly 1000 people. The persons,
employed for this purpose, styled voyageurs, arc a very peculiar set of mortals, of a most robust nature and thoughtless character, and said in these respects to bear a striking resemblance to British seamen. Though they know, that, for the space of 2000 miles, their exertions must be unremitting, and their living miserably poor, yet they pursue their tedious and toilsome occupation with the utmost cheerfulness. Sometimes they save their w ages, and, returning to their native parishes, spend the remainder of their days in the labours of agri culture; hut they generally acquire habits of dissipation, squander their gains as speedily as possible, and arc thus compelled to set out upon a new excursion.
In this trade, the capital, which is employed in goods alone, is said to exceed 100,0001. The goods are made up in packages, about 8011)3. each, for the Intrpose of being snore easily removed and carried, when the loaded canoe is not able to pass along the stream. The canoes in which these goods arc conveyed to such a distance, are exceedingly' light and frail, hut constructed with wonderful ingenuity. The frame is formed of thin slips of wood, covered with the bark of the birch tree, sewed together with the filaments of a particular root, and ren dered water-tight by a species of gum, which becomes very hard, and adheres very firmly. They are generally about thirty feet in length, and six in breadth, tapering to a point at each end, and rounded in the bottom, Is ith out any keel. Each of these carries from four to five tons ; and they are rowed along with paddles, instead of calm When they meet with kills and rapids in their progress, the canoe must be unloaded, and carried, with its cargo, to the next navigable water. On these occa sions, six men will carry one or the largest, and one man will bear four or live packages, about 80Ibs each, over a portage of several miles.
Another fur company has lately been established, un der the title of the South West Company, because they collect their furs chiefly from the south-west parts of America ; and they are sometimes called also the Michillimackinac Company, because they have an es tablishment in that quarter. The capital employed in these speculations is generally about three years without procuring any returns; and would thus require almost triple the profits of any other trade. It is rather a re markable and apparently incredible fact, that manufac tured furs can be procured at a cheaper rate, and of a superior quality, in England than in Canada. In the latter country, these articles are very large and heavy ; and a Canadian furrier puts into one muff a greater quantity of materials, than would be employed in London for three.