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Show ISS TRAVELS TIIROUGII LOWER CANADA: I r. 1 t. f ·11 11, 11 tly ddlroyinrr a nof1 cibhlifhcd by th at c mpany t H~ 1e1:) u :on u J • .. o r · 1 · · 1 r. OLl r11ood A hrge botly of them foon olld.1:ccl to- Ill t Clf J)Cl<Y 10 • • ' } dbb get1cr, an t.c..l tl· · g tl1e ficrcdt fi11irit of revenge, tn<nchcd unper- .111 ~ . . . . · l .r ii 1· , oed tJY the p·uty acramfi: whom thetr expcdtt1on was CCJ VC( anu lll1 U p t:LL l ' plann cl, till within a {bort difLlllCC of tl?cir l,oit. Ilci·c thcy halted ac-cor dm. g t o cuO:om , waitincor on ly for a favour.1bk moment to pounce upon t I1 e1·t. pre y. SoJ""''.P., of the a(oY cnts of th. e North-weft C mpany, 11 weve r, v. I1 0 .•.•.· e re 1r' cattcrcd a' bout this• rn art ol the country, fo. rtunately got intelligence of their defign. They I~ new the . w<.:ak_nc1s a: ~he place alJout to be attacked, and forg cttmg the .nvaW11p fubhfL!lg between them, and thinking on ly how to fave thcll· untrymc n, they immediat<.:ly difpatched a mcffenger to give the party notice of th_c affault tbat was meditated ; they at t.hc fame time fcnt :.lllother mdlcnger to one of their own pof1s, defiring that inO:ant fuccour might be fcnt to that belonging to the Hudfon Bay ompany, which the Indians were about to plunder. The detachment arrived before the _attack c~mmenced, and th Indians were repulfl d; hut had it not been tor 1hc t1mcly affilhnee their riv als had afford d, th Uu~{on Bay peopk were fully perfuaded that they muf1: have fallen viCtims to the fury of the Indians. This fi gna1 piece of fervice was not nndcrvalucd or forgotten by thof(.; who had been faved; and as the North-wel1: Company was fo much {l:ronger, and on fo much better Lrms with the Inclians in this part f he country than its rivals, it now evidently appeared to be the interc( t of the latter to have the pof1:s of th North-wcfl Company efiablifhed as near its own as poil1ble. This is accordingly done for their mutual fafl!ty~ and the two companies are now o.n the mofl friendly terms, and continue to carry on th~.:ir tr.1de clofe to each other. About two thoufand men are employed by the North-weft Company inth irpofisintheuppercountry. Thofewh arefi.:ttioncdatth remote trading pof1:s lead a very favagc life, but little b<.:ttr.:::r indeed than that of Indians: fume of them remain far up in the country for four or fiv~ years together. The head clerk or principal agent generally marries an · lpdian girl, the daughter of fome eminent chief, by which he gains in 'a peculiar manner the affeCtions of the whole tribe, a matter of great im- 8 portance. F U R T R A D E. portance. Thcfe narriagcs, as may be fup pofed, are not confidcred as very binding by the hufband ; but that is nothing in the opinion of an Indian chici, who readily brings hi , filler or daughter to yrm ; at the fame tim~ he can only be appcaCcd by blood if a pedon at tcn1pts to take any 1mpropcr liberties with his wife. Among(l: no }l-Ople ar<.: the wives more chafle, or more devoted to their hu{band s. Bcftdcs the furs and p ·lts, thus conveyc i down to 1ontrcal from the north-wcf1:ern parts of the continent, by means uf the UtJ.was Ri ver, thL' re :uc large quantitic alLo bronght there an ls the lakes, and down the 1 ivcr St. Lawr ' ncc. Thefe are colle~ted at the Various towns and polls along the Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ont·u·io, wh rc the trade is OJ1Cn to all partie , the fcveral poits being protected by regular troops, at the cxp nee of tl c government. Added likcwi(c to what are thus colleCtLd by t 1c agL •H of the rompany, and of privat merchants, there arc confid ···ab1c quantiti , brou0 ht down to MontreJl for fale by t raders, on their own account. S< me of thcfc trader come from parts as remote as the Illinois Country, bordering on the Miffiffippi. They a{; end the M1iliillppi as far as OnilconGng R iv T, and from that bY. a portage of three miles get upon Fox River, which falls into Lake Michigan. I11 the f.11l of the y ar, as I have before mentioned, thcfe two ri vers overflow, and it is then fometimes practicable to pafs in a ligh t C<lnoe from one river to the other, without any portage whatlocver. From Lake !vTichigan hey get upon Lake Iluron, afterwards upon Lake Eri' ancl {o on to the St. Lawrence. Before the month of S ptemb r is v 'r, the furs are all b1 ought down to Montreal; as they arrive they ar, immediately {hipped, and the veffds diipatched in Oc bcr, beyond which month; it would be dangerous for them to remain in the tivcr on account of the fetting in of wint~r. Furs are alfo iliippcd in confiderable quantities at ~ebcc, an at th~ town of Trois Rivieres. Thefe furs are bronght down the rivers that fa ll into the St. Lawrence, on the north fide, by Indians. ' .' . ' |