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have performed deeds, in the hour of danger and difficulty, worthy of being recorded. They understand the characters of Indians well.

• About ten o'clock we were all summoned to the great dininghall by Dr. Mc Laughlin, to take the parting cup, customary in this country. When all were assembled, wine was poured out, and we drank to each other's welfare, prosperity, &c. This was truly a cup of good fellowship and kind feeling. This hanging to old Scotch customs, in the way it was done here is pleasant, and carries with it pleasing recollections, especially when there is that warmth of feeling with it that there was on this occasion. After this was over, we formed quite a cavalcade to the river-side, which was now swollen to the top of its banks, and rushing by with irresistible force.

On reaching the river we found one of Mr. Ogden's boats manned by fourteen voyageurs, all gaily dressed in their ribands and plumes; the former tied in large bunches of divers colours, with numerous ends floating in the breeze. The boat was somewhat of the model of our whale-boats, only much larger, and of the kind built expressly to accommodate the trade; they are provided yearly at Okonagan, and are constructed in a few days; they are clinker-built, and all the timbers are flat. These boats are so light, that they are easily carried across the portages. They use the gum of the pine to cover them instead of pitch.

'After having a hearty shake of the hand, Captain Varney, Mr. Ogden, and myself, embarked. The signal being given, we shoved off, and the voyageurs at once struck up one of their boat songs. After paddling up the stream for some distance we made a graceful sweep to reach the centre, and passed by the spectators with great animation. The boat and voyageurs seemed a fit object to grace the wide-flowing river. On we merrily went, while each voyageur in succession took up the song, and all joined in the chorus. In two hours and a half we reached the mouth of the Cowlitz, a distance of thirty-five miles.

In the Cowlitz we found a strong current to contend against

and by night-fall had only proceeded twelve miles farther. As we encamped, the weather changed, and rain began to fall, which lasted till next morning.

I had much amusement in watching the voyageurs, who are as peculiar in their way as sailors. I was struck with their studious politeness and attention to each other, and their constant cheerfulness.

'On the second day our voyageurs had doffed their finery, and their hats were carefully covered with oiled skins. They thus appeared more prepared for hard work. The current became every mile more rapid, and the difficulty of surmounting it greater. The management of the boats in the rapids is dexterous and full of excitement, as well to the passengers as to the voyageurs themselves. The bowman is the most important man, giving all directions, and is held responsible for the safety of the boat; and his keen eye and quick hand in the use of his paddle, delights and inspires a confidence in him in moments of danger that is given without stint. We did not make more than ten miles during the day, and were forced to encamp three miles below the farm.

On the 19th we reached our destination. On our approach, although there were no spectators, except a few Indians, to be expected, the voyageurs again mounted their finery, and gaily chaunted their boat song." (Wilkes' Narrative, v. iv., p. 370.)

The Rev. S. Parker, who had an opportunity afforded him of witnessing the proceedings of the Hudson's Bay Company, whose sentiments had no reference to ulterior events, whose opinions were entirely unbiassed, and must be taken as the honest convictions of a mind desirous of truth, and ready to award the palm of merit where it is due, thus expresses himself in 1837 :-' I have already mentioned my agreeable disappointment in finding so many of the comforts of life at different trading posts of the Hudson's Bay Company. I have also given a brief description of the local situation of Fort Vancouver. These were taken from such observations as I could make in a hasty view, as I was pro

secuting my journey to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. This establishment was commenced in the year 1824. It being necessary that the gentlemen who are engaged in transacting the business of the Company west of the mountains, and their labourers, should possess a better and less precarious supply of the necessaries of life, than what game would furnish, and the expense of transporting suitable supplies from England being too great, it was thought important to connect the business of farming with that of fur, to an extent equal to their necessary demands; and as the Fort is the central place of business to which shipping come, and from which they depart for different parts of the north-west coast, and to which and from which brigades of hunting parties come and go, the principal farming business was established here, and has made such progress, that provisions are now produced in great abundance. There are large fertile prairies which they occupy for tillage and pasture, and the forests yield an ample supply of wood for fencing and other purposes. In the year 1835, there were at this post 450 neat cattle; 100 horses, 200 sheep, 40 goats, and 300 hogs. They had raised the same year 5000 bushels of wheat, of excellent quality; 1300 bushels of potatoes; 1000 of barley; 1000 of oats; 2000 of peas, and a great variety of garden vegetables. This estimate does not include the horses, horned cattle, grain, &c., raised at the other stations. But little, however, is done elsewhere, excepting at Colville, the uppermost post on the northern branch of the Columbia. The garden of this station contains about five acres, and is laid out with regularity and good taste. While a large part is appropriated to the common esculent vegetables, ornamental plants and flowers are not neglected. Fruit of various kinds, such as apples, peaches, grapes, and strawberries, considering the short time since they have been introduced, flourish, and prove that the climate and soil are well adapted to the purposes of agriculture. Various tropical fruits, such as figs, oranges, and lemons, have also been introduced, and thrive as well as in the latitude of Philadelphia.

In connexion with their farming establishment, the Company

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have a flour mill worked by ox-power, which is kept in constant operation, and produces flour of an excellent quality; and a sawmill with several saws, which is kept in operation most of the year. This mill, though large, does not with its several saws, furnish more lumber than a common mill would, with one saw, in the United States. There being no pine below the Cascades, and but very little within five hundred miles of the mouth of the Columbia River, the only timber sawn in this mill is fir and oak. Besides what timber is used in the common business about this station, one, and sometimes two ship-loads are sent annually to Oahu, Sandwich Islands, and is there called pine of the northwest coast. Boards of fir are not so durable, when exposed to the weather, as those of pine, nor so easily worked. One half of the grain of each annual growth is very hard, and the other half soft and spongy, which easily absorbs moisture, and causes speedy decay. There is a bakery here, in which two or three men are in constant employment, which furnishes bread for daily use in the fort, and also a large supply of sea-biscuit for the shipping and trading stations along the north-west coast. There are also shops for blacksmiths, joiners, and carpenters, and a tinner.

Here is a well-regulated medical department, and an hospital for the accommodation of the sick labourers, into which Indians, who are labouring under any difficult and dangerous diseases are received, and in most cases have gratuitous attendance.'

Among the large buildings, there are four for the trading department; one for the Indian trade, in which are deposited their peltries; one for provisions; one for goods, opened for the current year's business-that is, to sell to their men, and to send off to various fur stations; and another for storing goods in a year's advance. Not less than a shipload of goods is brought from England annually, and always at least one in advance of their present use; so that if any disaster should befal their ship on her passage, the business of the Company would not have to be suspended. By this mode of management, there is rarely less than two ship-loads of goods in hand, most of the time. The nnual ship arrives in the spring, takes a trip to Oahu during

the summer, freighted with lumber, and bringing back to Fort Vancouver, salt and other commodities, but generally not enough for ballast; and, about the end of September, or early in October, she sails for England with the peltries obtained during the preceding year.

'The fur business about the Rocky Mountains, and the West, is becoming far less lucrative than formerly; for so extensively and constantly have every nook and corner been searched out, that beavers, and other valuable fur animals, are becoming very scarce. It is rational to conclude that it will not be many years before this business will not be worth pursuing in the prairie country, south of the 50th degree of north latitude; but north of this, in the colder and more densely-wooded regions, the business will not probably vary in any important degree.

'Very few Americans who have engaged in the fur business beyond the Rocky Mountains, have ever succeeded in making it profitable. Several companies have sustained great loss, generally owing to their ignorance of the country and the best mode of procedure. The Hudson's Bay Company have so systematized their operations, that no one can have the charge of any important transactions without having passed through several grades of less important business, which constitutes several years' apprenticeship. Their lowest order are what they call servants (common labourers). All above these are called gentlemen, but of different orders. The lowest class are clerks, then chief clerks; next traders and chief traders; factors and chief factors; and the highest, governors. There are only two chief factors west of the mountains, John M'Laughlen, Esq. and Duncan Finlayson, Esq., and with them are associated in business several chief traders and traders, and chief clerks and clerks. The salaries of the gentlemen are proportioned to the stations they occupy. By this mode of conducting business, no important enterprise is ever entrusted to an inexperienced person.

'It is worthy of remark, that comparatively few of all those who engage in the fur business in these regions ever return to their native land. Mr. Pambrun, of Fort Walla-Walla, told me,

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