that to keep up their number of trappers and hunters west of the mountains, they were under the necessity of sending out recruits annually, about one third of the whole number. Captain Wyeth stated, that of more than two hundred who had been in his employment in the course of three years, only between thirty and forty were known to be alive. From these data it may be seen that the life of hunters in these far western regions averages about three years. And with these known facts, still hundreds and hundreds are willing to engage in the hunter's life, and expose themselves to hardships, famine, dangers, and death. It has been estimated, from sources of correct information, that there are nine thousand white men in the north and far west engaged in the various departments of trading, trapping, and hunting; and this number includes Americans, Britons, Frenchmen, and Russians.' -(Journey beyond the Rocky Mountains, p. 41, 42.)

Commodore Wilkes, adverting to the observations he heard regarding discontent among some of the junior servants of the Company, to the discipline enforced, and to the powers exercised by the officers of the Company, says, 'I am satisfied that as far as the morals of the settlers and servants are concerned, it is used for good purposes.' 'For instance, the use of spirits is almost entirely done away with. Dr. M‘Laughlin has acted in a highly praiseworthy manner in this particular. Large quantities of spirituous liquors are now stored in the magazines at Vancouver, which the Company have refused to make an article of trade, and none is now used by them in the territory for that purpose. They have found this rule highly beneficial to their business in several respects; more furs are taken, and those who are engaged have fewer inducements to err; the Indians are found to be less quarrelsome, and pursue the chase more constantly; and the settlers, as far as I could hear, have been uniformly prosperous.' In order to show the course of the Company upon this subject, I will mention one circumstance. The brig American Thomas H. Perkins, arrived here with a large quantity of rum on board, with other goods. Dr. M'Laughlin, on hearing of this made overtures immediately for the purchase of the whole cargo,

in order to get possession of the whiskey or rum, and succeeded. The Doctor mentioned to me that the liquor was now in store, and would not be sold in the country, and added, that the only object he had in buying the cargo was to prevent the use of the rum, and to sustain the temperance cause.'

In their endeavours to prosecute a trade at any hazard, the American fur traders sell spirits freely to the Indians; and Mr. Greenhow states, that twenty dollars were frequently expended in rum and sugar, for a night's carouse, by two or three traders after the conclusion of a bargain.'

The Rev. S. Parker, the American clergyman, reprobates the dissolute life and cruel conduct of the Americans engaged in the Oregon fur trade, while he bears high testimony to the conduct of the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1836-7, the Russian Government refused to allow vessels of the United States to trade on the unoccupied parts of the American coast north of 54° 40', on the grounds that, during the previous ten years, when the United States had the privilege, it enabled the traders to supply the natives on the coast with spirituous liquors and fire-arms.'

It appears from the narrative of Sir George Simpson, that in 1842, the Governors of the Hudson's Bay Company and of the Russian Fur Company, entered into a written agreement, that from and after the date of signature, no spirits should be supplied to the Indians at their respective stations or posts in North America; the Russian Governor fully acknowledging the evil done to the trade, as well as to the Indians themselves.

The effect of prohibiting spirituous liquors among the Indians is clearly shewn in documents laid officially before Lord Glenelg, in 1837. (See page 15 of Parliamentary Papers, 8th August, 1842,) of which the following is an extract:

'The Indian country, which, previous, to the passing and granting of that act and licence, was a scene of violence and outrage, productive of injury to the native population, and of the worst consequences, amounting in very many instances to the loss of life among the whites actively engaged therein, and to a

vast sacrifice of property to the parties interested, all arising from the violent competition that existed among the traders, I have the satisfaction to say, has, ever since that period, been in a state of the most perfect tranquillity, beneficial as well to the Indian population as to the parties interested and engaged in the trade. Previous to that period, an unrestricted supply of spirituous liquor, then an important article of trade, led to the commission of crimes, to the injury of health, and to a state of demoralization among the native population truly lamentable. The measures since taken by the Council in the country, under the instructions of the Board of Direction in England, to remedy those evils, have been attended with the happiest results: drunkenness is now of very rare occurrence in any part of the country, and quite unknown throughout the extended district situated to the northward of the Saskatchewan and Churchill Rivers, occupied by the Chipewyan, Beaver Indian, Cree, Yellow Knife, Hare, Dog Rib, and other tribes throughout the numerously inhabited and widely extended plain country to the southward of Saskatchewan; in the country situated between the Rocky Mountains and the shores of the Pacific, watered by the Columbia River and its tributaries; in the country known by the name of New Caledonia, situated inland, to the northward of the Columbia River; and among the Chippewyan tribes on the shores and interior country of Lakes Superior and Huron; the introduction and use of spirituous and other intoxicating liquors having been strictly prohibited, except in very rare cases for medicinal purposes.

The first introduction of this measure was so unpopular among the natives, as to endanger the safety of the trading establishments, rendering it necessary to maintain a large force for their protection, at a heavy expense; and it was only by compensating them for the loss of this baneful indulgence by large gratuities, consisting of presents of British manufacture, that they became reconciled to the privation. In other parts of the country, where it could not, in safety to the white population, be entirely prohibited, the use of it is now gradually diminishing, so as at this time to be no longer an evil; and in no part of the countries

through which the Hudson's Bay Company's operations extend, are spirituous or intoxicating liquors of any description sold to Indians, or used as a medium of barter or trade. But so inseparable is drunkenness or the abuse of spirituous liquors, from opposition in the Indian trade, that on the north-west coast, where we have to contend with the Americans and Russians, and even on the banks of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, which are exposed to competition in trade, and where the Indians are partially civilized, I am sorry to say our utmost efforts to check it have been altogether unavailing.

'A confirmation of these statements is to be seen by reference to the exportations of spirituous liquors to Hudson's Bay, which, since the year 1821, do not exceed on the average forty-three puncheons of rum annually for the supply of the whole country situated to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, comprised in the licence of trade granted to the Company, as well as the Company's territories, the population of which, including servants, may be estimated at 120,000 souls, no spirituous liquors having up to this period been distilled in the country.' [About a pint per annum for each individual.]

There is an honourable acknowledgment by Commodore Wilkes, that the small wages, and subjection complained of by the younger servants and clerks, is necessary; for 'few can in any way long withstand this silent influence; decorum and order are preserved, together with steady habits: the consequence is, that few communities are to be found more well behaved and orderly than that which is formed of persons who have retired from the Company's service.'—[Vol. ii., p. 330.]

The following statement of the chief of a party of Americans, consisting of about 300 persons, who emigrated from Pennsylvania and Missouri, for the Far West' in 1843, in order to settle in the Oregon country is deserving of attention: the writer fully confirms the opinions of Commodore Wilkes and others. On the 10th of November I arrived at Vancouver, and could scarcely believe my eyes when, on approaching it, I beheld, moored securely in the river, two square-rigged vessels and a steam-boat. My very heart

jumped as I set eyes on these familiar objects, and for the first time in four months, I felt as if I had found substantial evidence of civilization; the impression of the refinement of the mission, and the peculiarly domestic comforts which the ladies attached to the establishment spread around them, were as nothing compared with the yards and masts of these coursers of the ocean. The river at Fort Vancouver is from 1,600, to 1,700 yards wide; the fort, which is the principal establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company in Oregon, is on the north bank of the Columbia, 80 miles distance, in a direct line, from the sea. It stands a considerable distance back from the shore, and is surrounded by a large number of buildings, amongst which is a schoolhouse. On the bank of the river, 600 yards down, is a village somewhat larger in extent, containing an hospital. Two miles farther down the river are the dairy and piggery, containing numerous herds of cattle, hogs, sheep, &c.; and about three miles above the forts are grist and saw-mills, and sheds for curing salmon. Immediately behind it is a garden and an orchard filled with peach, apple, fig, orange, lemon, and other fruit trees,-and containing also grapes, strawberries, ornamental plants and flowers. Behind this the cultivated farm, with its numerous barns and other necessary buildings,-spread off towards the south. The land appropriated here for the purposes of farming, is from 3000 to 4000 acres, and is fenced into beautiful fields, a great portion of which has already been appropriated to cultivation, and is found to produce the grains and vegetables of the States in remarkable profusion. On my arrival, I was received with great kindness by Dr. M'Laughlin, the chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company; and Mr. Douglass, his second in command. The modus operandi of this wonderful corporation is remarkable for the perfect accuracy of its system. A code of established rules, embracing within its scope the chief factor and the meanest dependent, is the inflexible rule which governs all. Every man has his alloted department to fill, and a system of farsighted policy is brought to bear upon the management of every department. A regular price is set upon everything. Their goods