A CANADIAN CAMDEN SOCIETY. Bl 



succeeded, iu the furtherance of his great schemes of colonization, in gaining a controlling 

 interest in the Hudson's Bay Company. The appearance of his colony on the Eed River 

 was the signal for a bitter contest, resulting well nigh in the destruction of the colony, 

 while the ruin of the rival fur companies was only averted by their union in 1821. A 

 considerable literature grew out of this emigration movement and its troublesome conse- 

 quences. In 1805, the Earl of Selkirk published an able work on Highland emigration ; 

 for he had before that time sent 800 Highland peasants to Prince Edward Island. In con- 

 nection with the emigration scheme by way of Hudson Bay and Eupert Land, there 

 appeared "The Narrative of the Destruction of the Settlement of Eed Eiver in 1815," a 

 brochure against the Earl of Selkirk by Bishop Strachan in 1816 ; " Narrative of Occurrences 

 in the Indian Country in IBlt ; " a letter of the Earl of Selkirk to Lord Liverpool in 1819 ; 

 " Eeport of the Selkirk Trials," in two versions, in 1820 ; " The Eed Eiver Settlement Blue- 

 book," published by House of Commons in 1819 ; and a " Book of Observations," upon the 

 preceding published in 1820, of which only one copy is known io be in existence. 



VIIL 



Covering portions of time in all these different eras, there remains to notice one depart- 

 ment, most interesting in the present connection, viz., manuscripts or unpublished narratives 

 known to be in existence. The following may be given as examples of these : — " Travels of 

 Pierre Esprit Eadisson, 1682 ; " " John Adamson's Voyages, 1746 ;" " David Thompson's 

 Journal, l*796-'98;" "Henry's Journal, 1800-'16 ;" "Peter Fidler's Journey to Athabaska ; 

 " Foundation of the Forts in the Yukon Country," by an officer in the employment of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company. The Hudson's Bay Company in London has also given to the 

 Society of which the writer is a representative the privilege of examining any papers, at 

 their forts or offices in Canada, belonging to the period antecedent to 1821. 



Enough has now been said to show that we have in Canada an indigenous early 

 literature, most of it now very rare, and yet not deserving the oblivion to which it is fast 

 hastening. Connoisseurs have their choice cabinets of these books, which they guard with 

 miserly care, and some of our public libraries have a number of them ; scarcely is there in 

 Canada a complete collection. The writer has referred largely to works belonging to the 

 field of the Society which he has the honor to represent here — the Historical and Scientific 

 Society of Manitoba, — that field being the " country north and west of Lake Superior." No 

 doubt other gentlemen could have found a considerable earlier lit(?rature for the Maritime 

 Provinces, French Canada, and the more recent Province of Ontario. The study of this 

 early literature is very important. "We complain that so few devote themselves to the 

 study and preservation of our early history. Surely it is the duty of this section of the 

 Eoyal Society of Canada to stimulate research and facilitate the study of the records refer- 

 red to. The question is : How can this be done ? 



I have the honor to propose one way, perhaps not the best, yet one having the ]3ro- 

 mise of accomplishing something in this department. I propose that steps should be 

 taken by which this Society, or some body associated with it, should undertake each year 

 the publication of a number of books aud manuscripts relating to the early portion of otir 



