92 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



a]x)i\t where the present H. B. post, Fort à la Corne, stands, and where 

 the French fur-traders had a small establishment before the cession of 

 Canada. From this place Cocking travelled overland, in a general south- 

 westerly direction, crossing the South Saskatchewan somewhere below 

 Clark Crossing, but striking Hendry's old trail once more at or 

 about the Elbow of the North Saskatchewan. Following the southern 

 bank of the >î'orth Saskatchewan, Cocking " put up at a shallow creek 

 named Mikisew or little Eagle Creek," and then, leaving the river, he 

 " came to some high land named Mikisew Wache, or Eagle hills." Eagle 

 Hill Creek enters the North Saskatchewan some distance above the Elbow, 

 and the Eagle Hills still bear the same name; so that Cooking's position 

 can be accurately placed at this time. From the Eagle Hills, he journeyed 

 out into the plains, following an erratic course, and constantly looking 

 out for indications of the Archithinue Indians, or Blackfeet, as one of 

 the main objects of his journey was to induce this important tribe or 

 confederacy to trade their furs with the Hudson's Bay Company. He 

 finally joined a considerable body of Blackfeet, and although he failed, 

 as Hendry had done many years before, to persuade them to bring their 

 furs down to the Bay, he spent some time among them, and has left us 

 an exceedingly interesting and valuable account of their character, man- 

 ners and customs a(t the time of his visit. Here, again. Cooking's 

 narrative may profitably be compared with that of Hendry, who also has 

 much to say about this remarkable tribe. 



It may be noted that in both Hendry's and Cooking's cases, one of 

 the main incentives to their expeditions inland was the increasing pres- 

 sure of the rival fur-traders from Canada, a pressure which eventually 

 was to thoroughly awaken the Hudson's Bay Company from the dream 

 of a peaceful and comfortable monopoly of the fur trade, and convince 

 them that if they would hold their own they must no longer rest content 

 with a string of posts around the shores of Hudson Bay, but must strike 

 boldly inland and meet the enterprising and very energetic Canadian 

 traders on their own ground. In Hendry's day the Canadian fur-traders 

 whose competition was beginning to arouse the alarm of the Hudson's 

 Bay Company were French. AVhen Cocking went inland, a couple of 

 decades later, Canada had changed hands; but although the traders who 

 now roamed far and wide throughoub the immense fur country west of 

 the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay were British, like the Hudson's ^ay 

 men themselves, the competition was nmch more bitter and strenuous 

 than it had ever been before — which was, of course, entirely in keeping 

 with the whole history of mankind. 



Although the Hudson's Bay men contemptuously styled the Cana- 

 dian traders " pedlers," they were too shrewd to ignore the strength of 



