XXXVl IXTRODUCTION. 



Nokth-West Company. 



The North-West Company was formed in 1783 by 

 several of the prmcipal merchants of Montreal, mider 

 the dh'ectorship of Sh' Alexander Mackenzie, and was 

 augmented by amalgamation with a rival Company in 

 1787. The headquarters were at Fort William, where 

 great feasts were held. 



" Thus was created the famous ' North- West Com- 

 pany,' which, for a time, held a lordlj'- sway over the 

 wintry lakes and boundless forests of the Canadas, 

 almost equal to that of the East India Company over 

 the voluptuous climes and magnificent realms of the 

 Orient. The Company consisted of twenty-three share- 

 holders, or partners, but held in its employ about two 

 thousand persons as clerks, guides, interpreters and 

 voyageurs or boatmen." — "Astoria," page 5. 



The North-West Company was amalgamated with the 

 Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, who also purchased 

 Astoria. This was founded by the late John Jacob 

 Astor. 



Hudson's Bay Company. 



The Hudson's Bay Company was established in 1670, 

 under the patronage of Prince Kupert. The rivalry 

 between this and the North-West Company between 

 1811 and 1820 was so great, that hunting parties at 

 times came to blows, lives being sometimes lost. In 

 1821 the two Companies were amalgamated. 



The Company consists of the Governor, Sir Donald 

 A. Smith, K.C.M.G. ; the Deputy- Governor, Earl of 

 Lichfield, and seven Directors, as follows : — T. R. 



