746 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. xxviii. 



(1885 to 1889) is about 8,000; and with the " opposition" trade added 

 from 1890 to the spring of 1903, both will undoubtedly exhibit a fui'ther 

 decline. From 18B8 to 1888, Mackenzie River District exported a total 

 of 183,216 beaver, giving an average of 11,8212 a year. For the three 

 years (1886, 1887, 1889) of which 1 hold data, it had fallen to 6,852, and 

 is, I fear, very much lower at the present time. These are but sam- 

 ples of the general decrease in beaver receipts experienced at every 

 trade comp(>,ting point from Quebec to the North Pacilic and from 

 the international boundary to Hudson's Ba}^ and the northwestern 

 limit of its range in arctic America. 



It is now well known that for some years prior to the coalition in 

 1821, the annual catch of beaver was rapid! \" dwindling, and that in 

 several sections it had been exterminated by reckless slaughter; another 

 decade or two of similar trade competition, would doubtless have led 

 to its extinction, except for a time in retreats remote and dilhcult of 

 access. We have had ample proof, however, by obtained results, 

 of the beneficial operation of the wise and far-reaching policy adopted 

 by Governor Sir George Simpson and the able and experienced fur- 

 trade counselors of the then united companies, for the due preserva- 

 tion of this valuable animal. For some years before and after the 

 transfer of the country to Canada in 1870, the entire Peace River, 

 together with man}^ other streams and small ponds, throughout the 

 Territories, British Columbia, the Yukon, and the east were swarming 

 with beaver; but this, unfortunately, is not the case to-day. From 

 1853 to 1877, inclusive, the average number of skins sold by the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company in London, was 118,615, as against their total 

 catalogue sales of aliout 50,000 for 1897, 43,000 in 1900, 46,000 in 1902, 

 and 49,190 for 1903. This is without doubt a bad showing for some of 

 the later of the twenty-six years which have succeeded that statement. 

 Even with the addition thereto of the "opposition" trade, in the very 

 same locality, it is doubtful if the aggregate of ])oth would greatly 

 exceed one-half of this average. It is generally assumed that "oppo- 

 sition" or competition is the "'life of trade" in all branches of busi- 

 ness; but, in the opinion of many competent judges, the fur trade, from 

 its very nature and the scope of its operations, is, or should be, one of 

 the few essential exceptions to the rule. It is a matter of fact that the 

 advent and continued presence of "free traders" at a company's inland 

 post has always had a more or less stimulating effect on the natives by 

 inducing them to exert themselves to a larger degree than usual in the 

 hunting of beaver and all other fur-bearing animals; but although at 

 first and for some time, all concerned appear to benefit bv increased 

 returns, yet the inevitable accompaniment of reckless and indiscrimi- 

 nate slaughter, sooner or later, adversely manifests itself. This has 

 hitherto been the invariable experience at every assailed post or district 

 in North America. 



