NO. 1405. BFAMMALS OF NORTHWEST TERRITORIES— MACFARLANE. 757 



Statcmeut of fur returns for the Northern Depurtiiient for outfit 1863 — Continued. 



The foregoing- fur statement was extracted from Archbishop 

 Tache's Sketch of Northwestern America, 1868. It was furnished 

 to him by Chief Factor William Mactav^sh, of Fort Garry, at that 

 time the resident governor of the Hudson's Ba}'^ Company in Canada. 



The other departments (western, southern, and Montreal) of the 

 service contributed the quantities of furs and peltries lacking in tl;is 

 statement and the totals of same as sold in London. It may. how- 

 ever, be said that the company's trade year or outtit begins on June 1 

 and ends on May 81 following, so that the 1865 returns in tpiestion 

 reached England in the fall of 1866, and were only disposed of in the 

 months of January and March, 1867. Previous to the introduction of 

 steam in Athabasca (1881) and Mackenzie River (1886), the trade of 

 Fort Yukon (abandoned 1870) was two years later in getting to mar- 

 ket; for instance, that of 1865 reached La Pierre House in the sum- 

 mer of 1866 and was conveyed by dog trains to Fort McPherson the 

 following winter. In 1867 the returns were forwarded by York boat 

 to Fort Simpson, and thence shipped in 1868 to London by way of Poi-- 

 tage La Loche and York Factory, Hudson Ba^^ where thev were duly 

 sold in 1869. La Pierre House (abandoned 1891) and Fort McPher- 

 son returns occupied one year less in transit. Now, however, the 

 entire trade of the Mackenzie River district gets to market as early as 

 that of an}' other part of the Northwest Territories. In making esti 



