34 The Home of the Wolverene and Beaver. 



lion was very slow, so slow as to seem now-a-days 

 almost incredible. It was eighteen months from 

 the time that an order left Canada for London 

 before the articles demanded could be forwarded 

 up country from Montreal ! And the seeming 

 delay occurred thus. An order was sent to London 

 in October, and the goods could not, owing to the 

 ice, arrive at Montreal before the following summer. 

 \\\ the winter they were sorted and packed into 

 parcels of ninety pounds weight each, and the ice 

 again prevented their further progress until the 

 ensuing spring. Even a longer period was necessary 

 to dispose of the furs obtained in exchange for these 

 goods in the London market ; so that a merchant, 

 allowing that he had twelve months' credit, did not 

 receive any return for the goods, and the necessary 

 expenses attending them, until two years after they 

 were considered as cash, and that they were enabled 

 to afford this and make an enormous profit to boot, 

 shows what a thriving concern the fur trade had 

 become. 



The articles necessary for the trade were coarse 

 woollen cloths of different kinds ; blankets ; arms 

 and ammunition ; twist and carrot tobacco ; Man- 

 chester goods ; linen and coarse sheetings ; thread, 

 lines, and twine; common hardware; cutlery and 

 ironmongery of several descriptions ; brass and 



