86 The Home of the JVolvereue and Beaver. 



their new purchases by the light of the fire, and, 

 if they have any castors left, to talk ov^er how they 

 should be expended on the morrow. Such is the 

 method in which the fur trade is carried on at the 

 Hudson's Bay stations among the Wood Indians. 

 From constant intercourse with Europeans these 

 people may be regarded as semi-civilised, and little 

 danger need be apprehended from them. But in 

 the more remote stations on the prairies and 

 beyond the Rocky Mountains on the wild Columbia 

 River, matters are differently arranged : that is to 

 say, that though the mode of trade is precisely 

 similar, the castor still being the unit of com- 

 putation and the process of barter exactly as I 

 have described above, stringent precautions are 

 taken for the safety of the fort and its occupants. 

 Instead of arriving in small numbers, the warlike 

 Blackfeet or Crees visit the fort in large troops 

 and fully armed ; for to reach it they often have 

 to pass through an enemy's country, where a fierce 

 conflict is at any moment imminent. Mounted on 

 their half-broken mustangs, the warriors approach 

 the station, which is not only more strongly built 

 than Osnaburg House, but is also in good repair, 

 and garrisoned with sufficient men to defeat any 

 sudden attempt. Each rider leads another horse, on 

 which is packed his stock of peltry, ar.J on arriving 



