TJie Home of ihc Wolverene mid Beaver. S7 



at a distance of a couple of hundred yards from the 

 fort, the cavalcade reins up, while the chief rides 

 forward to meet the factor. Presents are commonly- 

 exchanged, and many complimentary speeches 

 passed, after which business commences. But the 

 Indians are not permitted to enter the trading 

 room indiscriminately, neither are the gaudy chintzes 

 and beads submitted to their view, for, at sight of 

 such marvellous riches, their wish to possess them 

 would prove uncontrollable, and a disturbance 

 would probably break out. The trading room in 

 these stations is so constructed that all communi- 

 cation between it and the surrounding buildings 

 can be cut off, and to prevent too many Indians 

 crowding in it is so contrived that they have to 

 pass through a long naiTOw passage, of only suffi- 

 cient width to admit one at a time, the passage 

 being built at an acute angle to the window at 

 which the factor stands, so that the savages are 

 unable to shoot him, as they could were it made 

 perfectly straight. The furs obtained by barter 

 are packed away in an underground chamber 

 concealed beneath the large table in the factor's 

 room, and this apartment has somebody in it night 

 and day, so that theft is rendered impossible 

 unless the station is regularly attacked and sacked. 

 Once a year the furs are made up into parcels and 



