THE RANGERS OF THE WOODS. 429 



all the way, as long as the goods hold out ; and when these 

 are gone, they even sell their embroidery, their lace, and 

 their clothes. This done, they are forced upon a new voyage 

 for subsistence.' * 



" To check these abuses, and to protect the fur trade from 

 various irregularities practised by these loose adventurers, an 

 order was issued by the French government, prohibiting all 

 persons, on pain of death, from trading into the interior of 

 the country without a license. 



" These licenses were granted in writing by the governor- 

 general, and at first were given only to persons of respectability: 

 to gentlemen of broken fortunes ; to old officers of the army 

 who had families to provide for ; or to their widows. Each 

 license permitted the fitting out of two large canoes with mer- 

 chandize for the lakes, and no more than twenty-five licenses 

 were to be issued out in one year. By degrees, however, private 

 licenses were also granted, and the number rapidly increased. 

 Those who did not choose to fit out the expedition themselves, 

 were permitted to sell them to the merchants ; these employed 

 the coureurs des bois, or rangers of the woods, to undertake 

 the long voyages on shares, and thus the abuses of the old 

 system were received and continued. * * * * 



" The pious missionaries employed by the Roman catholic 

 church to convert the Indians, did every thing in their power 

 to counteract the profligacy caused by these men in the heart 

 of the wilderness. The catholic chapel might often be seen 

 planted beside the trading house, and its spire surmounted by 

 a cross, towering from the midst of an Indian village, on the 

 banks of a river or lake. ***** 



" At length it was found necessary to establish fortified 

 posts at the confluence of the rivers and lakes for the protec- 

 tion of the trade, and the restraint of these profligates of the 

 wilderness. The most important of these was at Michilimacki- 



Nnac, situated at the strait of the same name, which connects 

 Lakes Huron and Michigan. ***** 



