THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. 9 



Two ships visited the Bay each summer 

 bringing supplies for the next winter and tak- 

 ing back to England the furs and oil collected 

 during the past season. The coming of these 

 ships, one to York Factory and the other to 

 Moose Factory, was the event of the year as 

 they brought the only mail the "Winterers" re- 

 ceived from friends and relatives in far away 

 Old England. 



Navigating the Bay was done pretty much 

 by the rule of "Thumb." Notwithstanding its 

 being one of the most dangerous bodies of water 

 in America it is wonderful (now that the Bay is 

 fairly well charted and shows up most of the 

 dangerous reefs and shoals) how few accidents 

 these old navigators had in taking their ships 

 in and out of the Bay. 



Much depended on those same ships reaching 

 their destination. Starvation would confront 

 the officers and servants in the country and the 

 want of the returns in England during those 

 early days of the venture would have been a se- 

 rious setback to their credit. While the ships 

 were in the roadstead unloading and loading it 

 was an anxious time to the captain and the offi- 

 cer ashore for as the work had to be done by 

 lighters (the ship lying three miles from the 

 land) there was always the danger of a strong 

 wind springing up. In such events the boats 



