40 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS. 



queting room groaned under the weight of game of all kinds ; of 

 venison from the woods, and fish from the lakes, and hunters' deli- 

 cacies, such as buffaloes' tongues and beavers' tails ; and various 

 luxuries from Montreal, all served up by experienced cooks brought 

 for the purpose. There was no stint of generous wine, for it was a 

 hard-drinking period, a time of loyal toasts, and bacchanalian songs, 

 and brimming bumpers."* 



Neither Toronto, nor Niagara, nor Kingston could approach 

 the commercial greatness of Fort William ninety years ago ; and in 

 no part of the interior of the lower peninsula were such scenes of 

 activity to be witnessed as along the highways of trade in the interior 

 of the northern country, from the Ottawa tiver to Lake of the 

 Woods. 



From lake Superior there were two routes to the Northwest : 

 one from Grand Portage through the boundary waters to Rainy lake, 

 and the other up the Kaministiquia river and Dog lake, across the 

 long portage to Savanne river, and thence through Lac de Mille Lacs 

 and a succession of smaller lakes, down the Maligne and Meccan or 

 Namakan rivers into Rainy lake. The latter was the route usually 



* living's Astoria, p. 8 (Bohn's edition). The X. Y. Company, which 

 was a section of tlie Northwest Company, detached fron:i it in 1796, but re- 

 united with it in 1804, and had its lieadquarters at Grand Portage. The 

 mode of living there is described as follows by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, 

 (Voyages from Montreal, p. xlvi) : " The proprietors, clerks, guides and 

 interpreters mess together, to the number of sometimes an hundred, at 

 several tables, in one large hall, the provision consisting of bread, salt pork, 

 beef, hams, fish and venison, butter, peas, Indian corn, potatoes, tea, spirits, 

 wine, etc., and plenty of milk, for which purpose several milch cows are 

 constantly kept. The mechanics have rations of such provisions, but the 

 canoe-men, bjth from the north and Montreal, have no other allowance 

 here, or in the voyage, than Indian corn and melted fat. The corn for this 

 purpose is prepared before it leaves Detroit, by boiling it in a strong alkali, 

 which takes off the outer husk ; it is then well washed, and carefully dried 

 upon stages, when it is fit for use. One quart of this is boiled for two 

 hours, over a moderate fire, in a gallon of water; to which, when it has 

 boiled a small time, are added two ounces of melted suet; this causes the 

 corn to split, and in the time mentioned makes a pretty thick pudding. If 

 to this is added a little salt (but not before it is boiled, as it would interrupt 

 the operation), it makes a wholesome, palatable food, and easy of diges- 

 tion. This quantity is fully sufficient for a man's subsistence during 

 twenty-four hours, though it is not sufficiently heartening to sustain the 

 strength necessary for a state of active labor. The Americans call this 

 dish hominee." In a foot note Sir Alexander adds that corn is "the 

 cheapest provision that can be procured, though from the expense of trans- 

 port the bushel costs about twenty Stirling at the Grand Portage. A man's 

 daily allowance does not exceed tenpence," 



