THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. 233 



tain the clear final profits, we must deduct the cost of 

 transportation by sea to Europe and China. This I have 

 no means of knowing. The forts are all built by these 

 men, working for the allowed wages, and they also trans- 

 port the goods from the St. Lawrence, or York Factory, 

 to the interior in canoes and on pack animals and dog- 

 sledges, and the furs to the St. Lawrence, York Factory, 

 or Vancouver's Island. The goods are put up into pack- 

 ages of ninety pounds in London, two of which can be 

 carried by a mule, and which a single person can con- 

 veniently handle in making portages around falls and 

 other impediments in interior navigation. The furs also 

 are always in bales of the same weight. 



The furs are nearly all shipped to London, either at 

 Montreal, at York Factory, or from Puget's Sound, whence 

 they are distributed through Europe and the East. 

 Direct shipments are sometimes made from the western 

 coast of Canton, but this does not frequently happen. 

 There was formerly an understanding with the East India 

 Company, by which those sent to China and the East 

 were exchanged for teas and silks for the European market, 

 but that arrangement is now dispensed with. 



The Hudson's Bay Company enjoy the exclusive privi- 

 lege of trading with the Indian tribes in all the British 

 dominions. They have established schools for the in- 

 struction of the native and half-breed children at their 

 posts, and they have given every facility and encourage- 



