FURS. 
coon 5339; deer 53393 fwan 1067 ; f{quirrel 905 5 s rabbit, 
The higneit price of coat beaver nineteen 
er pound, the creee “ffteen and 
t ditto twenty-three fhillings and nine- 
ence, average tho, twenty-one fhillings and. fourpence ; 
éub ditto , twenty-three fhillings, ayerage- ditto, twenty-one 
fhillings and eight-pence. In this ftatement, it is proper 
to obferve, that thefe ager: — obtained for the prime and 
fair articles ; what - damaged and faged {kins, of 
which there is. a et = tRER portion in every annual 
importation, are a at very inferior fums. 
anada, the grand entrepot, or market of communication 
for the trade = for and peltry, was firft colonized by the 
‘rench, ne d America for the purpofe in 1540; 
Roberval, with about. 200 men 
50 ,° 
in the fame direction, betwecn 
ae Mae 1 till 1629, when the country was taken 
by an Englih force under the command of fir David Kirk, 
but was fhortly reftored again to France. For a feries of years 
this valuable eae tl was much neglected by the mother 
country, During a long time the further colonization was 
left to private. uk @ a fitted out sae ee . bee 
venture at. their own expence. Thefe sone ally 
ne, who obt: ined from nee ae salir an ex- 
e with the native Indians for ces kinds 
fuccefs or the fadety of the fettler o were pug eee 
d by continval cscadioee of the Indian 
ear 1 w i 
and 
rerchants Holding under patents, granted by the 
the year 1664, 
feed i. cand foi tr: ; the crown affuming the 
government, while the trade was put oon in hapa 
of the company des Indes Occidentale es. Bute ae the 
eae - ippah agers y un more 
mediate care, greater attention appears to have bee paid 
a the. pea ing of the Roman catholic religion, by numerous 
miffiona oe aes the interior, and cultivating friendfhip 
with the v . 1 3 
by. agriculture and arts,- 
Canada, the fur trade was confidered of t 
é the coun of the 
anc ny. 
fettlements, the. fkins of fuch. animals as were eemed Beteie 
in mercial view, became fcarce and iin more. valuable. 
To ire the’ necef {upplies, the. Indians were con- 
ftrained.to penetrate far 
unting ‘:purfuits, in‘ which they , were often accompanied 
g, 
ct 
i 
by-native Canadians, “T'hefe in time, by means of the inter- 
courfe they thus abt ained with erfons belonging to th 
remoter tribes, induced the latter to bring to the fettlements 
belonging to the trade the kind of fkins which were mot 
in demaud. Such Canadians, who thus conforted with the 
inated 
middle. men, ade extrem € 
in the trade ound it tei intercft to 
fary credit, S eile them undertake thet eir Gmc) 
Three or four of thefe oie would put their 
cuftomed to Dae ‘or to fuch as they were aera to re 
for the purpofes of trade. 
they proceed, that thefe te Sa Ww ole 
to fifi 
teen oriths, when the adve prac would return 
e lives of thefe men, however, tending to obftrudt the 
of the miffionaries, and leffen the ey in the 
eyes of the natives, the {uppreffion of fucha clafs of men 
was attempted by an edict prohibiting any pes ia from going 
up the country without a licence from 
i i rable, many of them ca 
10, as ce formerly did, had 
des bois, which 
aa from the improper conduct o 
trade alfo flowed in more numerous ae a channels. 
iro army, profecuted 
cir, under their 
refpetiv licences ; and by. perfeering induftry extended it 
o fuch a diftanc nee, as in that was confidered 
attonithing effort of commercial reise. 
and their miffionaries, having combine 
TS, as the licenced traders were denominated, engaged: 
in thofe diftant expeditions to the remote icant and 
enabled them to. carry the fur trade as far as the ban 
river Safkatchiwine, in latitude 53° north, and pee no 02° 
weft. Thus expanded was it, notwithftanding the refrictions 
ich.commerce was 0 ed under the Fre 
many of 
average, that I'rance impo 
: oe of the province to ‘the | 
y to afcertain, Mr. 2 1b 
oe cA pelt. _impor ted i 
¢ do. 1 asq2t 3 mink 
