S A General History of the Fur Trade* 



so that towards the spring in each year, the rival parties 

 found it absolutely necessary to join, and make one com- 

 mon stock of what remained, for the purpose of trading 

 with the natives, who could entertain no respect for persons 

 who had conducted themselves with so much irregularity 

 and deceit. The winter, therefore was one continued scene 

 of disagreements and quarrels. If any one had the precau- 

 tion or good sense to keep clear of these proceedings, he 

 derived a proportionable advantage from his good conduct, 

 tnd frequently proved a peace-maker between the parties. 

 To such an height had they carried this licentious conduct, 

 that they were in a continual state of alarm, and were even 

 frequently stopped to pay tribute on their route into the 

 country ; though they had adopted the plan of travelling 

 together in parties of thirty or forty canoes, and keeping 

 their men armed ; which sometimes, indeed, proved neces- 

 sary for their defence. 



Thus was the trade carried on for several years, and 

 consequently becoming worse and worse, so that the part- 

 ners, who met them at the Grande Portage, naturally com- 

 plained of their ill success. But specious reasons were 

 always ready to prove that it arose from circumstances 

 which they could not at that time control ; and encourage- 

 ments were held forth to hope that a change would soon 

 take place, which would make ample amends for past dis- 

 appointments. 



It was about this time, that Mr. Joseph Frobisher, one 

 of the gentlemen engaged in the trade, determined to pe- 

 netrate into the country yet unexplored, to the North and 

 Westward, and, in the spring of th# year 1775, met the 

 Indians from that quarter on their way to Fort Churchill, 

 at Portage de Traite, so named from that circumstance on 

 the banks of the Missinipi, or Churchill River, latitude 

 55. 25. North, longitude 103|. West. It was, indeed, 

 with some difficulty that he could induce them to trade with 

 him, but he at length procured as many furs as his canoes 

 could carry. In this perilous expedition he sustained every 

 Jund of hardship incident to a journey through a wild and 

 tavage country, where his subsistence depended on what 

 the woods and the waters produced. These difficulties, 

 nevertheless, did not discourage him from returning in the 

 following year, when he was equally successful. He then 

 sent his brother to explore the country still further West, 



