164 JOURNEY TO THE SHORES 



in part, recoiled upon the traders; for the 

 Indians, long deceived, have become de- 

 ceivers in their turn, and not unfrequently 

 after having incurred a heavy debt at one 

 post move off to another, to play the same 

 game. In some cases the rival posts have 

 entered into a mutual agreement to trade 

 only with the Indians they have respectively 

 fitted out; but such treaties, being seldom 

 rigidly adhered to, prove a fertile subject 

 for disputes, and the differences have been 

 more than once decided by force of arms. 

 To carry on the contest, the two Companies 

 are obliged to employ a great many ser- 

 vants, whom they maintain often with much 

 difficulty, and always at a considerable ex- 

 pense.* 



There are thirty men belonging to the 

 Hudson's Bay Fort at Cumberland, and 

 nearly as many women and children. 



The inhabitants of the North West Com- 

 pany's House are still more numerous. 



* As the contending parties have united, the evils 

 mentioned in this and the two preceding pages, are 

 now, in all probability, at an end. 



