7 he Discoveries and S e t t l e xM e n t s 
venience. After this Time it appears very elearly, that 
the Trade of the Hudfon^ s Bay Company declined ex- 
tremely, but whether from any Advantage gained in 
Trade by the French^ or from any ill Management of 
their Affairs at home or abroad, I cannot pretend to fay. 
This, however, is certain, that in the next general War 
the French had renewed their Attacks upon the Settle- 
ments of the Hudford s Bay Company, and this with fuch 
Effedt, that they foon left them nothing but Fort Albany 
which very well accounts for the low State of their 
Trade to the End of the War, and fome Time after. At 
the making the Treaty at Utrecht^ great Care was taken 
of this Company, who by the loth and nth Articles 
have every thing reftored to them that had been taken 
from them, and an equitable Satisfaftion ftipulated for 
their Loffes. Since which Time the Trade of the Com- 
pany has wonderfully encreafed, infomuch that it became, 
at leaft, treble to what it was at the Time that Peace was 
made, and is ftill in a very fiourifhing Condition. 
It is very natural for fuch as reap the Benefit of any 
Branch of Trade, to be as filent and fecret about it as 
poffible, which is the Reafon that till within thefe few 
ears both the • Country and the Commerce of Hudfon^ s 
Bay were very little, and indeed fcarce at all, known here, 
though carried on entirely by this Nation. As for the 
French^ they had fo little Notion of it, that they treated 
all Mr. Iberville'' Projedls, upon this Subjedt, as mere 
Chimeras ; and when a Memorial was prefented to the 
Regent Duke of Orleans^ fetting forth the great Dangers 
the French Settlements in Aorth America mull: run, if the 
Englip fhould ever lay open this Trade, or think of 
tranfporting their Felons into this Part of the World, it 
was looked upon as a niere Vifion. But fince that Time 
they are become much better acquainted with this Part of 
America^ as appears from the Account I have already 
given from one of their Authors. 
But as to the Produdl and prefeiit Condition of this 
Country, the bell: Account I ever faw of it, is that pub- 
lillied by Mr. Dobbs, from the Mouth of one experimen- 
tally acquainted with it, and from whom I fliall borrow 
as much as I think may fuffice to give the Reader a ge- 
neral Notion of its Nature and Importance. “ The In- 
“ dians being obliged to go afhore every Day to hunt for 
“ Provifions, delays them very much in their Voyages; 
“ for their Canoes are fo very fmall, holding only two 
“ Men and a Pack of one hundred Beaver Skins, that 
“ they cannot carry Provifions with them for any Time. 
“ If they had larger Canoes, they would make their Voy- 
ages fhorter, and carry many more Beavers to Market, 
“ at leaft four times as many, befides other Skins of 
“ Value, which are too heavy for their prefent Canoes ; 
“ this, and the high Price of x\\t European GoodiS, by 
“ the Company in exchange, difeourages the Natives fo 
much, that if they were not abfolutely under a Necef- 
“ fity of having Guns, Powder, and Shot, Hatchets, and 
“ other Iron Tools for their Hunting, and Tobacco, 
Brandy, and fome Paint for Luxury, they would not 
“ go down to the Faflory, with what they now carry. 
“ At prefent they leave great Numbers of Furs and Skins 
“ behind them. A good Hunter, among the Indians, 
can kill fix hundred Beavers in a Seafon, and can 
“ carry down but one hundred ; the reft he ufes at home, 
“ or hangs them upon Branches of Trees, upon the Death 
of their Children, as an Offering to them, or ufe them 
for Bedding and Coverings. They fometimes burn off 
the Fur, and roaft the Beavers like Pigs, upon any 
‘‘ Entertainments, and they often let them rot, having 
no farther Ufe for them. The Beavers, he fays, are 
“ of three Colours, the brown reddilh Colour, the black, 
‘‘ and white ; the firft is the cheapeft, the black is moft 
valued by the Company in England, the white the 
“ moft valued in Canada, giving eighteen Shillings, when 
“ others give five or fix Shillings ; it is blown upon by 
“ the Companies Faftors at the Bay, they not allowing 
“ fo much for thefe as for the others, and therefore the 
“ Indians ufe them at home, or burn off the Hair, when 
“ they roaft the Beavers like Pigs, at an Entertainment 
when they feaft together. He fays thefe Skins are ex- 
tremely v/hite, and have a fine Luftre, no Snow being 
whiter, and have a fine long Fur or Hair. ■ He has feeii 
“ fifteen taken of that Colour out of one Lodp-e or 
Pond. ^ 
“ The Beavers have three Enemies, Man, Otters, and 
the Carcajon, or Quecquehatch, which prey upon 
them, when they take them at Advantage; the laft is 
“ as large as a very great Dog, it has a Ihort Tail like a 
“ Deer or Hart, and has a good Fur, valued at a- 
“ Beaver and a half in exchange. The Beavers chiefeft 
“ Food is the Poplar, or Tremble, but they alfo eat 
“ Sallows, Alders, and moft other Trees, not having 
a refinous Juice. The Middle Bark is their Food ; in 
“ May, when the Wood is not plenty, they live upon a 
“ large Root which grows in the Marflies a Fathom long, 
“ and as thick as a Man’s Leg, xhtFrench called it Volet : 
“ But the Beavers are not fo good Food as when they 
“ feed upon Trees. They will cut down Trees about two 
“ Fathoms in Girth vfith their Teeth, and one of them 
“ obferves when it is ready to fall, and gives a great 
Cry, and runs the contrary Way, to give room for the 
“ reft to get out of the Way. They then cut off all 
“ the Twigs and fmaller Branches, two or three Fa- 
“ thorns in Length, and draw them to their Houfes, 
“ which they have built in their Ponds ; after having 
“ raifed or repaired their Pond Head, and made it 
“ ftaunch, and thruft one End into the Clay or Mud, 
“ that they may lie under Water all the Winter, to pre- 
“ ferve the Bark green and tender, for their Winter 
“ Provifion. After cutting off the fmall Branches, they 
“ cut and carry away the larger, until they come to 
“ the Bole of the Tree. The Beavers are excellent Food, 
“ but the Tongue and Tail the moft delicious Parts of 
“ the whole. They are very fat from November until 
“ the End of March : They have their Young in the Be- 
“ ginning of Summer, at which Time the Females are 
lean by fuckling their Young, and the Males are lean 
“ the whole Summer, when they are making or repair- 
“ ing their Ponds and Houfes, and cutting down and 
“ providing Timber and Branches for their Winter 
“ Store. They breed once in a Year, and have from 
“ ten to fifteen at a Litter, which grow up in one Sea- 
“ fon, fo that they multiply very faft ; and if they can 
“ empty a Pond and take the whole Lodge, they gene- 
“ rally leave a Pair to breed, fo that they are fully 
“ ftocked again in two or three Years. The Loup Cor- 
“ vier, or Lynx, is of the Cat kind, but as large as a 
“ great Dog ; it preys upon all Beafts it can conquer, as 
does the Tyger, which is the only Beaft in that Coun- 
“ try that won’t fly from a Man. The American Oxen 
“ or Beeves, have a large Bunch upon their Backs, which 
“ is by far the moft delicious Part of them for Food, it 
“ being all as fweet as Marrow, juicy and rich, and 
“ weighs feveral Pounds. 
“The Indians Weft of the Bay, living an erratic Life, 
“ can have no Benefit by tame Fowl or Cattle ; they 
“ feldom ftay above a Fortnight at a Place, unlefs they 
“ find plenty of Game. When they remove, after having 
“ built their Hutt they difperfe to get Game for their 
“ Food, and meet again at Night, after having killed 
“ enough to maintain them that Day ; they don’t go 
“ above a League or two from their Hut. When 
“ they find fcarcity of Game, they remove a League 
“ or two farther, and thus they traverfe through thefe 
“ woody Countries and Bogs, fcarce miffing one Day 
“ Winter or Summer, fair or foul, in the greateft 
“ Storms of Snow, but what they are employed in . 
“ fome kind of Chace. The fmaller Game, got by 
“ Traps or Snares, are generally the Employment of 
“ Women and Children, fuch as the Martins, Squirrels, 
“ Ermins, (Ac. The Elks, Stags, Rein Deer, Bears, 
“ Tygers, wild Beef, Wolves, Foxes, Beavers, Otters, 
“ Corcajon, lAc. are the Employment of the Men. The 
“ Indians, when they kill any Game for Food, leave it 
“ where they kill it, and fend their Wives next Day to 
“ carry it home. They go home in a direfl Line, never 
“ miffing their Way by Obfervation they make of the 
“ Courfe they take upon their going out, and fo judge 
“ upon what Point their Huts are, and can thus direfi: 
“ themfelves upon any Point of the Compafs. The 
I “ Trees 
