FUR. 
T2f;e« to rife into a (late of civilization. Such was tlie 
event with thofe who thus accompanied the native In¬ 
dians on their liunling and trading excuiTions ; tor they 
became fo attaclied to the Indian mode of life, that they 
loft all relifh for their former habits and native homes. 
Hence they derived the title of Coureurs des Bois, became a 
kind of pedlars, and were extremely ufeful to the mer- 
chants engaged in the fur trade ; who gave them the 
neceffary ciedit to proceed on their commercial under¬ 
takings. Three or four of tliefe people would join their 
flock, put their property into a birch bark canoe, which 
they worked themfelves, and either accompanied tl'.e 
Indians in their excurfions, or went at once to th^ country 
where they knew they were to hunt. At length, thefe 
excurfions occupied the fpace of twelve or fifteen months, 
when they returned witlt lich cargoes of furs, followed 
by great numbers of Indians. During the fliorttime re- 
quifite to fettle their accounts with the merchants, and 
procure frelh credit, they generally contrived to fquander 
away ail their gains, when they returned to renew tlicir 
favourite mode of life ; their views being anfwered, and 
their labour fufficiently rewarded, by indulging them¬ 
felves in extravagance and difllpation during the (hort 
fpace of one month out of twelve or fifteen. This indif¬ 
ference about amalling property, and the pleafure of liv¬ 
ing free from all reftraint, foon brought on a licentioul- 
ne'fs of manners which could not long efcape the vigilant 
obfervaiion of the French mifiionaries, who had much 
reafon to complain of their being a difgrace to the chrifii.m 
religion ; by not only fwervingfrom its duties themfelves, 
but by tints bringing it into difrepute with thofe of tlie 
Indians wh.ohad become converts to it; and, confequent- 
]y, obflrudfing the great objedt to whiclt thofe pious men 
had devoted their lives. They, therefore, exerted their 
influence to procure tlie fupprellion of thefe people, and 
accordingly, no one was allowed to go up the country to 
traffic witli the Indians, without a licence from the gov¬ 
ernment. Tlic grant of thefe licences was foon conllder- 
edas a favour, and they were made transferable, and of 
courfe fdleable, Thofe who bought vt ere allowed to ap¬ 
point their own agents, and the agents thus employed 
.were generally the coureurs des bois, whofe conduit Itad 
^iven (licit caufe of complaint; fo that the remedy foon 
proved worfe than the difeafe. At length, military polls 
were eflablifiied at convenient places, and feveral refpec- 
table men profecuted the trade on their own accounts in 
pieidbn ; wliich mode was attended with tlie twofold be¬ 
nefit of fecuring the refpeil of the Indians, and the obe¬ 
dience of the people employed in the laborious parts of 
the bufinefs. 
As for the mifiionaries, if fufferings and hardfiiips in 
the profecution of the great work which they had under, 
taken deferved applaule and admiration, they had an un¬ 
doubted claim to be admired and applauded : they fpared 
no labour and avoided no danger in the execution of their 
important office; and it is to be feriouily lamented, that 
them pious endeavours did not meet with the fuccefs 
which they del'erved : for there is hardly a trace to be 
found, beyond the cultivated parts, of their meritorious 
fundlions. The caufe of this failure mult be attributed to 
a want of due coiifideratipn in the mode employed by the 
inilTionaries to propagate the religion of wliich they were 
the zealous minifters. They habituated themfelves at 
length to the favage life, and finally natiiralil'ed them¬ 
felves to the favage manners; and, by thus becoming de. 
pendent, as it were, on the natives, they acquired their 
contempt rather than their veneration. 
After the conqueft of Canada by the Englilh, the trade 
for furs in that country was for fome time I'ufpended ; the 
new polTelTors having neither knowledge of the Indian 
language, nor confidence in the natives, who had been 
taught to entertain hoftile difpofitions towards the Eng¬ 
lilh. ^ By degrees, however, the trade revived, and was 
foon carried beyond the French limits, partly by what is 
VoL. VIII. No. 48 v> ' ■ 
Il:y 
called tlie North Wed Comp.tny, and partly by' private 
individuals on their own account. This company does 
not poliefs any particular privileges by law, but froiu its 
great capital merely it is enabled to trade to certain remote 
parts of the continent, to the exclnfion of iliul'e ho do 
not hold anv fhares in it. It was formed by the merchants 
at Montreal, in 1783; who wifely confidered that the 
trade could be carried on to thofe diflant parts of the con¬ 
tinent, inhabited folely by Indians, with more fecurity 
and greater profit, if they joined together, in a body, than 
if tliey continued to trade feparately. The (lock of the 
company was divided into forty fnares; and as the number 
of merchants in the town at that time was not very great, 
this arrangement afforded an onportunity to every one of 
them to join in the company if he thought proper. The 
company principally carries on its trade by means of the 
Urawas or Grand river, which falls into the St. Law¬ 
rence about thirty miles above Montreal, and which 
forms, by its confluence v.>ith that river, the lake of the 
Two Mountains and the lake cf-S.t, Louis, wherein are fe- 
veral large ifiands. To convey the furs down this river, 
they make ufe of the above-mentioned canoes, formed of 
the bark of the birch-tree, fome of which, are upon (uch .a 
large fcale that they are capable of containing two tons ; 
but they feldom put fo much in tlieni, efpecially on this ' 
river, it being in many places fiiallow, rapid, and full of 
rocks, and contains no lefs than thirty-two portages. 
Tlie canoes are navigated by the (ianadiaiis, who are 
particularly fernd of the e.mployment, preferiiig it in 
general to tliat of cultivating the ground. A fleet of 
them lets off from Montreal about the month of May, 
laden with provilions, confifting chiefly of bifeuit and 
fair pork, fufneient tolafr the crews till their return, and 
alfo with the-articles given in barter to the Indians. At 
fome of the fiiallow places in the river, it is fiifficient if 
the men merely get out of the canoes, and pulh them on 
into the deep water ; but at others, where there are dan¬ 
gerous rapids and (harp rocks, it is necefl'ary for the men 
to unlade the canoes, and carry both them and the car¬ 
goes on their (boulders, till they come again to a fafe part 
of the river. At night they drag the canoes upon fiiorCn 
light a fire, cook their provifioiis for the following day, 
and deep upon the ground wrapped up in their blankets 
or furs. In general they remain wholly under the cano¬ 
py of heaven, copying exadfly the Indian mode of life, 
and many of them even wear the Indian drefles, which 
they find more convenient than their own. 
Having afeended the Utawas river for about two hun¬ 
dred and eighty miles, which it takes them about eighteen 
days to perform, they then crofs by a portage into Lake 
Ni(pifiing, and from tliis lake by another portage they get 
upon f rench river, which falls into Lake Huron on the 
north-eaft fide ; then coafting along this lall lake they 
pafs through the Straits of St. Mary, where there isano- 
ther portage into Lake Superior; and coafting afterwards 
along the ftiores of Lake Superior, they come to the Grand 
Portage on the north-weft fide of it ; from hence by a 
chain of finall lakes and rivers they proceed onward to 
the Rainy Lake of the Woods, and for luindreds of miles 
beyond it, through Lake Winnipeg, &c. The canoes, 
however, which go fo far up the country, never return 
the fame year; thofe intended to bring back cargoes im¬ 
mediately, (top at the Grand Portage, where the furs are 
collefted ready for them by the agents of the company. 
Tlie furs are made up in packs of a certain weight, and a 
particular number is put into each canoe. By knowing 
thus the exadc weight of every pack, there can be no em¬ 
bezzlement; and at the portages there is no time wafted 
in allotting to each man his load, every one being obli¬ 
ged to carry fo many packs. 
At the Grand Portage, and along that immenfe chain of 
lakes and rivers which extend beyond Lake Superior, 
the company has regular pofts, where the agents refidc ; 
and with fuch aitonilhing enterprife and induftry have the 
K k affairs 
