The Fur Country | Page 6

. . 1,074
Skins and young Beavers,. . 92,288
Musk Rats,. . . . . . . . . 694,092
Badgers,. . . . . . . . . . 1,069
Bears,. . . . . . . . . . . 7,451
Ermines,. . . . . . . . . . 491
Foes, . . . . . . . . . . . 9,937
Lynxes, . . . . . . . . . . 14,255
Sables, . . . . . . . . . . 64,490
Polecats, . . . . . . . . . 25,100
Otters, . . . . . . . . . . 22,303
Racoons,. . . . . . . . . . 713
Swans, . . . . . . . . . . 7,918
Wolves, . . . . . . . . . . 8,484
Wolverines, . . . . . . . . 1,571
Such figures ought to bring in a large profit to the Hudson's Bay Company, but unfortunately they have not been maintained, and for the last twenty years have been decreasing.
The cause of this decline was the subject of Captain Craventy's explanation to Mrs Paulina Barnett.
"Until 1839, madam," said he, "the Company was in a flourishing condition. In that year the number of furs exported was 2,350,000, but since then the trade has gradually declined, and this number is now reduced by one-half at least."
"But what do you suppose is the cause of this extraordinary decrease in the exportation of furs?" inquired Mrs Barnett.
"The depopulation of the hunting territories, caused by the activity, and, I must add, the want of foresight of the hunters. The game was trapped and killed without mercy. These massacres were conducted in the most reckless and short-sighted fashion. Even females with young and their little ones did not escape. The consequence is, that the animals whose fur is valuable have become extremely rare. The otter has almost entirely disappeared, and is only to be found near the islands of the North Pacific. Small colonies of beavers have taken refuge on the shores of the most distant rivers. It is the same with many other animals, compelled to flee before the invasion of the hunters. The traps, once crowded with game, are now empty. The price of skins is rising just when a great demand exists for furs. Hunters have gone away in disgust, leaving none but the most intrepid and indefatigable, who now penetrate to the very confines of the American continent."
"Yes," said Mrs Paulina Barnett, "the fact of the fur-bearing animals having taken refuge beyond the polar circle, is a sufficient explanation of the Company's motive in founding a factory on the borders of the Arctic Ocean."
"Not only so, madam," replied the Captain, "the Company is also compelled to seek a more northern centre of operations, for an Act of Parliament has lately greatly reduced its domain."
"And the motive for this reduction?" inquired the traveller.
"A very important question of political economy was involved, madam; one which could not fail greatly to interest the statesmen of Great Britain. In a word, the interests of the Company and those of civilisation are antagonistic. It is to the interest of the Company to keep the territory belonging to it in a wild uncultivated condition. Every attempt at clearing ground was pitilessly put a stop to, as it drove away the wild animals, so that the monopoly enjoyed by the Hudson's Bay Company was detrimental to all agricultural enterprise. All questions not immediately relating to their own particular trade, were relentlessly put aside by the governors of the association. It was this despotic, and, in a certain sense, immoral system, which provoked the measures taken by Parliament, and, in 1837, a commission appointed by the Colonial Secretary decided that it was necessary to annex to Canada all the territories suitable for cultivation, such as the Red River and Saskatchewan districts, and to leave to the Company only that portion of its land which appeared to be incapable of future civilisation. The next year the Company lost the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, which it held direct from the Colonial Office, and you will now understand, madam, how the agents of the Company, having lost their power over their old territories, are determined before giving up their trade to try to work the little known countries of the north, and so open a communication with the Pacific by means of the North-west passage."
Mrs Paulina Barnett was now well informed as to the ulterior projects of the celebrated Company. Captain Craventy had given her a graphic sketch of the situation, and it is probable he would have entered into further details, had not an incident cut short his harangue.
Corporal Joliffe announced in a loud voice that, with Mrs Joliffe's assistance, he was about to mix the