The Portland daily press., 1899-08-18
NORTHERN FUR TRADE.
Hard Life Of the Hudson nay Com
pany's voyageurs.
(Ilnronto Gloha. y


of his spring hunt varies greatly Of
course, but In good year from 500 to
$500 may be taken as a fair average. lie
may have eight or ten bears, dozen
bsavers, four or five offers, number Of
lynxcs. martens and ninks. and several
hundred musquash or muskrats. When
all the hunters have come In the furs are
pressed Into packs Of hundred pounds
each and sant In Yk boats to, the
frontier trails, over which they are carted
to the nearest railway station TO be
shipped to London, England. where they
are carefully sorted and afterward sold at
the two great annual sales Of the company
in January and March, which are attend
ed by buyers from all parts Of the world.
In the hard life Of the vcyageur there
are ever present the elements OF danger
and excitement. With the first glance Of
dawn the guide shouts his warning
Level Lesep'and the men spring from
their blankets, pack the camp outfit
into the boats and are OF
and are of. Six oars go to boat, one to
a man, besides ';swesp'' in the hands
of both bow and steersman. The oars are
large and heavy, and the rowers rise to
their feet and sink back onto their seats
with eaoh long stroke At o'clock
they put ashore for brealf asst, and about
noon another halt is made; then they 90
on until night falls. when they stop for
the day, eat their supper and throw them
selves on the ground for few hours
rest. 1 have been told by yoyageurs chat
they have been so tired at night that they
were unable to eat and have flung them
selves down on the nearest level spot,
without so much as removing their coats
or snatching a blanket, and slept the
| sleep of dead WEAKNESS until reused at
daybreak by theory Of the guide
Fifteen TO twenty miles Is perhaps an
average days Journeys; much depends
upon the water. In some places rapids
and portages occur with exasperating
frequency in others the stream is broad
and deep, and there is little current.
Again, In crossing lake. with favora-
BILE wind sail may be made AMI the
| rowers have welcome rest; while in
breasting rapid around which 1t is un-
necessary or impossible to portage .'trsck-
ing" Is resorted to. A long line is at
tached TO the bow of the boat and the
men disemhark, leaving only the steers
man to keep her nose off rocks in the
stream, while the men, far ahead on the
bank, haul her up against the torrent.
| Accidents are common. A block of over
hanging Ice four or i've feet thick, left by
the spring flood. may fall upon man as
| he passes beneath ID and crush out his
| life; sudden access Of foros in the our
rent as the boat rounds bend into the
river. and some may not get out again.
Or the boat may drift upon rock, smash
to atoms and the cargo and the men in
her be lost.
TOILSOME PoRTAGES.
| But portaSIng Ia the hardest work
which come to the yoyageui, for some
times it is necessary to drag the heavy
York boat and TO carry her load Of four
or nve tons over rough, rocky point a
mile in width. A portage strap Is fast
ened to one "piece" Of about one hundred
pounds; another piece, perhaps two. ars
placed upon this, and with the strap
against his forehead, with barred legs and
shoeless feet, men after man tolls across
the portage. until the narrow path be-
meath Is soft and damp with human
sweat. They are glad when the last piece
Is over.
In former times buffalo pemmican
constituted the chief food Of the yoyager;
now dried moose and caribou meat have
taken its place. Then ten and sfionr were
Injuries enjoyed but once year. at
Christmas, now they form part of his
daily ration.
AS may be imagined, the life of com.
pany's office clerk does not porssess
much OF novelty. II tneclerk Is fortun-
ate enough TO be
afa or hn kaa
he may perhaps live at the same table
with his commissioned officers and fam
lily; there may be young ladies, in which
event music and cards help to willis away
the long winter evenings. EIhere Is also
a library of greater or less dimensions,
and II he be OF literary turn magazine
and papers reach him as often as from
twice to twelve times q year, as he may
be near or far from the arteries of the
great outside world. In any event, the
notable breaks in the monotonous life, Are
those bringing tidings of home and friends
and of those things Of which be was once
a part, and which lineer ever In his heart
and memory, no matter how long it may
have been since he babe farewell to them
all. Dances, too, assist In killing time,
and If the occasion be wedding dance
Is likely to last for two or three days. for
leisure is usually abundant in thess great
quiet lands.
HUNTING BIG GAME.
But hunting is the main recreation
of the majority of the officers and clerks.
The staff at post often go of and camp
for week, and hundred or more geese
and double that number OF ducks load the
boats on the return. The ptarmigan--
brown in summer and white In winter
is good game bird, and in some locali-
ties pinnated grouse or prairie chickens
are very numerous. Our ubiquitous lit
tie friend, the partridge, too, is nowhere
more frequently Eat home" to the hunter
than here, and he is often such stranger
to the guile Of man that an Indian will
walk up to the tree upon which he is sit
ting and slip the moose that be has fixed
to the end OF q pole over hisshead. After
the first snow In the fall rabbit shooting
Is good sport, and in seasons when Their
are plentiful fifty or sixty TO the credit
OF single huntsman In an afternoon is
not an uncommon score. Then there Ia
the large game, such as moose AMI deer,
while now and then stupid lear pokes
his nose in danQerOua nrnximitv IN fha