The mirror., 1921-02-03

NaPtaln COatS SunereQ SnlpWreck-Once
in 1927, when, to use his own words,
"near the meridian of Cape Farewell,
when running through the ice with
small sail, when two pieces of ice shut
upon US and sank our vessel;" and again
in 1896, when he was entangled in the ice
of Cape Resolution, when his ship had
her sides crushed in, and sank in twenty
minutes.
Towards the close of his life, Goats
drew up journal containing an elaborate
description Of Hudson Bay and its ap-
proaches.
Needless to say, Captain Coats, in his
journal, makes no mention of his clandes-
tine trade-that is trade carried on by an
employee of the company for his benefit
and contrary to the rules of the service.
Captain Coats clandestine trade was
carried on for many years, and it might
never have been known to the Company
had it not been for the sudden ueath of
man named Pilgrim, formerly governor
at Fort Prince of Wales and at Moose
Factory.
A number of private letters and papers
reached England, incriminating Coats.
They reached the Governors of the Com
pany and were fully examined. An entry
in the Company's record states that Coats
was called before the Governors and told
of the information they had received-in-
formation that gave reason to suspect that
he had defrauded the Company by trading
with the Indians on his own account to
the loss of the Company, and contrary to
the fidelity he owed it,
AT first Coats tried to excuse himself,
but finding that the proof contained in the
letters, many of which were in his own
handwriting, was so strong against him,
he admitted his guilt. The judgment of
the Governors was that Coats be dismissed
from the service, and that he deliver up
the keys of the ship King George, of which
he was commander, together with the
stores, and also certain stores in ware
house in his control.
After hearing the sentence pronounced
upon him, the disgraced Captain went
sadly home, where after miserable exis-
tence of few weeks, spent in brooding
over the wretchedness of the position into
which his dishonesty had forced him, the
miserable Captain ended his own life by
his own hands.
Three months later, his widow Mary
Coats, wrote letter to the Company which
was read to meeting of the Governors.
1t asked that the Company would Gin
dulge her so far as to order the balance
that shall appear upon her late husbands
account to be paid, and to permit her to
have the stores brought home, still re-
naming in the Royal George. The profit
of these had always been enjoyed by every
master in the Company's service"
Moved by the appeal, the meeting called
in Widow Coats and informed her that
she might expect the favor of the Com
pany, provided she delivered to the Cover
nors all the books, papers, and charts be-
longing to her late husband. "For which
she returned thanks and promised TO COM
ply Herewith"
The fact that years afterwards the Hak-
luyt Society published Coats journal shows
that the widow did not keep to the strict
letter of her promise respecting the giving
up of all the papers of her husband. Such
in outline is the story of one clandestine
trader in the Company's service. There
were many such unfaithful servants, but
not to all come the tragic end that over
took Captain Coats.
During number of years before their
final defeat by the British in the Seven
Years War, the French maintained
number of trading posts on the Great
Lakes and on the waterways leading into
the prairie country. These posts were