FUR TRADE.

The fur trade in Great Britain, and in most parts of the world, is divided into two distinct branches; namely, one for the preparing of fur for felting purposes, or the manufacturing of men’s hats of various descriptions; and the other for dressing the skins of animals for articles of clothing and ornament. But before entering into a detailed account of these two divisions of the fur trade, we shall present the reader with a brief sketch of the history of this branch of commercial traffic in modern times. In doing this, however, our limits will only permit us to give a dry statement of facts, although the subject naturally abounds with moving incidents and perilous enterprises. There is not, perhaps, a single article of commerce which has called forth a more daring and adventurous spirit, or given rise to a more patient and courageous endurance of personal dangers, privations, and hardships, than have been manifested throughout the whole history of the fur trade. We have by its means become pretty accurately acquainted with nearly three fourths of the immense continent of North America, extending from the Gulf of Mexico on both sides of the country, to the Frozen Ocean on the north. The indefatigable exertions of the fur merchant, stimulated by the prospect of attaining great profits from his hazardous undertakings, have made many nations and tribes of savage men partially acquainted with the arts and refinements of civilized life, who, in the natural course of things, would otherwise have remained many ages immersed in heathen darkness and barbarity. Nor are the general advantages derived from the fur trade confined to a more accurate geographical knowledge of a vast range of country, and the extension of the arts of social comfort and peace. The adventurous fur trader has often been the precursor of the gospel missionary, and has enabled him to pursue his important labours with comparative security and success.

History.

The French, soon after their establishment in Canada in 1608, were the first who brought this commerce into repute, by extending their traffic in skins to the remotest settlements of the Indian tribes in North America. When this trade had been carried on for nearly half a century by the French, it was thought to be so extremely profitable and advantageous that it became the leading temptation for incorporating the English Hudson’s Bay Company. The vast countries which surround this bay abounded with animals whose furs and skins were of great value, and far superior in quality to those found in less northerly regions. ïn 1670 a charter was accordingly granted by Charles II. to the governor and company of adventurers of England trading to Hudson’s Bay. They were to have the sole trade and commerce of and to all the seas, bays, straits, creeks, lakes, rivers, and sounds, in whatever latitude, which lie within the entrance of the straits commonly called Hudsons Straits ; together with all the lands, countries, and territories, upon the coasts of such bays, seas, and straits, which were then possessed by any English subject, or the subjects of any Christian state. The company established several forts, namely, Prince of Wales’ Fort, Churchill River, Nelson, New Severn, and Albany, which stood on the west side of the bay, and were garrisoned by a sufficient number of men for ordinary purposes. But in May 1782 the French took and destroyed these forts and settlements, which the company considered as a loss equal to half a million sterling.

Notwithstanding this misfortune, however, the company carried on for many years a very steady and lucrative* business. But in spite of the restrictions which grew out of their charter, the fur trade gradually extended itself beyond the territorial limits of the Company; never-thelesβ[7:10:261], being principally carried on by private individuals, with divided interests and very limited means, the company did not look upon their enterprises with jealousy, and allowed them to pursue their traffic without molestation. But for some time after the conquest of Canada by the English, this irregular trade was suspended, and several years elapsed before it was again revived.

In the year 1766 private adventurers began to traffic from Michilimakinac. The first persons who attempted it went as far as the river Camenistignia, and soon returned successful to Michilimakinac. Their success induced them to renew the journey, and incited others to follow their example. One of these adventurers, Thomas Curry, with a skill and enterprise superior to the others, penetrated to Fort Bourbon, one of the French forts, and returned to Canada with four canoes filled with fur. From this period the people began to spread over every part of the country.

In 1787 these scattered and independent trading parties were united into one body, under the denomination of the North-West Company. This was neither more nor less than an association of commercial men, who agreed to carry on the fur trade conjointly. The capital consisted of twenty shares, of which a certain proportion was held by the company’s agents in Canada. The remaining shares were held by the proprietors, who were obliged to manage the business of the concern with the Indians, their clerks, and other servants. They were not bound to furnish capital, nor even credit. Some of them held double shares, and could retire from business at any period with one of them, naming to succeed him in the other any young man in the service, who might be approved of by the majority of the concern, which became accountable to the succeeding person for the share so transferred. The retiring proprietor was also discharged from all duty, and became a dormant partner. Shares were transferable only to such as had served their time in the trade. Every share had a vote, and two thirds formed a majority. The liberal way of providing for the clerks of the company, by admitting them as partners in the concern, excited a spirit of emulation amongst them, and was one of the principal causes of its past and present prosperity. In 1788 the amount of the adventure did not exceed L.40,000; in eleven years it increased to triple that sum. In the same year this concern assumed a new form: the shares were more than doubled, and the company split into two parties; the majority acting upon the old stock and firm, and the rest commencing a new one.

The following is the mode of carrying on the fur trade by these companies. The agents order the goods from England in October, which are shipped from London the next spring, and arrive at Montreal by the summer. From thence they are sent to the Indian market in May following, where they arrive in the ensuing winter, and are exchanged for furs, which reach Montreal next autumn, and are thence shipped for London. As these are not sold nor paid for till the succeeding spring or summer, the merchant, allowing twelve months’ credit, receives no return for his goods, and the expenses attending them, which is about equal to the value of the goods themselves, until two years after they are considered as cash; which makes this a very heavy business.

The articles necessary for the trade are coarse woollen cloths, milled blankets, arms and ammunition, tobacco, Manchester goods, linens and coarse sheetings; common hardware, cutlery, ironmongery, and sheet iron; handkerchiefs, hats, shoes, and hose; calicoes and printed cottons, &c. Spirituous liquorsand provisions are purchasedin Canada. These, with the expenses of making up, and transporting them to and from the Indian market, form about half the annual amount against the adventure.

The number of men employed in the North-West Company, after its firm establishment, was in all 1276; consisting of fifty clerks, seventy-one interpreters, 1120 canoemen, and thirty-five guides. Of these, five clerks, eighteen guides, and 350 canoe-men, were employed for the summer in going from Montreal to the Grand Portage, and were called pork-eaters, or goers and comers. One third of the total number remained during the winter; all the rest were hired by the year, and sometimes for three years, except the apprentice clerks, who were generally engaged for five or seven years, for which they had only L.100, besides clothing. At the expiration of their time they were either admitted as partners, or were allowed from L.100 to L.300 per annum till thus provided for. Those who acted both as clerks and interpreters received from 1000 to 4000 livres per annum, with clothing and provisions. The guides, who also acted as interpreters, had from 1000 to 3000 livres. The canoe-men are of three descriptions; foremen, steersmen, and middlemen. The first two were allowed annually 1200, and the latter 400 livres each. To the last class were attached upwards of 700 Indians, women and children, victualled at the company’s expense.

The necessary number of canoes being purchased, the goods packed, and the rivers free of ice, they are dispatched from La Chine, about eight miles above Montreal, with eight or ten men in each canoe, and their baggage; sixty-five packets of goods, six hundredweight of biscuit, two hundredweight of pork, three bushels of peas, two oilcloths to cover the goods, a sail, &c., an oar, a towing-line, a kettle, a sponge to bail out the water, with a quantity of gum, bark, and watape to repair the vessel. An European seeing one of these vessels thus laden, with her gunwale within six inches of the water, would think his fate inevitable in it; but the Canadians are very expert, and few accidents happen.

The number of skins obtained annually by the company has varied considerably. In the year 1798 the total produce of their trade for twelve months consisted of 184,300 skins. Of these, 16,338 were diverted from the British market, and sent to China. This speculation, however, did not turn out very profitable, principally on account of the difficulty of getting home the return from this country in the East India Company’s ship, the payment of duty, and various other restrictions which do not affect the direct trade with America.

We shall now leave the fur trade in this part of the American continent for the present, and give a short sketch of the trade in other parts of the world. During Captain Cook’s last voyage to the Pacific Ocean, besides the various scientific advantages which were derived from it, a new source of wealth was laid open to future navigators, by trading for furs of the most valuable kind to the north-west coast of America. The first vessel that engaged in the new branch of trade which had been pointed out by that great navigator, was equipped by some gentlemen in China. She was a brig of sixty tons and twenty men, commanded by James Hanna; and having sailed from the Typa in the end of April 1785, proceeded to the northward along the coast of China, passed Diemen’s Straits, the south end of Japan, and arrived at Nootka in August following. Soon after her arrival, the natives, whom Captain Cook had left unacquainted with the effect of firearms, tempted probably by the diminutive size of the vessel, which was scarcely longer than some of their own canoes, and the small number of her people, attempted to board her in open day, but were repulsed with considerable slaughter. This was the introduction to a firm and lasting friendship. Captain Hanna cured such of the Indians as were wounded; an unreserved confidence took place; they traded fairly and peaceably; a valuable cargo of furs was procured; and the tad weather setting in, h< [7:10:262]left the coast in the end of September, touched at the Sandwich Islands, and arrived at Macao about the end of December.

Captain Hanna sailed again from Macao in May 1786, in the snow Sea Otter, of a hundred and twenty tons and thirty men, and returned to Macao in February 1787. In this second voyage he followed his former track, and arrived at Nootka in August; traced the coast from thence as far as fifty-three degrees; and explored the extensive sound discovered a short time before by Mr Strange, and called by him Queen Charlotte’s Sound, the latitude of which is 51 degrees north, and the longitude 128 west.

The snow Lark, Captain Peters, oftwo hundred and twenty tons and forty men, sailed from Macao in July 1786. Her destination was Kamtschatka (for which she was provided with a suitable cargo of arrack, tea, &c.), Copper Islands, and the north-west coast. Captail? Peters was directed to make his passage between Japan and Corea, and examine the islands to the north of Japan, said to be inhabited by hairy people; which, if Captain Cook had lived, would not have been left for the French to determine. No account having been received of this vessel since her departure, there is every reason to fear that she perished.

In the beginning of 1786 two coppered vessels were fitted out at Bombay, under the direction of Mr James Strange, who was himself a principal owner. These vessels were the snow Captain Cook, of three hundred tons, and snow Experiment, of a hundred tons. They proceeded in company from the Malabar coast to Batavia, passed the Straits of Macassar, where the Experiment was run upon a reef, and was obliged to haul ashore upon Borneo to repair; and thence they steered to the eastward of the Palaos Islands, made Sulphur Island, and arrived at Nootka the end of June following. From Nootka, where they left their surgeon’s mate, Mackay, to learn the language and collect skins against their intended return (but who was brought away in the Imperial Eagle the following year), they proceeded along the coast to Queen Charlotte’s Sound, of which they were the first discoverers, and thence in a direct course to Prince William’s Sound. After some stay there, the Experiment proceeded to Macao (their vessels being provided with passes by the governor-general of Goa); the Captain Cook endeavoured to get to Copper Island, but without success, being prevented by constant westerly winds.

Two coppered vessels were also fitted out by a society of gentlemen in Bengal, viz. the snow Nootka, of two hundred tons, and the snow Sea Otter, of a hundred tons, commanded by John Meares and William Tipping, lieutenants in the royal navy. The Nootka sailed in March 1786 from Bengal; passed through the China seas; touched at the Bashees, where they were very civilly treated by the Spaniards, who had taken possession of these islands; arrived at Oonalashka the beginning of August; found there a Russian galliot and some furriers; discovered accidently near Cape Greville a new strait near Cook’s River, fifteen leagues wide and thirty long; saw some Russian hunters in a small bay between Cape Elizabeth and Cape Bear; and arrived in Prince William’s Sound about the end of September. They determined to winter in Snug Corner Cove, latitude 60. 30. in preference to going to the Sandwich Islands, which seem placed by Providence for the comfort and refreshment of the adventurers in this trade; and were frozen up in this gloomy and frightful spot from the end of November till the end of May. By the severity of the winter they lost their third and fourth mates, surgeon, boatswain, carpenter, and cooper, and twelve of the foremast-men; and the remainder were so enfeebled as to be under the necessity of applying to the commanders of the King George and Queen Charlotte, who just at this time arrived in the sound, for some hands to assist in carry ing the vessel to the Sandwich Islands, whither, abandoning all further thoughts of trade, they determined (after getting a sea-stock of fish off Cape Edgecumbe) immediately to proceed. The Nootka arrived at Macao in the end of October 1787.

The Imperial Eagle, Captain Barkley, fitted out by a society of gentlemen at Ostend, sailed from Ostend in the latter end of November 1786; went into the bay of AllSaints, and thence, without touching anywhere, to the Sandwich Islands, and arrived in the beginning of June at Nootka, whence he proceeded to the south, as far as 47.30. in which space he discovered some good and spacious harbours. In the latitude of 47. 46. he lost his second mate, purser, and two seamen, who were upon a trading party with the long boat, and imprudently trusting themselves ashore unarmed, were cut off by the natives. This place seems to be the same which Don Antonio Mourelle calls the Uha de lo» Dolore», where the Spaniards, going ashore to water, were also attacked and cut off.

The King George, of three hundred and twenty, and the Queen Charlotte, of two hundred tons, commanded by Captains Portlock and Dixon, who served under Captain Cook in his last voyage, were fitted out by a society of gentlemen in England, who obtained a privilege to trade to the north-west coast of America, from the South Sea and East India Companies. These vessels sailed from England in the beginning of September 1785, touched at the Falkland Islands, Sandwich Islands, and arrived at Cook’s River in the month of August. From thence, after collecting a few furs, they steered in the end of September for Prince William’s Sound, intending, it is said, to winter there; but they were prevented entering by heavy storms and extremely bad weather, which obliged them to bear away, and seek some other part of the coast to winter at. The storms and bad weather accompanied them till they arrived off Nootka Sound, when they were so near the shore that a canoe came off to them; but though thus near accomplishing their purpose, a fresh storm came on, and obliged them finally to bear away for the Sandwich Islands, where they remained during the winter months; and returning again to the coast, arrived in Prince William’s Sound in the middle of May. The King George remained in Prince William’s Sound; and during her stay her long boat discovered a new passage from the sound into Cook’s River. The Queen Charlotte proceeded along the coast to the south; looked into Behring’s Bay, where the Russians have now a settlement; and examined that part of the coast, from fifty-six to fifty degrees, which was not seen by Captain Cook, and which consists of a cluster of islands, called by Captain Dixon Queen Charlotte’s Islands, at a considerable distance from the main, which is thus removed further to the eastward than it was supposed to be. Some part of the continent may, however, be seen from the east side of these islands; and it is probable that the distance does not anywhere exceed fifty leagues. According to this estimation, Hudson’s House, longitude 106.27. west, latitude 53. north, is not more than 800 miles distant from that part of this coast, in the same parallel. It is therefore not improbable that the enterprising spirit of our Canadian furriers may penetrate to this coast, the communication with which is probably much facilitated by lakes or rivers, and add to the comforts and luxuries of Europe this invaluable fur, which in warmth, beauty, and magnificence, far exceeds the richest furs of Siberia. Queen Charlotte’s Islands are inhabited by a race of people differing in language, in features, and in manners, from all the other tribes of this coast. Amongst other peculiarities, they are distinguished by a large incision in the under lip, in which is inserted a piece of polished wood, sometimes ornamented with mother of pearl shell, in shape and size like a weaver’s shuttle, which undoubtedly is the most effectual mode of deforming the [7:10:263]human face divine that the ingenious depravity of taste in any savage nation has yet discovered. These ships, after disposing of their furs in China, were loaded with teas on account of the English company, sailed from Waitipoa, and arrived in England after an absence of three years.

The year after the departure or me King George and Queen Charlotte, the association to which they belonged fitted out two other vessels, viz. the Princess Royal, of sixty tons, and the Prince of Wales, of two hundred tons, commanded by Captains Colnet and Duncan, the former of whom had served under Captain Cook. These vessels left England in August 1786; touched at New Year’s Harbour on Staaten Land, where they left an officer and twelve men to kill seals against the arrival of a vessel which was to follow them from England; and thence proceeded directly to N∞tka, where they arrived the 6th of July, sickly and in bad condition, and found there the Imperial Eagle, which had left Europe some months after them. Leaving Noot∙ ka, they steered along the shore to the northward, and soon after fell in with the Queen Charlotte.

In the beginning of 1788 Captain Meares again sailed with two other vessels, the Felice, which he commanded himself, and the Iphigenia, Captain Douglas, to Nootka Sound. Here he purchased of the chief of the district a spot, on which he built a house for his residence and the more convenient intercourse with the natives; hoisting the British colours thereon, surrounding it with a breastwork, and mounting a three-pounder on the front. Having done tills, he sent Mr Douglas in the Iphigenia to trade along the northern coast, whilst he himself proceeded to the south; and by presents to the chiefs he obtained the ports Cox and Effingham, and the promise of an excellent trade with the natives of the district, and also some other places, which he took possession of in name of the king. Captain Douglas likewise, by presents to the chiefs of the countries he visited, obtained similar privileges, no other European vessel having been there before him.

On their return to Nootka, they found a vessel finished, which the commander had laid down before his departure. This, which he named the North-West America, he left at Nootka with the Iphigenia, whilst he sailed with a cargo of furs in the Felice to China.

A few days after his arrival at China, two vessels, the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal, came to Canton from their trading voyage above mentioned. Captain Meares, fearing that a competition of interests might be injurious to both parties, proposed a partnership, which was mutually agreed to; and another ship was purchased by the firm, and called the Argonaut. In the month of April 1787, Captain Meares gave Mr Colnet the command of the Princess Royal and the Argonaut, which were loaded with stores and articles estimated sufficient for three years trade, besides several artificers, and about seventy Chinese, who intended to become settlers on the north-west coast of America, under protection of the new company.

In the mean while the Iphigenia and North-West America (the vessel built at Nootka), having wintered in the Sandwich Islands, returned to Nootka in the latter end of April; soon after which two Spanish ships of war, under the command of Don Martinez, anchored in the sound. For a few days mutual civilities passed between the Spanish captain and Mr Douglas; but at the end of about a week Don Martinez summoned the latter on board his own ship the Princessa, telling him he was his prisoner, and that the king of Spain had commanded him, Don Martinez, to seize all vessels he should find on that coast. He therefore instructed his officers to take possession of the Iphigenia, which they accordingly did in the name of his Catholic majesty; and the officers and crew were conveyed as prisoners on board the Spanish ships, where they were put in irons, and otherwise ill treated. Immediately after this, Don Martinez took possession of the little settlement, hoisting the standard of Spain, and modestly declaring all the lands from Cape Horn to sixty degrees north latitude belonging to his master. To aggravate the insult, he forcibly employed the crew of the Iphigenia in building batteries, &c. and offered no kind of violence to two American vessels which were at the same time in the harbour. At this time the North-West America was sent to explore the Archipelago of St Lazarus. On her return to Nootka she met with similar treatment, and the skins she had collected were seized, with the rest of her cargo.

A few days after, the Princess Royal (which we have mentioned as having left Canton in company with the Argonaut) arrived. The Spanish commander, for reasons which do not appear, suffered her to depart. The skins collected by the North-West America were shipped on board her for the benefit of her owner, and she proceeded to trade in the neighbouring isles. On the 3d of July the Argonaut arrived at the sound; and Don Martinez, after making every profession of civility to Mr Co)net, the commander, took possession of the said ship in the name of his master, and made prisoners of the crew. Soon after, the Princess Royal returning to receive instructions from Mr Colnet, director of the enterprise, was also seized by the Spanish captain.

The crews of the British vessels were variously disposed of, some being sent to China by the American vessels, and others to Spanish America; but the Chinese were all detained, and employed in the mines which were opened in the lands purchased by Captain Meares. What these mines consisted of we are nowhere informed. Mr Colnet was so much affected at the failure of the enterprise that he lost his reason.

This proceeding, as soon as it became known, occasioned a spirited representation from the British court to that of Spain; at the same time that vigorous preparations were made for war in case adequate satisfaction should be refused. Matters, however, were prevented from coming to extremities, by a compliance on the part of Spain, after many delays and much artifice of negotiation, with the requisitions of Britain; in consequence of which, among other advantages unnecessary to be here recited, the whole trade from Calilòmia to China was completely laid open, and the British allowed the full exercise of navigation and commerce in those parts of the world which formed the subject of discussion.

In some accounts of the voyages above mentioned, the fur trade in those parts has been greatly magnified. In that published by Captain Portlock, however, this officer observes, that the gains hitherto have certainly not been enviably great, although the merchants have no doubt found the trade lucrative.

Considerable success having attended the Russian voyages to the Aleutian Islands, and along the north-western shore of North America, in the middle of the last century, two Russian mercantile houses, of the names of Schelikoff and Galikoff, projected, in 1785, the formation of a regular company, to encourage the fur trade in those regions, under the denomination of the Russian American Fur Company. Schelikoff himself, the head of one of the establishments, was the commander of all their early expeditions. They erected forts for the protection of a chain of factories on most of the islands, and induced a number of respectable merchants to join in their extensive and lucrative adventures at the expense of the natives, from whom they did not fail to take every opportunity of wresting the staple of the district. Many cruelties were charged against them at this time; and the Emperor Paul was upon the eve of suppressing the association altogether, when the company pledged itself, through its active agent Μ. Von Resanoff, to follow more regular proceedings. In [7:10:264]] 799 it was formally established with considerable privileges. The present emperor took it under his particular patronage at his accession; and the intelligent minister Romanzoff has introduced many useful changes in its constitution. The condition of the fur-collectors of the company is said, however, to be still wretched in the extreme, and only to be exceeded by that of the oppressed Aleutians, who are in turn their slaves.

From about the year 1806 till 1823 a very extensive trade was carried on in the South Seas in procuring sealskins, which in that part of the world are covered with a very fine fur. These were obtained in vast abundance by the first traders, and yielded a very large profit; but the traffic has now become nearly extinct, on account of the almost entire destruction of the animals. The price of seal-skins is in consequence very high, averaging from 30s. to 50s. per skin; a price which has effectually prevented the use of the fur for felting purposes, to which it was a few years since extensively applied, and confined it entirely to objects of ornament in dress.

Within these last twenty years a great trade has been carried on with some of the South American provinces for the skins of a little animal called the nuetra. It is of the rat species, and is found in immense quantities in most of the rivers in that part of the world. The fur of it is now considered as quite a staple article in the hat trade. The traffic is entirely in the hands of private adventurers; and great numbers of these skins are imported annually into the port of Liverpool by the hat manufacturers in Lancashire, who send their goods to the South American market, and obtain nuetra-skins in exchange.

From the period of the establishment of the North-West Company till 1809, they had succeeded in establishing trading posts adjoining the different factories of the Hudson’s Bay Company in all the interior ports of America; and were still, by their enterprise and skill, making considerable progress both to the north and west. They had numerous trading establishments at Athabasea, Peace River, Great and Lesser Slave Lakes, New Caledonia, St Columbia, &c. to none of which places did the Hudson’s Bay Company attempt to follow them. By these means the North-West Company became undisputed masters of the interior and south-western states. Their influence with the natives was all-powerful; and no single trader, without incurring imminent danger from the Indians, or encountering the risk of starvation, could attempt to penetrate into their territories.

A few independent individuals unconnected with either company, the chief of whom was Mr John Jacob Astor, a wealthy merchant of New York, still carried on a fluctuating trade with the Indians whose lands border on Canada and the United States; but their competition proved injurious to themselves, as prices far above their value were frequently given to the natives for their furs.

With the interior thus inaccessible, and the confines not worth disputing, Mr Astor turned his thoughts to the opposite si<le of the American continent; and accordingly made proposals to the North-West Company to join with him in forming an establishment on the Columbia River. This proposition was submitted to the consideration of a general meeting of the wintering proprietors; but, after some negotiations as to the details, it was rejected. Mr Astor, therefore, determined to make the attempt without their co-operation; and, in the winter of 1809, he succeeded in forming an association called the Pacific Fur Company, of which he himself was the chief proprietor. As able and experienced traders were necessary to ensure success, he induced several of the gentlemen connected with the North-West Company to quit that establishment and join in his speculation.

It was intended, in the first instance, to form a trading establishment at the entrance of the Columbia, and as many more subsequently on its tributary streams as the nature and the productions of the country would admit. It was also arranged that a vessel laden with goods for the Indian market should sail every year from New York to the Columbia, and, after discharging her cargo at the establishment, take on board the produce of the year’s trade, and thence proceed to Canton, which affords a ready market for furs of every description. On disposing of her stock of peltries at the latter place, she was to return to New York freighted with the productions of China.

The first vessel fitted out by the Pacific Fur Company was the Tonquin, commanded by Captain Jonathan Thorne, formerly a lieutenant in the service of the United States. She sailed from New York in the autumn of 1810, and had on board four partners, nine clerks, with a number of mechanics and voyageurs, and a large and well-assorted cargo for the Indian and Chinese trade. Much about the same period a party under the command of Messrs W. P. Hunt and Donald Mackenzie, left St Louis on the Missouri, with the intention of proceeding as nearly as possible by Lewis and Clarke’s route across the continent to the mouth of the Columbia. This party consisted, besides the above gentlemen, who were partners, of three clerks and upwards of seventy men.

The following year, 1811, another vessel, the Beaver, of four hundred and eighty tons, commanded by Captain Cornelius Sowles, sailed for Columbia. She had on board one partner, six clerks, and a number of artisans and voyageurs, with a plentiful supply of every thing which could contribute to the comfort of the passengers and crew. After a voyage of nearly seven months, she arrived at the mouth of the Columbia.

An establishment was here formed, which was called Fort Astoria, in honour of Mr Astor. There were at this fort, when the Tonquin and the Beaver united their respective forces, five proprietors, and as many clerks, artisans, canoe-men, and others, as amounted to a hundred and forty men. The Tonquin was dispatched on a short cruise to the northward, as far as Nootka Sound, with a view of obtaining a few furs there; whilst the party at the Columbia were endeavouring to obtain what would complete her cargo, when she was to be sent forthwith to Canton. But she was destined never to return to St Columbia. The captain and the natives quarrelled, when she was plundered, and every one on board put to death.

This melancholy circumstance threw a great gloom over the establishment at Astoria, which, three years after this, was doomed to entire dissolution. In 1812, war having been declared by Great Britain against the United States, the company found, that in consequence of the strict blockade maintained by the English cruisers, no vessel could venture to trade to such a remote part of the world; added to which, information was received that the Beaver, which had proceeded a short time before to Canton, was blockaded there. These untoward events decided the fate of the Pacific Fur Company. Many of the most active persons in its employment offered their services to the North-West Company, which were readily accepted.

The standard of exchange established between the fur traders and the Indians, from whom the skins are obtained, is quite of an arbitrary description, and has very little reference to the intrinsic value of the skins when brought into this country. The beaver-skin is taken as the standard of value. Three martens, eight musk-rats, or a single lynx or wolverene skin, are equivalent to one beaver; a silver fox, a white fox, or otter, is reckoned two beavers; and a black fox, or large black bear, is equal to four; a mode of reckoning which has very little connection with the real value of these different skins in the European market. Neither has any attention been paid to the original cost of [7:10:265]European articles, in fixing the tariff by which they are sold to the Indians. A coarse butcher’s knife is one skin, a woollen blanket or fathom of coarse cloth eight, and a fowling-piece fifteen. The Indians receive their principal outfit of clothing and ammunition on credit in the autumn, to be repaid by their winter hunts; the amount intrusted to each of the hunters varies with their individual reputation for industry and skill, from twenty to a hundred and fifty skins.

From 1810 to 1821, the North-West Company continued to prosecute their trading speculations with the most indefatigable activity and considerable success. They had established their trading forts over almost the whole length and breadth of North America. The Hudson’s Bay Company were not less enterprising and industrious; and from their having been the original possessors of a large portion of the hunting territory, long established and protected by a charter, they had a decided advantage over the other company. But this keen rivalship produced a multitude of evils, both to the companies and to the poor Indians themselves. Each company had to keep an extra number of men in their employment, to collect the skins during winter; for every thing depended upon who should get first among the Indians. The hunters having obtained from either the one or the other of these companies a considerable sum in advance upon the success of their hunting exertions, were often strongly tempted to break through their engagements, by the statements and artifices of rival agents. The Indians, often deceived themselves, became deceivers in their turn; and not unfrequently, after having incurred a heavy debt at one trading post, they would move off to another, and play the same game. In some cases mutual agreements were entered into by both companies, to put a stop to these dishonest proceedings; but such treaties were no sooner made than indirectly violated by the zeal and cupidity of individual agents; so that they proved fertile subjects for disputes and differences, which were more than once decided by force of arms.

These, with many other serious evils arising out of this keen commercial rivalry, threatened ultimately to destroy both companies, and ruin the fur trade altogether. Both parties, therefore, saw it for their interest to come to a friendly understanding. In 1821 they became united into one body; and the result has hitherto shown that they have since done a great deal more business, the profits upon which have yielded a considerably increased per centage. They possess at this time (1834) a decided monopoly in the fiir trade; and though this may seem to a casual observer as likely to enhance the price of furs, and operate like an additional tax upon the community, yet the whole history of this traffic clearly shows that it cannot be carried on by individual capital and enterprise.

The amount of foreign furs of every description imported into Great Britain cannot be less than from one and a half to two millions annually; whilst the value of the hare and rabbit furs of our own country may be valued at another million. The following are the duties to which skins and furs are at present subjected.
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On the Manufacturing of Fur for Felting purposes.

In the manufacturing of furs for the making of hats, the principal kinds of skins used are the hare, rabbit, beaver, and nuetra. All these sorts of skins, in the northern parts of Europe, as well as in America, are divided by furriers into two distinct kinds; namely, the seasoned and unseasoned skins. The former are those which are taken off the animal in winter, when the fur is at its full growth, and in the highest state of perfection as to fineness; the latter are those obtained in spring, summer, and autumn. The fur in the unseasoned skins is short, coarse, and hairy, and is generally not worth more than a third of the value of furs cut off the best-seasoned skins. The mode of manufacturing both descriptions is, however, the same; of which we shall now endeavour to give the reader a brief account.

Hare-Skins —The first mechanical operation performed on the hare-skin is to open it with a knife down between the middle of the forelegs, taking great care that the skin be not torn; for there is a considerable waste of the fur if this precaution be not attended to. The skin must now be rubbed with what is called a rake, which resembles a common dinner-knife, with teeth like a saw. This is used for the purpose of clearing away all manner of dirt and dried blood which may happen to be upon the skin. This cleaning is of very great importance; for the smallest particle of dirt or blood will greatly injure the fur for felting purposes. The operation requires to be carefully and judiciously performed for another reason. If the workman be not attentive, he will tear up, along with the bloody and dirty parts, a considerable part of the good and clean fur; and thus great loss will be incurred.

Hare-skins, after being thus opened and cleaned, must be damped on the pelt side with a little water, and placed under a heavy weight, pelt to pelt, to press them, so that all ridges and inequalities in the pelt may be removed. The skins are now fit for what is called shearing. Their outsides are all covered over with a kind of hair, which possesses no felting properties whatever; and this must be taken off with hand shears. These are of two kinds; the one the common shears used for clipping the wool off sheep; the other kind resembles the cutting shears of tailors, only the bowl is made equally large on both sides, for the admission of all the fingers. Some furriers prefer one kind of shears and some another. Those like tailors’ shears make the prettiest work when skilfully used; but the other requires less time for their management. The shearing of the skins forms a very important part of their manufacture; for if you cut too far down, you will seriously destroy both quality and quantity of the fur, as well as disfigure its appearance. On this account many furriers confine a part of their work-people to this branch of the business alone; for the greater part of the profits of a master depends upon the manner in which this shearing process is performed.

After a hare-skin has been submitted to the process of shearing, it presents an appearance altogether different from what it did before. A stranger would not know it to be the same skin. Before, it was of a uniform brown colour; now, it is down the whole of the back of a most beautiful jet black, which gradually becomes fainter as it approaches the sides of the skin. After it undergoes the process of rounding, which consists in taking off all the irregular or angular pieces of skin, and making the pelt smooth and even, it is then fit for the cutting board.

The cutting boards of furriers are made of the willow tree, and are commonly about twenty inches wide, and from two to three feet broad. They ought to be wet with a little water at short intervals, when used, to make the wood soft, and prevent the edge of the cutting knife from [7:10:266]being taken off too soon. These knives are sometimes made of common słìeėt-iron, but more frequently of steel, which are to be preferred to the former, on account of keeping their edge longer, and being much lighter for the hand. A fine edge will not cut the fur off the skins; it must be a rough edge, which is.obtained from rubbing the knife about every two or three minutes upon a piece of common free-stone, of not too fine a grain. These knives are from five to six inches in length and three in breadth, and resemble in some measure those knives used by grocers for the cutting up of cheeses. The skins are all, before cutting, split down the middle of the back into two halves. The cutting then commences at the head or cheeks of the skin, and always in the line of direction in which the fur lies. The cutting knife is run quickly backward and forward against the first joint of the fingers across the skin; whilst at every two or three strokes the hand must be lifted up, to gather in the fur that has been cut, and preserve it in as fleecy a form as possible. Care must be taken against chopping the fur; because, when this takes place, the felting principle in all furs is considerably weakened, and in some entirely destroyed.

An important point in the getting up of furs for sale is, to keep them in as unbroken or fleecy consistency as possible. This, abstractedly considered, is of no consequence to their felting power; but the practice of the trade as to this matter has arisen from a desire to keep the different kinds of fur from being mixed with one another, and thereby in some degree to prevent adulteration. From this cause, the above mode of cutting the hare-skin has been very recently much improved, by the use of instruments made of tin, against which the cutting knives run, and which are so contrived as to gather in the whole fur off the largest skin with as much ease as the fur of a half skin could be gathered by the hand when the knife runs against the fingers. This simple invention preserves all the most valuable parts of the skin in one lump or fleece, and enables the workman to sort the fur with more ease and readiness than before.

The fur of the common hare-skin is sorted into five distinct kinds: 1st, Fine backs, value from 20s. to 24s. per lb.; 2d, second backs, value 12s.; 3rf, sides, from 8s. to 10s.; 4M, bellies, or white sides, from 4s. to 5s.; and, 5M, tail wool, from Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d.

Rabbil-Skins. — The rabbit-skin is cut in precisely the same manner as that of the hare, only there is a considerable difference in the mode of dressing or preparing the former. The rabbit-skin is covered over on the pelt side with large quantities of grease or fat, from which the hareskin is comparatively free. This must be removed when the rabbit-skin is first opened. The knife used in opening the skin must be pressed down upon that part of the pelt where the fatty substance is, till it gets beneath the cuticle on which it rests, when the whole of the greasy matter may be removed, and a little whitening rubbed on the spot. If this operation be not well attended to, the grease will get mixed with the fur, and damage it considerably. The rabbit, like the hare skin, is covered over with hair upon the top of the fur; but this hair cannot be taken off by shearing, as in the case of the former, but must be removed by pulling it out. This is done with a short knife about three inches long, which is held so as to grasp the hair between the thumb and it, which is secured from in-' ⅛ry by having a piece of buckskin leather placed over it. The hand of the workman ought to fall lightly upon the skin, otherwise the hair will be cut and the fur pulled out also, which will deteriorate its quality and diminish its quantity very considerably. Rabbit fur is divided into six kinds: 1st, Fine backs, value from 10s. to 13s. per lb.; 2d , sides, 6s.; 3d , seepnds, 5s.; 4M, redneck, 12s.; 5th, pate wool, 4s.; and 6M, tail woo), 2s. 6d.

Beaver-Skins. — The skin of the beaver is manufactured in the same way as that of the rabbit. The fat, however, in the former is much greater in quantity and more firmly imbedded in the pelt than in the latter; and of course greater care and trouble are required to remove it. Fuller’s earth, mixed with whitening, are used to imbibe the fatty particles. The pulling the outside hair off is of great importance. The cutting of the beaver has been for some years performed by machines; the thickness and regularity in the pelt affording facilities for this mode of operation, which the generality of other skins do not.

The fur of the beaver is sorted into three or four different kinds; but that which is cut off the cheek of the skin bears the highest price. White beaver is comparatively scarce, and is much esteemed for fine drab hats. The prices of beaver fur fluctuate very much; the following are the present quotations of its value. Best cheek, 194s. per lb.; best brown wooms, 130s.; stage, 100s.

Nuetra-Skins. — These are dressed like rabbit-skins, only the hair on the outside of the skins is much stronger than in the rabbit, and requires a sharper knife and greater strength to remove it. Nuetra skins are full of fat; and before they are submitted to the pulling process, they must be well washed with soap and boiling water. The skin is laid with the pelt downwards, and well scrubbed on the fur side with a brush, till the grease is entirely removed. They must then be well washed in cold spring water, which is drawn out from amongst the fur by a piece of wood made for the purpose. After this they are placed before a stove or hot fire to dry, and are then fit to go through the other manufacturing processes. The fur is divided into three kinds; and the price at present averages about 60s. per lb.

Both the beaver and nuetra furs, before they are used for hat purposes, must go through the operation of blowing. This is done for the purpose of clearing them of those short black hairs which remain amongst the fur after it is separated from the pelt. A blowing machine consists principally of a cylinder, into which the fur is placed; and by means of a fly-wheel, situated within it, the stuff is thrown up, and the hairs, by reason of their greater specific gravity, fall to the bottom, and leave all the fine fur upon the top. Hare and rabbit furs are also partially used in a blown state for the nap or outside covering of hats.

Though the hare, rabbit, beaver, and nuetra furs are the staple articles of hat manufacture, yet there are other furs occasionally used in their stead, or in conjunction with them. These are the furs of the otter, the seal, musquash, and the mole. The otter is fully as fine as the beaver itself; but the principal objection hatters have to its use is, that it does not retain a good black, but a brown or coppery shade. The seal is not so fine as the otter. It finishes dull upon a hat, and, in consequence, is not much used at present. Musquash is a useful fur. The mole is the only skin known to furriers which for felting purposes needs no preparatory dressing before cutting. Its fur is alike fine throughout. But notwithstanding its fineness, it is so very short as to prevent its being extensively used in the hat manufacture.

Within these last forty or fifty years many attempts have been made to apply machinery to the cutting off the various kinds of fur, but, with the exception of the beaver, these attempts have hitherto been but partially successful. The great difficulties in the way of machinery for cutting purposes are, the unevenness on the surface, and the inequalities in the thickness of the pelt in different skins. The smallest particles of the fleshy part of the skin getting among the fur will injure it; so much so, that a piece of pelt not larger than a pin’s head will destroy the finest hat. This circumstance has greatly increased the difficulty of [7:10:267]bringing machinery to bear upon the fur trade. There are, however, at this moment some machines employed in: die cutting of hare and rabbit skins in England; but if re- ∣ ports are to be relied upon, they are not likely, from the obstacles above adverted to, to realise the ex∣>ectations of gain at first entertained by those employing them, either in the saving of labour, or in the superior manner in which die fur is manufactured.

Many experiments have also been made to dispense with the usual processes of cutting the different kinds of fur with knives, by applying chemical substances to the peļts, so as to loosen the roots of the fur, and make it leave the pelt upon a slight application of force. Lime has often been tried for this pur∣>ose, by using it in the same manner as skinners do in the management of sheep-skins. Some furriers have also tried a partial state of putrefaction; but this, as well as the lime preparation, has proved abortive. The fur obtained off different kinds of skins by such means looks in every respect as well to the eye as if it had been manufactured in the usual manner; but the felting principle is by all such means entirely destroyed.

Carroted Fur. Sulphuric acid has die property of increasing the felting power of most kinds of fur. When this is applied the fur is called carroted, from the colour which the. acid gives it. The most common kind of fur submitted to this process is that belonging to the rabbitskin; and it is generally employed in small quantities for the manufacture of all fine stuff hats. Carroted coney wool is made in the following manner: You mix one part of sulphuric acid with two parts of pure spring water, in a dish of some kind; then take and wet the rabbit-skin with a brush all over, making the liquid penetrate as near to the bottom of the fur as possible; care being used, in this process, not to touch the skin with the fingers, lest they be burned, but with a piece of iron hoop made like unto a pair of sugar-nippers. When the skins are thus wet, they must be placed over a very hot fire to dry; but they must not be placed too near, lest they take fire, which they are very apt to do from the application of the acid. Instead of drying them before the fire in this manner, some run a hatter’s finishing iron, heated to a certain degree, over the skins, and allow them to dry gradually in the sun. This is found to be a very good plan. When the skins are dry, they ought to be gently beaten with a rod, and slightly wet on the pelt side with water, previously to their being put under the pressing stone. They are then cut in the usual manner. Skins prepared in this way attract a great quantity of moisture from the atmosphere; and carroted fur always feels to the hand as if it had been partially wet with water.

The fur off the rabbit-skin improves in its felting capabilities by being kept a moderate length of time after being taken off the skin; but hare fur does not. Great attention ought to be paid by hat manufacturers, who keep considerable stocks of fur on hand, as to the place they are deposited. If it be too damp, they will rot; if too dry, they will fearfully diminish in weight; therefore a moderately dry and cool place ought to be chosen. The great enemy to all furs is the common moth. This destroys the felting principle. Whenever the slightest appearance in the fur indicates the secure lodgment of this little creature, it ought immediately to be used; or, if this cannot be done, it should be taken out of the paper bags, and broken all over with a small switch rod, or, what will answer the purpose still better, a hatter’s bow. The same rules apply to the keeping of skins in good condition as to fur. The situation ought to be cool, dry, and well aired. They will seldom keep longer than twelve or eighteen months, without running great risk of suffering injury from the moth or black beetle. Too many ought not to be heaped together, and particularly if they be rabbit-skins, because the fat or grease about these skins will get heated, run amongst the fur, and be come of such an acrid nature as to corrode the very pelt itself. Many persons are inclined to keep hare and rabbit skins a long time, from a notion that the fur upon them will increase in length from the moisture left in the pelt. This is an entirely erroneous opinion. Any one who will make the experiment will find that the amount of fur obtained off’ any given quantity of skins is much greater in weight when manufactured immediately after they are taken off the animal, than after having been kept for six or twelve months.

The qualities of all kinds of furs differ very considerably, from climate and other local circumstances. The best rabbit fur, used for the manufacture of the finest London hats, is commonly considered as the produce of the east coast of England, particularly from Lincolnshire to Berwick inclusively. The rabbit fur is always stronger in the felting principle when got off rabbits bred on the sea-coast, than in those found in inland places, however favourable in other respects these places may be for the rearing of the animals. The skins along the tract of coast already mentioned seem all of the same size and quality. North of Berwick the rabbit-skin grows less, and the fur weaker and shorter; and the further north, along the coast, the more inferior it becomes. The same thing takes place on the west side of the island. The fur of rabbit-skins procured on the western coast of Scotland is very inferior, and quite unfit for the manufacture of fine stuff hats. Along the west of England the skins become larger and finer in quality, but they are always considered as of less value than those obtained on the eastern coast. The rabbit fur from Ireland is generally of an average quality; but what forms a curious circumstance in the natural history of that country is, that the hare-skins, through every part of it, are of no value whatever. Their fur is totally useless, and consists principally of a kind of hair. The Irish hat manufacturers have, in consequence, to import all their hare fur from England.

The hare fur in Great Britain is superior, for hat purposes, to any in the world. It is finer in its grain, and stronger in its felting properties, than any found in the other countries of Europe. Large quantities of German hare fur are imported into this country, and used along with the produce of our own island; but, on account of its being of a coarser nature, it is generally disposed of at a reduced price. The hare and rabbit furs in all parts of America are very inferior in quality.

The pelts of skins used for felting purposes, after the fur is taken off them, are of little value. They are generally sent to the west of England, and sold for the purpose of making a fine kind of glue, much used in the manufacture of fine cloth. Their present value is only about eighteen shillings per hundredweight.

On the Manufacture of Furs for Ornament and Cloaùng.

It was not till the later ages that the furs of beasts became an article of luxury. The more refined nations of ancient times never made use of them; those alone whom the former stigmatized as barbarians were clothed in the skins of animals. Strabo describes the Indians as covered with the skins of lions, panthers, and bears; and Seneca, the Scythians as clothed with the skins of foxes and the lesset quadrupeds. Virgil exhibits a picture of the savage Hyperboreans, similar to that which our late circumnavigators have witnessed in the clothing of the wild Americans, unseen before by any polished people. Most part of Europe was at this time in similar circumstances. Caesar mighl be as much amazed with the skin-dressed heroes of Britain, as our celebrated Cook was at those of his newly-discovered regions. What time has done to us, time, under humane conquerors, may effect for them. Civilization ma; [7:10:268]take place; and those spoils of animals, which are at present essential for clothing, become the mere objects of ornament and luxury.

; It does not appear that the ancient Greeks or Romans ever made use of furs. It originated in those regions where they most abounded, and where the severity of the climate required that species of clothing. At first it consisted of the skins only, almost in the state in which they were tom from the body of the beast; but as soon as civilization took place, and manufactures were introduced, furs became the lining of the dress, and often the elegant facing of the robes. It is probable that the northern conquerors introduced the fashion into Europe. We find, that about the year 522, when Totila, king of the Visigoths, reigned in Italy, the Suethons, a people of modern Sweden, found means, by help of the commerce of numberless intervening people, to transmit, for the use of the Romans, the precious skins of the sable. As luxury advanced, furs, even of the most valuable species, were used by princes as linings for their tents. Thus, Marco Polo, in 1252, found those of the Cham of Tartary lined with ermines and sables, the last of which he calls zibelines and zambolines. He says that these and other precious furs were brought from countries far north; from the land of darkness, and regions almost inaccessible by reason of morasses and ice. The Welsh set a high value on furs as early as the time of Howel Dda, who began his reign about 940. In the next age furs became the fashionable magnificence of Europe. When Godfrey of Boulogne and his followers appeared before the Emperor Alexis Comnenus, on their way to the Holy Land, he was struck with the richness of their dresses. How different was the advance of luxury in France from the time of their great monarch Charlemagne, who contented himself with the plain fur of the otter. Our Henry I. wore furs, yet in his distress was obliged to change them for warm Welsh flannel. But in the year 1337 the luxury had got to such a head that Edward III. enacted, that all persons who could not spend a hundred pounds a year should absolutely be prohibited the use of this species of finery. These, from their great expense, must have been foreign furs, obtained from the Italian states, the traffic of which was at this period boundless. How strange is the revolution in the fur trade. The north of Asia at that time supplied us with every valuable kind; at present we send, by means of the possessions of Hudson’s Bay, furs to an immense amount, even to Turkey and to China.

The business of preparing skins for articles of dress is much more simple, and employs a great deal fewer hands, than the trade of manufacturing furs for felting purposes. The first thing to be attended to by those who follow the former occupation is to examine the skin as to the manner in which it has been dried. If it has experienced the slightest degree of putrefaction, it will never be of any use for the purpose of dressing as fur. Great attention is, therefore, paid by the hunters, and those who are engaged in bringing the furs to market, as to the drying of the skins, and the proper manner of packing and preserving them when they are dried. Exposure to the air is the best method of drying a skin after it is taken off" the animal, or hanging it up in a dry and c∞l room where there is no fire. If skins be once thoroughly dried in this manner, they may be preserved for a great length of time, and transported to any distance without injury.

In the dressing of furs for clothing or ornament two things are necessary; to remove the fat or grease from the pelt; and to extract the oiliness from the fur itself, and impart to it a bright and shining appearance. In the accomplishment of these two things the whole art consists. The clearing of the pelt is effected by applying a composition of bran, alum, and salt to it; and the cleansing of the fur by a mixture of soda and fine soap. The skins, after having undergone these processes, are washed with cold water, and dried gradually in the air.

After the skins are prepared in this manner, the next thing is to cut them to advantage. In almost all the articles of the fur kind used as clothing, we find them made up of small and detached pieces of skin, to give these articles a uniform appearance as to the length and colour of the fur. Hence it becomes a point of great importance to a furrier not to have his skins cut to a disadvantage, but to make the most of every part of them.

Very few of the skins used for felting purposes are manufactured for dress. The principal of the latter kind are the grey, silver, and black fox, the ermine, the sable, the chinchilla, the fitchet, the bear, the marten, the mink, the lynx, and tire wolf.