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 THE 
 
 Romance of Commerce 
 
 BY 
 
 J. MACDONALD OXLEY, LL.B., B.A. 
 
 ■J 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
'V*>-N 
 
 p: 24'M 
 
 
 2P>U51 
 
 Copyright, 1896, 
 Br Thomas Y. Crowell & Company. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 There has been a romance of commerce, no 
 less than a romance of war. Men have sliown 
 equal enterprise and daring in enlarging in- 
 comes as in extending the bounds of empire, 
 and gold has run close rivalry -^v^ith glory in 
 adding brilliant pages to the world's liistory. 
 
 It has been the aim of tlie author to make 
 some attempt towards recalling the more inter- 
 esting of these pages for tlie benefit of the 
 young people to whom this little volume is 
 especially addressed ; but before beginning liis 
 recital he wishes to make due acknowledgment 
 to Messrs. Harper & Brothers, Chas. Scribner's 
 Sons, and the publisher of the Cosmopolitan 
 magazine of New York, for the privilege of 
 reprinting such of the following chapters as first 
 appeared in their periodicals. 
 
 J. M. O. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 *^"^"^'»- PAGE. 
 
 I. John Law and the Mississippi Bubble, 1 
 
 II. The South Ska Bubble 13 
 
 III. The Tulip Mania in Holland .... 24 
 
 TV. The Dakien Expedition 35 
 
 V. The Chase of the Spanish Galleons . 47 
 
 VI. The Quest for a North-west Passage, 60 
 VII. How the Merchants opened up the 
 
 World 7I 
 
 VIII. The Rise and Fall of John Company . 84 
 
 IX. The Hudson's Bay Trading Company . 96 
 
 X. The Canadian Pacific Railway ... 145 
 
 XI. The Mediterranean of Canada ... 157 
 
 XII. From Forest to Floor 197 
 
 XIII. An Ocean Gbave-yard 220 
 
i 
 
THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 CHArTER I. 
 
 
 '■ 
 
 JOHN LAW AND TIIIC MIHSISS1IM»I IJUIJBLE. 
 
 " I CAN calculate," said the great astronomer, 
 Sir Isaac Newton, *' the motions of wandering 
 stars, hut not the madness of the multitude." 
 It would indeed take not an astronomer, hut a 
 prophet, to predict to what heights of folly the 
 crowd will go, if they only have a leader who 
 makes them big enough promises. What has 
 passed into history as the " Mississippi Bubble " 
 is a remarkable instance of this. 
 
 When the long and splendid reign of Louis 
 XIV. at last came to an end, it left France in 
 a very bad way, in fact, with almost no money 
 on hand. The whole public service reeked with 
 corruption. The frauds of men in oflice and of 
 
 their allies in the tradi 
 
 "g 
 
 pled the resources of the 
 
 commu 
 coun 
 
 ni 
 
 ty had 
 
 crip- 
 y, and brought 
 its commerce almost to a standstill. The tillers 
 
THE ROMANS (J E OF COMMERCE. 
 
 f» 
 
 \*f\ 
 
 of the soil were taxed to the utmost limits of 
 human endurance ; and the Regent, the Duke of 
 Orleans, was at his wits' end as to how to carry 
 on the affairs of state with an empty treasury, 
 and no visible means of filling it. 
 
 In this emergency there came to him a mid- 
 dle-aged man with a strange history and a still 
 stranger scheme. The son of a wealthy Edin- 
 burgh goldsmith, John Law, in the he^'day of 
 his youth went up to London, where he took 
 high rank among its fops and gallants, squan- 
 dered all his fortune, killed a man in a duel, 
 was put in prison for the offence, and contrived 
 to effect his escape. For the next twenty years 
 he scoured the Continent, seeking in a clever 
 and systematic course of gambling to retrieve 
 his fortunes, and to prepare the foundation for 
 the great enterprise he was planning in his sin- 
 gularly inventive and daring mind. Firmly 
 convinced of the soundness of the financial the- 
 ories he had conceived, he expounded them to 
 all the princes of Europe in turn. But he met 
 with slight encouragement from any of them. 
 "I am not powerful enough to ruin myself," 
 was the chilling reply of the King of Sicily. 
 Louis XIV., although his exchequer was near- 
 
 
THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE. 
 
 8 
 
 ing exhaustion, took no stock in the Scotch 
 adventurer. At length in the Regent he found 
 a sympathetic listener, through whose influence 
 he was allowed, in May, 1716, to establish a 
 circulating and discount bank with a capital of 
 six million livres. 
 
 This bank at once had very great success, 
 and was of such real service that, in the course 
 of a year, its notes were actually worth more 
 than gold and silver money, which was liable 
 to depreciation at the whim of the crown. The 
 favor Law thus won with statesmen, courtiers, 
 and common folk made easy the adoption of a 
 greater project, the Mississippi scheme, which 
 he promptly proceeded to set on foot. 
 
 It got its name from the noble river which ran 
 through the richest part of the French colony 
 of Louisiana. France was by this time begin- 
 ning to grow somewhat tired of her American 
 colonies. They were costing her a mint of 
 money, and making little return. Law now 
 revived the old idea that under the prolific soil 
 of the vast, vague territory of Louisiana there 
 was boundless wealth in gold, silver, copper, 
 and other valuable metals. He proposed that 
 a company should be formed to develop this 
 
THE llOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 wealth, that miners and traders should be sent 
 out, and that with the proceeds of their toil the 
 French exchequer, so wofully depleted, should 
 be replenished. His proposal was eagerly ac- 
 cepted; and in 1717 the Compagnie d^ Occident 
 was formed, with a capit.d of one hundred 
 million livres. Soon afterwards this company 
 was united with the bank, "which then blos- 
 somed out into the lloyal Bank of France. 
 
 By means which it would take too long to 
 describe, the shares of this company were put 
 upon the market in such a way as to awaken 
 a spirit of the wildest speculation among the 
 French people, from peer to peasant. In the 
 year 1719 the company was reorganized, and 
 granted the exclusive right of trading to the 
 East Indies, China, and the South Seas, the 
 name being changed to the Compagnie des 
 Indes. So great became the demand for its 
 shares that Law created first fifty thousand 
 fresh ones, and then three hundred thousand 
 more, promising annual dividends thereon of 
 one hundred and tw^enty per cent. They were 
 all taken up within a few weeks. The country 
 people crowded up to Paris to invest their hard- 
 earned savings, while every second citizen 
 
THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE. 
 
 joined in the insane rush. Mr. Fox Bourne 
 tells us that Law's house in the Rue de Quin- 
 campoix was besieged from morning to night 
 by an exeited rabble of dukes, duchesses, mer- 
 chants, milkmaids, and all other representatives 
 of the noblesse and bourgeoisie. So many were 
 there crushed to death, or maimed for life, that 
 Law had to remove to the Place Vendome, and 
 at length to take the great Hotel de Soissons, 
 the garden of which, covering several acres, 
 scarcely sufficed to accommodate the frantic 
 speculators. 
 
 All day long were the antechambers of the 
 financial hero of the hour crowded with persons 
 of all ranks, who waited for their turn to obtain 
 the coveted shares. 
 
 " My son was looking for a duchess to escort 
 my granddaughter to Genoa," writes Madame, 
 the Regent's mother. " ' Send and choose one 
 at Madame Law's,' said I; 'you will find 
 them all sitting in lier drawing-room.' " 
 
 So soon as shares were obtained they were 
 taken into the great market in the garden, 
 there to be traded with among the thousands 
 who were ready to pay any price that was 
 asked for them, and who generally sold them 
 
6 
 
 THE liOMANCK OF COMMFAtCK. 
 
 I 
 
 acfiiin at yet higher rates. This turmoil of spec- 
 iihitioii, wliieli Listed for a whole year, has hardly 
 a parallel in the history of ihianeial follies. 
 
 Curious and entertaining vstories have been 
 preserved of what ha[)pened during tlie height 
 of ll\e mania. A lueky eol)l)ler, whose stall 
 stood near Law's head(iuarters, gained two hun- 
 dred livres a day by })roviding desk aeeommo- 
 dation for the speeulators ; and a hunehbaek, 
 whose deformity was his only stoek in trade, 
 made a small fortune by turning himself into a 
 movable writing-desk. A lady, who had long 
 in vain sought aeeess to Law's counting-house, 
 devised an original plan for meeting him. Or- 
 dering her coachman to run up against a post 
 as soon as he could meet the great linancier 
 in the streets, she drove about persistently for 
 three da}s before Law came in sight. At last 
 she caught sight of him approaching. " Upset 
 me now!" she cried; "upset me!" The 
 coachman obeyed, and his mistress was tumbled 
 out on the pavement. Law at once ran gal- 
 lantly to her assistance, and then learned that 
 the lady suffered from notliing but want of 
 Mississippi shares, and so he was induced to 
 allot her a number. 
 
TlfE MISS 188 IITI ItUllllLE. 
 
 Hardly less ingenioiiH, tliouf^li not so .success- 
 ful, was auotlKM- lady, who, failing to secure an 
 invitation to a house where F^aw was dining, 
 drove past the door with lusr coachman and 
 footmen shouting out "Fire I fire!" at the to[) 
 of their voices. Of course all the guests, and 
 Law among them, rushed to the windows to see 
 where the lire was. The moment the lady saw 
 Law she sprang out of her carriage and tried to 
 speak to him ; but he, seeing through her ruse, 
 at once vanishiHi. 
 
 Of course, in the midst of this furious specu- 
 lation, there were those who, by quick and dar- 
 ing action, suddenly sprang from poverty to 
 great wealth. The list of "Mississippians," as 
 those were called who thus distinguished them- 
 selves, contained the names of more than one 
 hundred persons who, during the continuance 
 of the mania, acquired fortunes exceeding 
 twenty million livres. Andrd, the son of a 
 Montelimart skinner, overwhelmed by debt in 
 the year 1718, and so utterly worthless that one 
 of his creditors offered in barter for a breakfast 
 notes of hand signed by him to the amount of 
 ten thousand livres, in 1720 found himself pos- 
 sessor of seventy millions. Dupin, a servant 
 
8 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 of the Banker Tourton, retired with fifty mil- 
 lions. A Savoyard named Chambery, a porter 
 and furniture-polisher, amassed forty millions ; 
 and a bartender, named Gabriel Bourdon, real- 
 ized thirty millions, went over to England, and 
 returned after the excitement had subsided, to 
 play in Paris the rSle of milord, with a carriage 
 and servants galore. 
 
 One of the best stories is told in connection 
 with Law himself. One day his coachman ap- 
 peared before him, accompanied by two capable 
 looking men. " I am going to leave, mon- 
 sieur," said he, " and you will need some one in 
 my place. Here are two men whom I know 
 and can recommend. Take your choice., I will 
 engage the other for myself.'''' 
 
 During this period of frenzy, all ordinary oc- 
 cupations were neglected save those by which 
 the shrewdest of the people grew wealthy in 
 catering for the extravagant ways of living that 
 prevailed. The most lavish luxury was in- 
 dulged in. Paris was flooded with pictures, 
 jewellery, and the like, which were sold for 
 fabulous sums. 
 
 But, of course, this state of things could not 
 endure long. It was inevitable that Law's 
 
THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE. 
 
 9 
 
 scheme must soon reach the end of its tether. 
 It never had any substantial foundation ; and 
 presently it became necessary to bolster it up, 
 first with expedients to sustain the public in- 
 terest, and later on with edicts forbidding the 
 holding of gold and silver in large quantities, 
 in order that the bank might have control of 
 the specie in the country. 
 
 One of the expedients resorted to was to 
 bring from the banks of the Mississippi eleven 
 Indians, as specimens of the inhabitants, the 
 chief of the party being a woman, who was 
 reputed to be a queen of a renowned tribe 
 called the People of the Sun. They created 
 quite a furor by their appearance, and, among 
 other things, hunted down before the eyes of 
 the king and court a stag which was let loose 
 in the Bois de Boulogne. They also gave ex- 
 hibitions of their native dances in the Th^S,tre 
 Italien. 
 
 Now, while the public were amusing them- 
 selves with these trifles, some far-seeing men 
 were arranging a marriage for her dusky Maj- 
 esty which would prove a bond of union be- 
 tween the two countries. She was youthful 
 and attractive, and had but one drawback; viz., 
 
I 
 
 10 
 
 77/^; liOM.wci: <)/ i (t]tMi':ii('K, 
 
 ihi\U !if^ iln' ^Inuirhlcr nf I In* Sum, hIk* (Mijoyod 
 i\\o )Hivil(»}T»» of Killinjr |j,»r IhisIkiikI wluMu^vor 
 sl\(' \V(»!ni(Ml of liiin. Not nil hsliindiii^ (liiM, IIhm'o 
 wow u\:\ny .miilors for (In* fiisriimlini^ IiKliiiii'M 
 \v,\U{\ ; and from Minnn^ them slic (diosc* ii liiind- 
 nomo S(M"j^(>anl. of tli(^ (lunrds umiimmI |)nl)(»iM. 
 'Vho m:\v\'\;\y;o wmm (hily solcnuiiziMl, inid (ho 
 liappv ]>air s(»t sail for tluMr dinniiiionM. Hut, 
 alas for ]>oor Dubois tlu» I*'irs(, K'\\\ir of IMJH- 
 sonri ! IK* ]\;id hardly landtMl wIkmi 1ms faith- 
 loss s]>ouso had him Uillod, and j)i'ohahly ho 
 was vuivu by h(M' triho. 
 
 In s]Mto o( oxpcdiiMils and odi(Ms, howcvoi', 
 Law's mioi'hly fahi'ii' boi^'an t«> toll(>r, ivnd wilder 
 ]>anio to tak(» tlu^ ])laoo <d' wild spmMilalion. Tho 
 ft^llowinof linos, whioh wcmo sunix hy a mob, ex- 
 prossod tho oxporionoo of tlu^ majority who had 
 yielded themselves to the gand)lini^ fever: — 
 
 •' Lundi, j'aoluMai dos aolions; 
 ]\lanli, JO g.ii^nai \\oh millions; 
 Mororodi, j'ornai inon monago; 
 .Tondi, jo pris nn otjuipaiji^; 
 Vondivdi, jo m'on fns on bal; 
 Et ISaniodi ^ Thopital," 
 
 The English being somewhat like this : — 
 
 *' On Monday I bons^lit shavo on sliaro; 
 On Tuesday 1 was a niillionairo; 
 
K 
 
 TUN ,u/.^'N/NN7/'/'^ itrnithi;. 
 
 n 
 
 (>njoyo<l 
 \vl\«Mu»vor 
 lliiM, thoro 
 
 r In<li!ll»'H 
 
 il I)ul)niM. 
 , inid (1m> 
 »iis. Hut, 
 g of MiH- 
 lus fiiilh- 
 ol);il)ly ho 
 
 liowovor, 
 
 ind wilder 
 
 ion. Tho 
 
 1 mob, ex- 
 who bad 
 
 lV(M' : — 
 
 us : 
 
 fo; 
 
 <Mi \V«'iliinq(|(iy I •<•'•!< a KnitMl nlimlo; 
 
 (Ml 'riiiirmhiy In my i!iiri(iu»» I todo; 
 
 On |''?i(|(iy (|mv<* ti» the ojiciii. luill; 
 
 On Siihinliiy wcnl Id Hi" |i(iii|»»'r'H Imll." 
 
 ()f coniMo liJiw Itiiiisrir, HO IrsM lliiiu liJM rnis- 
 rliJPVoiiM HyHl-niii, ciimo in for a ^nriii d^iil of 
 Iiiird fcolin^r; mikI ( im <l;iy liJM ('jMi iii'.;'\ vvliidi 
 forliimiilcly foi- liim Imd no orciipiiMl, wiis4 «»'t, 
 n|ton \}y iiii nii^ny rnob, mid brokrn lo |iir(:rs, 
 I'i^lil. ill front of llm I'liliii^ do .Inslicr, wlicro 
 I'iuliiinKMil. wjiM llicn lioldiii|^'' ii inornint^ KCKsion. 
 'I'Ik^ prosidcnl, liiivini.;' occftsion lo Irnv! Ilio 
 ('hiiinbcr for a nioiiKMii, vv.'im l(»ld of what, lifid 
 liiij)|)(Mi(Ml. I lasldiiinj^ biick, bo Ktriwdc a (ba- 
 iiialii; atliliido, and rooilod ilio foliovvint^ irn- 
 |>ronij)tu vcM'su, whicb bad gi(!at colobiity at 
 tbo timo : — • 
 
 *' MoRsiriirs, jnoRsW'iirs, boniin notivollf! 
 
 \i{\ rjirroH.sci dr Law «'h(, n'diiit, rn canrK'llf,." 
 
 It baH Ihmjii v(!ry \v(dl translated tlms: 
 
 "Sirs, sirs, j^rcaf, news! VVlial. i.s if? It 's — 
 Tlu^y 'v«'. HinaHlicd Jiaw'8 carriage, info t)it,»." 
 
 But tb(3 (solbipso of tlic; great Mississippi })id>- 
 blo was no subj(!ct for joking. In pro{)ortiori 
 as tbo obition and oxtravaganco produced by its 
 
1 
 
 12 
 
 THE liOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 growth were great beyond precedent, in like 
 manner were the depression and ruin wrought 
 by its explosion wof ill beyond description. " It 
 is inconceivable," writes a contemporary his- 
 torian, " to those who were witness of the hor- 
 rors of those times, and who look back upon 
 them now as on a dream, that a sudden revo- 
 lution did not break out ; that Law and the 
 Regent did not perish by a tragical death." 
 
 As it was, utterly ruined and disgraced. Law 
 fled the country, and died a pauper's death in 
 Venice, leaving poor over-credulous France bur- 
 dened with a debt of more than three billion 
 livres, and with her trade and capital so dis' 
 organized that the mischief could never be ade- 
 quately repaired. Such was the lamentable 
 result of the famous and unfortunate Missis- 
 sippi Bubble. 
 
L like 
 
 ought 
 
 "It 
 
 r his- 
 
 } hor- 
 
 upon 
 
 revo- 
 
 d tlie 
 > 
 
 , Law 
 
 ith in 
 e bur- 
 )illion 
 o dis* 
 ^ ade- 
 itable 
 Missis- 
 
 ^^^^ c 
 
 
 Qy^ (Pan ^' ^]/c 
 
 
 TRADE LABEL OF THE SOUTH SEA COMPANY. 
 (Guildhall Museum). 
 
THE SOUTH SEA liUlillLE. 
 
 18 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SOUTH SKA BUBBLE. 
 
 That volatile, sanguine France should lose 
 her head over the Mississippi Bubble, even to 
 the extent she did, is far easier lo understand 
 than tliat sober, stolid England should be 
 tempted into any similar folly. And yet the 
 Rue de Quincampoix in the very vortex of the 
 Mississippi madness did not present a scene of 
 wilder speculation than Change Alley, in Lon- 
 don, when the South Sea mania was at its 
 height. Oddly enough, too, the two bubbles 
 expanded within a few years of each other, and 
 burst not far apart. Happily, however, the 
 consequences did not prove quite so disastrous 
 in England as they did in France. 
 
 The beginning of the English bubble was in 
 the year 1711, Avhen good Queen Anne was per- 
 suaded to grant a royal charter to the " Gov- 
 ernor and Company of Merchants of Great 
 Britain trading to the South Seas." The for- 
 mation of this company was the direct result of 
 
14 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 the extravagant stories, told by the buccaneers 
 and freebooters who had followed in the path 
 of Drake, of the fortunes that were to be made 
 by shrewd ventures to the coasts of South 
 America. All the world knew of the immense 
 wealth derived by Spain from her South Ameri- 
 can dominions, and there was no lack of bold 
 and restless spirits eager to engage in any en- 
 terprise thither which promised rich reward, 
 and so, when the Earl of Oxford, then Lord 
 High Treasurer, lent his powerful influence to 
 the support of a scheme for the incorporation of 
 the proprietors of a portion of the national debt 
 for the purpose of carrying on a trade to the 
 South Seas, not only was a very comprehensive 
 charter secured without difficulty, but the stock 
 of the new company at once took a high place 
 in the confidence of the community. 
 
 The rights and privileges conferred upon the 
 company were simply preposterous. No ships 
 but their own were suffered to trade within the 
 vast territories assigned them on penalty of for- 
 feiture of both ship and merchandise, together 
 with double their value ; and they had the 
 power to take by force of arms, and treat as 
 a prize, any vessel infringing upon their mo- 
 
THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 
 
 15 
 
 nopoly. Moreover, all the commerciul rights 
 and extraordinary powers with which they were 
 vested were declared to be perpetual. 
 
 The capital of the company was at first nearly 
 ten millions of pounds sterling. A few years 
 later it was increased to twelve millions; and 
 as the interest paid upon the stock by the gov- 
 ernment amounted to more than six hundred 
 thousand pounds per annum, there was a cer- 
 tainty of decent dividends, even though the 
 results of the few trading ventures that were 
 made to the South Seas were utterly insignifi- 
 cant in comparison with the expectations which 
 had been excited in the public mind. 
 
 For some time the affairs of the company 
 were prudently and economically managed, and 
 the stock advanced steadily until it was worth 
 one hundred and fourteen per cent. Then 
 there appeared upon the scene a remarkable 
 man, who has good claims to be considered the 
 father of modern stock-jobbing, and whose 
 statue ought certainly to be placed in some 
 prominent position commanding a view of Wall 
 Street or the Stock Exchange. This was the 
 famous John Blunt. Bred to the obscure pro- 
 fession of scrivener, nature had endowed him 
 
IG 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 t> I 
 
 with many notable qualities. His manners 
 were graceful and insinuating, and his air and 
 address peculiarly calculated to win the confi- 
 dence of the people he met. Possessing great 
 boldness of character, combined with striking 
 originality of thought, and a readiness of con- 
 ception rarely equalled, he was just the man to 
 originate and execute some daring scheme that 
 would set the world wondering. 
 
 His opportunity came when King George I. 
 asked the House of Commons to consider some 
 means of reducing the national debt of Great 
 Britain, which had grown so large as to become 
 burdensome to the people. Blunt at once ap- 
 peared with a plan that the South Sea Company 
 should purchase the debt from the persons by 
 whom it was held, giving in exchange therefor 
 their own stock, which was to be issued by 
 authority of Parliament. 
 
 He submitted his project to the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, who fell in with it at once, 
 and supported it so strongly that the ministry 
 of the day had it adopted, in spite of strong 
 protests from several leading members of the 
 House of Lords, who, with true insight, con- 
 tended that the measure was certain to impov- 
 
TUE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 
 
 17 
 
 erish thousands, although it might enrich a few. 
 Accordingly in the year 1720, an Act was passed 
 authorizing the company to take over by pur- 
 chase or subscription the entire national debt, 
 then exceeding thirty million pounds sterling. 
 
 Having succeeded in this step, Blunt's next 
 proceeding was to boom the South Sea stock, 
 which he did by having secret agents circulate 
 the most rose-colored reports concerning the 
 commercial privileges and opportunities of the 
 company. So successful were these and other 
 similar devices employed, that the most frantic 
 eagerness was shown by the public to obtain the 
 stock ; and its price rose by leaps and bounds to 
 three hundred per cent, then four hundred, 
 tlien five hundred, and so on, day after day as 
 the mania grew wilder, until the incredible fig- 
 ure of one thousand per cent was reached, at 
 which price it was eagerly bought and reluc- 
 tantly sold, except by the very iew who had 
 kept their heads in the midst of the general 
 infatuation, and perceived the inevitable sequel 
 of such folly. 
 
 John Blunt, the whilom scrivener, was now 
 the hero of tlie hour. His low birth was con- 
 veniently overlooked, and the title of baronet 
 
18 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 was conferred upon him, the more effectually 
 to conceal it. The highest members of the aris- 
 tocracy vied with one another in showering 
 attentions upon the fortunate fellow, and the 
 populace received him everywhere with a favor 
 that was little short of adoration. 
 
 A frenzy for speculation, more furious than 
 that which but a few months before had done 
 so much damage in the French capital, took 
 possession of London ; and Change Alley became 
 the vortex of a human whirlpool, the like of 
 which England had never witnessed before, and 
 is not likely ever to see again. 
 
 From morning to night this narrow street 
 was thronged with an excited crowd of men 
 and women of all ages and rank, who forgot 
 their differences of opinion and station, and 
 joined together in the fierce pursuit of fortune. 
 Statesmen deserted their chambers, and clergy- 
 men their studies, to throw themselves into the 
 arena of stock-gambling. Whigs and Tories 
 buried the political hatchet for the nonce, and 
 mingled in friendly intercourse, exulting to- 
 gether when their stocks advanced, or groaning 
 in unison if they fell. Merchants forsook their 
 offices, and tradesmen their counters, the doc- 
 
THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 
 
 19 
 
 tors neglected their patients, and tlie law^'ers 
 allowed their clients to wait, wliile all were 
 whirled giddily along with the rushing stream 
 of speculation that was to bear so many out, to 
 be forever ingulfed in the ocean of bankruptcy. 
 A street ballad of the day thus graphically 
 hits off the situation : — 
 
 " Tlien stars and garters did appear 
 Among the meaner rabble, 
 To buy and sell, to see and hear 
 The Jews and Gentiles squabble. 
 
 The greatest ladies thither came, 
 
 And plied in chariots daily, 
 Or pawned their jewels for a sum 
 
 To venture in the Alley." 
 
 The South Sea Bubble was only the greatest 
 among a crowd of great bubbles. There is ex- 
 tant a list of nearly two hundred bubble com- 
 panies started in this year of bubbles, their 
 nominal capital varying from one million to ten 
 million pounds apiece, and the total of the 
 
 whole exceeding three hundred million pounds. 
 " Any impudent impostor," says a contem- 
 porary historian, " whilst the delusion was at 
 its height, needed only to hire a room at some 
 coffee-house near Exchange Alley, and open a 
 subscription-book for somewhat relative to com- 
 
20 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 I 
 
 merce, manufacture, plantation, or some sup- 
 posed invention, either hatched out of his own 
 brain or stolen from somebody else, having 
 first advertised it in the newspapers of the pre- 
 ceding day, and he might in a few hours find 
 subscribers for one or two millions of imagi- 
 nary stock. Many of the subscribers Avere far 
 from believing these projects feasible. It was 
 enough for their purpose that there would soon 
 be a premium on the receipts for those sub- 
 scriptions, when they generally got rid of them 
 in the crowded alleys to others more credulous 
 than themselves." 
 
 Some of the companies thus promoted were 
 for objects so ridiculous that it is not easy for 
 us at this present day to understand how any 
 sane persons could entertain their proposals for 
 a moment, let alone invest money in them. 
 One company, with a capital of three million 
 pounds, was " for insuring to all masters and 
 mistresses the losses they may sustain by ser- 
 vants ; " another was *' for furnishing merchants 
 and others with watches ; " a third, with a capi- 
 tal of one million pounds, was " for a wheel for 
 perpetual motion ; " a fourth was for making salt 
 water fresh ; a fifth was launched by a clergy- 
 
TUE SOUTH SEA HUBBLE. 
 
 21 
 
 man for the extraordinary object of importing a 
 number of large jackasses from Spain in order 
 to improve the breed of mules in England — 
 " as if/' Mr. Fox Bourne grimly adds, " there 
 were not already jackasses enough in London." 
 This company proceeded so far that negotia- 
 tions were actually opened for the purchase of 
 immense tracts of marsh-lands for its purposes. 
 So wildly absurd were many of these under- 
 takings that, according to Mr. Fox Bourne, it is 
 hard to say whether it was in jest or in earnest 
 that an advertisement was issued, announcing 
 that "at a certain place on Tuesday next, 
 books will be opened for a subscription of two 
 million pounds for the invention of melting 
 sawdust and chips, and casting them into clean 
 deal boards without cracks or knots." 
 
 For eight months the mania raged. Wealth 
 changed hands with bewildering rapidity, and 
 was steadily concentrated by the handful of 
 knaves, to whom the thousands of fools were 
 willing dupes. 
 
 The great parent of all these preposterous 
 and delusive stocks at last grew envious of 
 their success, and supposing that their destruc- 
 tion would clear the field for the South Sea 
 
09 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 stock, resolved upon tlieir annihilation. In- 
 fluence was accordingly brought to bear upon 
 the government for the institution of legal 
 proceedings against them, as being contrary to 
 the royal proclamation of June, 1720, which 
 had hitherto been disregarded openly and with 
 impunity. 
 
 The prosecutions were duly commenced, and 
 at once every bubble company against which 
 they were directed collapsed and vanished like 
 a soap-bubble at the prick of a pin. Change 
 Alley quickly became deserted, and the myr- 
 iads of fatuous speculators which had thronged 
 it found themselves suddenly brought face to 
 face with bankruptcy and beggary. Hundreds 
 of families were forever ruined, and gloom and 
 misery everywhere prevailed. 
 
 By the irony of fate it chanced that the very 
 means which the South Sea Company had taken 
 to crush their rivals brought about their own 
 downfall. Only by basely fraudulent methods 
 had the stock been maintained at its unnat- 
 ural height; and when men, after the mania 
 had somewhat subsided, began to examine more 
 carefully into the company's affairs, these frauds 
 were revealed, with the result that in a short 
 
THE SOUTH SEA liUBBLE, 
 
 28 
 
 time the stock fell from one thousand per cent 
 to one hundred and fifty. 
 
 A fresh wave of ruin now swept over unfor- 
 tunate England. The wliolc nation was affected 
 by the mighty shock to public credit. From 
 being the idols of the populace, Blunt and liis 
 associates became objects of the most intense 
 popular hatred and obloquy. King George 
 was hurriedly summoned back from a lioliday 
 in Germany, as there seemed actual danger of 
 a revolution. On the assembling of Parliament 
 the directors of the South Sea Company were 
 arraigned, and a thorough inquiry made into 
 their affairs. As the fruits of the inquiry they 
 were stripped of all their ill-gotten gains, and 
 punished in other ways for their misdeeds. 
 Blunt disappeared into opprobrious obscurity; 
 and, although England was rich enough and 
 strong enough to recover in due time from the 
 injury he had done her, still there is no doubt 
 but that her financial position would be strono-er 
 to-day had she never heard of him nor of the 
 South Sea Bubble. 
 
24 
 
 THE liOMANCE OF COMMERCE, 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 THE TULIP IVIANIA IN HOLLAND. 
 
 Regahding ribbons, Charles Dickens sagely 
 remarks in the Christmas Carol that they arc 
 so cheap you can make a brave sliow with 
 them for sixpence. The same thing may be 
 said nowadays of tulips. So easily may they 
 be procured, and with such little diflficulty cul- 
 tivated in our gardens, that one can hardly 
 understand liow the bulb from which these 
 gorgeous flowers spring could ever have com- 
 manded the 2^rice of precious stones, i'ct such 
 was the jase in the land of the Dutch in the 
 first third of the seventeenth century. 
 
 Could Conrad Gesner have been able to fore- 
 cast the future, and get a prophetic glimpse of 
 the woes his praises of the flower he saw for 
 the first time in the garden of Counsellor Her- 
 wart were fated to bring upon his countrymen, 
 he would no doubt have kept his discovery to 
 himself. 
 
 Counsellor Herwart lived in Augsburg, and 
 
 [i i 
 
T^IE TULIP MANIA IN HOLLAND. 
 
 25 
 
 was famous for his collection of rare exot- 
 ics. Among them were some brilliant flowers 
 grown from the bulb sent him by a friend in 
 Constantinople, where their beauties had long 
 been appreciated. 
 
 Gesner, on his return home, spread abroad the 
 praises of this plant so effectually that, in the 
 course of the next few years, tulips were much 
 sought after by the wealthy, especially in Ger- 
 many and Holland. Rich folk at Amsterdam 
 did not begrudge sending direct to Constanti- 
 nople for bull)s, and were quite willing to pay 
 big prices for them. 
 
 As years went by the tulip continued to in- 
 crease in reputation, until it wjis as incumbent 
 upon persons of fortune to have a collection of 
 them as to keep a carriage. 
 
 Nor was the interest in them confined to the 
 wealthy. The rage for their possession soon 
 spread to the middle classes of society ; and 
 merchants and shopkeepers, even of moderate 
 means, began to vie with each other in the size 
 and strangeness of their collection, and in the 
 preposterous prices paid for bulbs. A trader at 
 Haarlem was known to pay one-half of his for- 
 tune for a single root, not with the design of 
 
'2i\ 
 
 nw /i'f»v « \( r n/' i tnnn lici':. 
 
 Mtllin;;; it n}*;:ui\ n( ii prolil, ImiI MJinpIv (o riilli- 
 \:ilo i( in \\\H own I'on.mM vnltMN I'm- llio mlniinv- 
 tion o{ \\\H U\o\u\h. 
 
 In «^\pliin;\hi»n of IIijm «'\lrnor«liniir\ inlnrMl. 
 '\\\ w sn»j',lo vinnMx ol' plunl, tlio llow nij; Ihh'h 
 i'^i i'owh'N niiW 1<(> ipiolotl : — 
 
 Hill «,u»(«M\. lull \>\ y\\i\\\ MMtl full of phiy; 
 Tho \\»>ilil t';«u'I !«litM\ i) «lyi> lull lit'it' liuM pluro, 
 N;l\, In nrw mivltiii"*. she run thinu'.t* licv lacr; 
 IMirplt' .in.l >;(»M ;u I' l<oil\ l<iM\i';i(li luM euro, 
 'V\\o \\k'\w*\ n<MMllo»tMK sl\t' lovi's lo wour; 
 Uor »>nl\ st\»(ly is 1<» plo.jsi' iho cy. 
 And lo i>\itsliin«» tho ii'^it in IIiumv." 
 
 Unt. po(Mi»' ;\s i1m» porlniit is, (he |)ros(< of 
 Horl\n\;\nn jmoUmMv j:ot> ni<;n«M' llio mink. 
 " ri\<M\^ ;\ro l\*\v plants." \w s;\ys, *' which m'- 
 i|nirt\ tl\nni>;h arridiMit, wiMknt^ss, ov <lis(MVst«, 
 sv> n\any \ ;\ri«\o;\tions as tho tnlip. When nn- 
 rnltivattHl. auil in its natnral slat(\ it is almost 
 i>f t>no rv>lor, has lari;i* Umm^s, anvi an i^xtraordi- 
 nary loni;; ston\. Whtni it has Ih>imi wcaUtMUMJ 
 In oiiltivation, it l>oron\os nion^ aonuMhlo in 
 tlio ovo of iho llorist. Tho ju^tals aro tluni 
 palov. sniallor. anvl nii>i'o ilivoi'sitlotl in hue, and 
 tho loavos at'qniiv a softor ofivon iH>hn'. Tims, 
 this mastorpiooo oi onliniv, tho nioro beautiful 
 
rilK rui.ll' M.\NI\ IN llnl,l,\Nh 
 
 '11 
 
 i 
 
 ir InriiM, jMouH MM MMnIi !lin wnildT; mo (Imf, 
 willi tlio |M<MilrMt, kKjII iiikI iiioMt ni.K>riil iith'M- 
 I inn, ii. cull M(')i.i('««Iy Im (riiiiHjdiiiili'fl, or nvi'ii 
 Kt'pl. iilivc." 
 
 Any niin i'aiiiirDir willi tlir iiiodcrii Miiiiiifi, For 
 onOiiil jM'owiii)^ Mini rollmliiiK iniiv.l. Jit. onrn 
 Hco llin Hccrrt of llin old tjliin ciii/n f»ir liilipM, 
 iiltlioii|di il, i.M iio|. DiMy lo iiiMh'i'HtiuMl )i. whole; 
 |H'o|>l«' Immii}^ iiifcrhMJ willi il. }i.l. oiwn. 
 
 Yrt lino it. in llinl. in H'»ll'» llio riit^o Jiiiiori}^ 
 
 tllO |)lll(ll lor llin jiOMHOKHioM of lillM V!l.ric|,i«'M 
 
 WIIM HO jnciil. lliiii llin oirjiniiry iiirJiiHliinH of llm 
 coniiliy I'll) iiilo iMMdiM't,, hikI iIm) {lOpiiJiitiriM, 
 down lo llin loW(\4l> I'.'iiikM, ninhiuknd iti Mio tulip 
 tradin 
 
 (•liailnH Miickiiy, lo wliorn I \vu\ iiidnhtcd for 
 mucli (»f my iiifoifiiiilioii, sliiln.s l.}i;i,t, prinns iohm 
 ni[>idly uiilil, in llin yniir H»i{r>, pfuHoiiH wn,rM 
 known lo invosl. a fortiinn, of on(5 liundrc^d llioii- 
 siMid lloiijiH on Uin pnrcliasn of forty rr »o ts ! ft 
 }KU'.ani<5 n(M'.('HSiiiy to jippraisfj IIk; hnlh-i hy their 
 weight in jxiiits, a jx-rit \n\\\\\f Ichh than a f,'rairi, 
 just as if they vv(M(5 as prccionn a.^ diamonds, 
 whoso wei^dit is told in tiny carats. 
 
 Wlieii the mania was at its Imij^'ht a tulij) of 
 tlio species called " Admiral Ijiefken," weighing 
 
28 
 
 THE BOMANCE OF COMMEEC. 
 
 four hundred perits, was worth four thousand 
 four liundred florins ; an Admiral Van der Eyck 
 of four hundred and forty-six perits was worth 
 one thousand two hundred and sixty florins. 
 For a Viceroy of four hundred perits three 
 thousand florins had to be paid ; while, most 
 precious of all, a Semper Augustus weighing 
 but two liundred perits was thought to be very 
 chepp at five thousand five liundred florins ! 
 
 Of this last variety it is related that early in 
 1638 there were only two roots to be had in all 
 Holland ; and so eager were speculators to ob- 
 tain them that the fee simple of twelve acres of 
 choice building-ground in Haarlem was ofltered 
 for the one, and the other sold for four thou- 
 sand six hundred florins, a new carriage, two 
 fine gray horses, and a complete set of harness. 
 
 An even more remarkable case of bartering, 
 although the values involved were not so large, 
 is recorded by Hunting, a contemporary author, 
 who wrote a folio volume of over one thousand 
 pages upon the tulipomania. For one single 
 root of the rare species called the "Viceroy," 
 an eager collector, who would seem to Lave 
 been a country gentleman, exchanged the fol- 
 lowing articles : — 
 
TUE TULIP MANIA IN HOLLAND. 29 
 
 tre, 
 
 fie 
 
 Two lasts of wheat and four of rye ; four fat 
 oxen, tight fat swine, and twelve fat sheep ; 
 two liogsheads of wine and four tuns of beer ; 
 two tons of butter, and one tliousand pounds of 
 cheese ; a complete bed, a suit of clothes, and a 
 drinking-cup, — the total value being two thou- 
 sand five hundred florins. 
 
 It is to be hoped that this worthy enthusiast 
 did not, like the man in the Master's parable, 
 sell quite all that he had, but retained at least 
 sufficient to be clothed upon, and to eat, drink, 
 and be merry withal, and then to lie down and 
 sleep in triumphant possession of liis prize. 
 
 As is always the case with popular manias, 
 there were some amusing incidents, of which 
 the records have been preserved. Thus in the 
 Travels of Blai7ivllle it is told how a wealthy 
 merchant, who took no little pride in liis rare 
 tulips, upon one occasion received a very valu- 
 able consigimient of merchandise from tlie Le- 
 vant. Tlie news of its safe arrival in port was 
 brought him by a sailor ; and the merchant, in 
 reward for the welcome message, gave its 
 bearer a fine red lierring for his breakfast. 
 
 Now, this same Jack Tar, it seems, was par- 
 ticularly fond of onions ; and, noticing a bulb 
 
30 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 It 
 
 very like his favorite vegetable lying on tlie 
 desk, lie slyly seized the opportunity to slip it 
 into his poeket, thinking it would be a very 
 niee relisli iov his herring. 
 
 lie got clear off with his prize, and hastened 
 CO the harbor to enjoy his breakfast ; but hardly 
 had he disappeared before the merchant missed 
 his precious Semper Augustus bulb, worth at 
 least three thousand florins ! 
 
 Great then was the connnotion. Vigorous 
 search was at once instituted. Presently a 
 bright clerk suggested the sailor. In hot pur- 
 suit went the merchant, followed by his em- 
 ployees; and lo ! seated on a coil of rope at the 
 head of the qua}-, tiiey found poor innocent 
 Jack, masticating the onion with much apprecia- 
 tion, little dreamiuix that the value of his break- 
 fast would have j)rovisioned his whole ship's 
 crew for a twelvemonth ! 
 
 As Charles ]VIackay puts it : Antony caused 
 pearls to be mixed in wine to drink the health 
 of Cleopatra, Sir Richard Whittington was as 
 foolishly magniiicent in honor of King Henry 
 v., and Sir Thomas Gresham toasted Good 
 Queen Bess, when she opened the Royal Ex- 
 change, with a bumper of Burgundy in which a 
 
Till: rrur mama i\ holla xd. 
 
 oL 
 
 clianioiid hiicl been dissolved ; but tlie })ieakfa.st 
 of the tliieving sailor was as lavisli of cost as 
 any of tliem. He liad an Jid vantage, too, over 
 his wasteful predecessors. 'J'lieir ii;vAnH did not 
 improve their wine, while the tnlip went very 
 well with his herring. But, alas ! he had to 
 expiate his offence by spending some months in 
 prison. 
 
 Another good story is that related of an 
 English traveller, who was a bit of an amateur 
 botanist. He had come to Holland, knowing 
 little or nothing of the tulipomania ; and while 
 going through the conservatories of a wealthy 
 Dutchman he chanced uj)on a bulb the like of 
 which he had never seen before. 
 
 Moved by scientific ardor, he took out his 
 penknife, and peeled off the coats of the bulb 
 until he had reduced it one-half in size, and 
 then he cut it into halves. 
 
 At that moment the owner, whose attention 
 had been temporarily elsewhere, ponnced upon 
 him, crying out if he knew what he was doing. 
 "Peeling a most extraordinaiy onion," was the 
 calm reply. ''Bonder en Bletzen!'' roared 
 the Dutchman, " it's an Admiral Van der 
 Eyck ! " - '' Oh ! really ! " responded the Eng- 
 
 dp' 
 
32 
 
 THE nOMAyCE OF COMMEIiCE. 
 
 lisliman courteously, " I must miike a note of 
 it;'' and out came note-book and pencil. En- 
 raged beyond measure, the merchant seized the 
 astonished botanist by the collar, shouting, 
 *' Come before the magistrate with me ; " and, 
 in spite of all remonstrances, dragged liim into 
 court, where, to his profound dismay, he learned 
 that the '" most extraordinary onion " was worth 
 four thousand florins, and he was lodged in 
 prison until he gave security for the payment 
 of this amount. 
 
 It need hardly be said that henceforth botany 
 ceased to have the attraction for him it once 
 possessed. 
 
 Tulipomania reached its zenith in the year 
 163G, when the belief seemed to have seized 
 upon the Dutch that the passion for the bulbs 
 would last forever, and that the wealthy from 
 all parts of the world would send to Holland 
 for them, and pay whatever prices were asked. 
 Nobles, citizens, farmers, mechanics, seamen, 
 footmen, maid-servants, and even chimney- 
 sweeps and old-clothes women, — all dabbled 
 in tulips. People of all grades converted their 
 property into cash to invest in flowers. Houses 
 and land were a drug in the market; adjoin- 
 
 I 
 
 jLl 
 
 I 
 
THE TULIP MAMA IN HOLLAND. 
 
 33 
 
 ing coiinliitvs ciiiiglit tlio iiiiuctioii, and money 
 ponred into Holland from all directions. Tlie 
 operations of the trade became so extensive and 
 involved that it ^vas necessary to draw up a 
 code of laws for the direction of the dealers. 
 Notaries were api)ointed, who devoted them- 
 selves exclusively to the interests of the 
 trade. 
 
 At last, however, the more prudent began to 
 see that this state of affairs could not go on 
 indefniitely. Rich people no longer bought the 
 flowers for their collections, but to sell them 
 again at a cent per cent profit. It was per- 
 ceived that somebody must lose fearfully in the 
 long run. As this conviction spread, the prices 
 fell, never to rise again. Confidence was de- 
 stroyed, and a universal panic, as wild as the 
 original mania, set in. The consequences were 
 appalling. Every day made lai-ge additions to 
 the list of bankrupts and defaulters. Hun- 
 dreds who had imagined themselves established 
 for life suddenly realized that all they had was 
 a handful of bulbs that nobody would buy, and 
 which would hardly i)rocure the necessaries of 
 existence. The cry of genuine distress rang 
 through the land, and the government was 
 
 J 
 
%. 
 
 31 
 
 77//'; liOMAXCK or COMMKIICE. 
 
 Jippciilofl to thai nu'JisuicH luiglil bo lakoii to 
 rosloro public ciodit. 
 
 lUit, after months of weary waiting, ilic au- 
 tlioiities practically adniilteil their [)owerless- 
 iiess, anil the pet>plo were fain to struggle out 
 of the linancial sloimh into which their infatua- 
 tion had plunged them as best they could. In 
 due time, of course, matters did readjust them- 
 selves; but the eonuuerce of the country suf- 
 fered a severe shock, from which it was many 
 years in recovering. 
 
77//'; DMUKN l<:\riU)ITlON. 
 
 86 
 
 ClIAPTEK IV. 
 
 THE DAKIEN EXI'EDITION. 
 
 The Isllnniis of I'jiJianiJi, or Diiricn, is be- 
 yond a doubt one of tlio most iiitc^resling, as it 
 is one of tlie most important, bits of terra firma 
 on tliis round globe, Tlio eoinieeting link 
 between tlie eontinents of North and South 
 Anieriea, it is also the barrier tliat divides the 
 Atlantie from the Taeilie OeeJin, and, in faet, 
 one side of the ^vorld from the otlier. From 
 the time of its diseovery and oeeupation by the 
 Spaniards, it has been a matter of general be- 
 lief tliat whoever had eommand of this narrow 
 neek of land lield tlie key of the eommeree of 
 the world. Here would naturally be eoneen- 
 trated tlie mutual trade of the Atlantic and tlie 
 Pacific coasts of America. Moreover, it would 
 necessarily be an imjiortant stage in the short- 
 est route between Europe and the Indies, as 
 well as the mighty islands lying far to the 
 south of the equator. 
 
 Little wonder, then, that the Spaniards 
 
30 
 
 TilK liOMAyCK OF i'OMMKliCE. 
 
 waiitod to koop llio isthiims to llK'insrlvcs, 
 iiiul .'ilwiiys (litl Uioir very Ih'sI, oowiirils though 
 they wore cxi'0[)t avIkmi greatly in the majority, 
 to make it eminently unpleasant for anybody 
 who sou<jfht to share its advantaijfes with tliem ; 
 and in line and striking eontrast to their miser- 
 able dog-in-the-mangtn" polic}', for they really 
 put their s})lendiv. opportunities to little use, 
 was the spirit in whieh William Patersou eon- 
 ceived the famous Darieii project that played 
 so prominent a part in the history of Scotland 
 at the close of the seventeenth century. 
 
 This William Patersou was a very different 
 t3'pe of man from that notorious speculator, 
 John Law, ^^ hose doings liave been already told 
 in this series ; and yet his vast project proved 
 hardly less disastrous in its outcome than the 
 other's. He is generally credited with being the 
 founder of the Bank of England, and this is in 
 hirge measure true. He certainly deserves the 
 entire honor for laying down the only true basis 
 for a bank-note currency ; viz., that the bank 
 issuinof notes should alwavs have on hand a suf- 
 ficient supply of gold to enable it to redeem in 
 gold all the notes that the daily operation of 
 business might bring to its counter. He was 
 
rni'] DA nil': y expedition. 
 
 37 
 
 
 If- 
 
 iu 
 )f 
 
 Olio of tlio twenty-four directors iit tlic opciiin^^ 
 of tlio ]);iiik, l)ut iippciirs to liavo 8old out not 
 long" JifU'r, 1111(1, Avitli liis nioiuiy in luind, to 
 lijivo looked about liini for some way of invest- 
 \\\yr it tliat would be for tlie publie good. 
 
 Now, tbose were tlic days of vexation mo- 
 nopolies and irritating restrictions in commerce. 
 The trade of Kiifrland with the distant rej'ions 
 of the globe was in the jealous grasp of two 
 great corporations, — the East India Com2)any 
 and the African C()m[)any, — which, although 
 they were at deadly enmity with each other, 
 heartily agreed in crushing every free-trader 
 who dared to intrude witliin the limits of their 
 territory. l*aterson was an ardent free-trader. 
 He believed his mission to be the emancipation 
 of commerce from the Imrtful restraints laid 
 upon it by miscalculating sellishness ; and it 
 was by the creation of a great free port at the 
 Isthmus of Darien, open to the trade of the 
 world, that he hoped to accomplish his benevo- 
 lent purpose. 
 
 Accordingly, in the year 1695, he obtained 
 the passage through the Scottish Parliament of 
 an Act for the incorporation of " The Company 
 of Scotland trading to Africa and the Indies," 
 
88 
 
 THE liOMAyCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 popularly known us the "Darieii Company." 
 Tills company was granted very extensive 
 j)owers, and had a capital of ,six hundred thou- 
 sand pounds, one-half of which, it was sti2)U- 
 hitcd, must ever be lield l)y Scotsmen residing 
 in their own country, thus insuring the perma- 
 nence of the national character of the under- 
 taking. 
 
 As it turned out, liowever, there was no need 
 of this provision, for, when the subscription- 
 books were opened in London, there came such 
 a rush of applicants for shares that the stock 
 was soon all taken up ; and this so aroused the 
 hostility of the English companies that they 
 called upon the House of Commons to assist 
 them in crushing their Scotch rival. The 
 House of Commons yielded to the clamor, and 
 by threats of proceedings so alarmed the Lon- 
 don subscribers that they all backed out, and 
 forfeited their holdings. 
 
 This hostile action roused the national spirit 
 of Scotland. The English had withdrawn — 
 well, what of that ? Scotland would go on, and 
 keep to herself the glory and all the other re- 
 wards of the great national undertaking. In 
 proof of their earnestness the Scotch thereupon 
 
THE DAUIEN EXPEDITION. 
 
 89 
 
 subscribed for anotlicr oiio biindrcd tliousaiid 
 pounds of stock, nmking four hundred thou- 
 sand pounds in all. Sul)sequently an attempt 
 was made to place the balance of the stock in 
 Holland; but again the niacliinations of the 
 English companies interfered, and the whole 
 burden was left to bo borne by Scotland. 
 
 Harassed and delayed by this hostility and 
 other causes, it was not until 1G08 that tho 
 company proceeded to carry out the main pur- 
 pose of its formation. In the month of July a 
 little fleet of three vessels, having on board over 
 a thousand picked men, set sail from Leith amid 
 briglit sunshine and the cheers and prayers of 
 a vast assemblage gathered on the wharves to 
 bid them " God speed." 
 
 William Paterson's heart was full of joy and 
 hope, as he now saw before him the prospect 
 of the early realization of his long-cherished 
 design. Hitherto the selfish Spaniards, and the 
 hardly less selfish British, had sought to mo- 
 nopolize the commerce of the New World. He 
 had in view nothing less than tlie complete 
 reversal of sucli a policy. The ships of all 
 nations were to be perfectly free to the new 
 port he would found at Darien. At that fa- 
 
40 
 
 THE JiOMAM'i: OF COMMKRCK. 
 
 vorcd spot the mcicluiiidiso from all countries 
 might concentrate, and Scotland calndy take 
 her seat as the great (juecn of connnerce, show- 
 ering the Wcssings of ahnnchince aronnd Ijcr. 
 
 Suiih was liis dream, a noble one in every way. 
 Ahis, tliat it slionhl liave failed so j)itifnlly of 
 fuUilmentl After an nneventfnl voyage, the 
 vessels reached the isthnnis in November, and 
 landed their passengers at a ]n'oje(!ting point of 
 the (Inlf of Darien, which had previonsly been 
 selected as the site of the fort and settlement. 
 
 The spot was in many respects well chosen. 
 It was a long rock-edged peninsnla, stretching 
 southwards nearly half-way across the gulf, 
 and united to the mainland at the north by a 
 mirrow neck of land easily fortified. At the 
 western point a strong fort was built to com- 
 mand the gulf, which the buccaneers com- 
 mended as '' a very crabbed bold." 
 
 The peninsula was occupied as a fortified 
 centre, not for settlement, it being arid and 
 barren. An indelinite district stretching inland 
 was to form the colony, and to bear tlie name of 
 New Caledonia. Two sites for towns were 
 selected, the one to be called New Edinburgh, 
 the other New St. Andrews. At the time of 
 
 m- 
 
TlIK DAIilKY i:.\' PETITION. 
 
 41 
 
 of 
 
 the arlv('Mtur(»rs' .'irriviil llin wcatlicr was pfcMiial 
 and liciiUliy, llu! vci^^'talioii luxuriant and lu-au- 
 tifiil, (liii natives kind and liospitalilf, and (ivtuy- 
 tliinj^ stunned to smilo upon tliu untuquist!, aiul 
 proniiso (!onii)lct(3 succuiss. 
 
 But the socmIs of failure w(n(5 pn^st^nt from 
 tho start. Whatever little the JMit^lish kiic^w 
 about the plantinj^ of colonies, the Scotch kinsw 
 notliiiii,'- at all, and there was a pitiful lack of 
 the right kind of oi'ganization about the cxi)e- 
 dition. There was no arrangement for govern- 
 ment and the preservation of order. All had 
 apparently bc'en left to chance. In the same 
 liaphazard fashion liad the goods for barter 
 been selected ; and they were a marvellously 
 mixed, and, npon tho whole, highly unsuitable, 
 collection of commodities, such as axes, iron 
 wedges, knives ; smiths', carpenters', and coop- 
 ers' tools; barrels, guns, pistols, combs, shoes, 
 liats, paper, pipes, etc., one vessel carrying over 
 four thousand pounds worth of these articles. 
 
 Hardly had the colonists established them- 
 selves on dry land when dissensions within and 
 dangers without made their appearance. The 
 party was composed of very various elements. 
 Along with political enthusiasts and men of 
 
42 
 
 THE nOMANCE OF COMMEBCE. 
 
 rigid pitty and virtue were men of quite an- 
 other stamp, — hardy sailors with consciences 
 as tough and weather-beaten as tlieir bodies, 
 and who had learned their seamanship among 
 the buccaneers ; in plain words, pirates, who 
 were ready for any deed of blood or rapine. 
 These "tarpaulins," as Paterson called them, 
 soon gained that ascendency which the bold and 
 reckless are apt to have ; and their influence, 
 aided by the fascination of a wild, lawless life, 
 had a very demoralizing effect, especially upon 
 the young men of the expedition. 
 
 The leaders liad hard work keeping order, 
 and every day the task became more difficult; 
 while, to add to their trouble, they presently 
 came into collision with the Spaniards, who 
 regarded them as unauthorized intruders upon 
 their private property, for so they then consid- 
 ered the whole of Soutli America. These Span- 
 iards had considerable cities to the north, south, 
 and east of tlie Scots' settlement, and they did 
 not propose to submit tamely to such an inva- 
 sion. Moreover, despite the efforts of Paterson 
 and his associates to justify their coming, and 
 to make clear how entirely lionorable were their 
 intentions, the Dons persisted in classing them 
 
 
THE DARIEY EXPEDITION. 
 
 43 
 
 with Morgan, Sharpe, Ringrose, and the other 
 dare-devil freebooters, who had not so long be- 
 fore stormed and sacked their treasure cities, 
 and inflicted appalling loss of blood and bullion. 
 
 Consequently, wlien, early in March, 1G99, 
 a small vessel belonging to the company ran 
 into thf port of Cartagena for repairs, the 
 commander and crew were immediately seized 
 by the Spaniards, put in irons, and witliout 
 much delay condemned to deatli, as being pi- 
 rates. Hai)pily, through the intervention of the 
 Briti.^a government, the sentence was not exe- 
 cuted, but it showed plainly the temper of the 
 real masters of the situation. The Scotch in- 
 truders could liope for no mercy at their hands, 
 once they had a good excuse for making war 
 upon them. 
 
 But worse even than internal dissensions and 
 external foes were the attacks of pestilence and 
 famine. With the approach of the liot season 
 the evil influences of tlio country and climate 
 began to work. All tliat is deadly in the pesti- 
 lential elements of tropical America wculd 
 seem to be concentrated on the Isthmus of Da- 
 rien, as the toilers on the ill-fated Panama 
 Canal have learned to their cost. Up to the 
 
44 
 
 77//<; lioyrANd': of commkhce. 
 
 present it lias (UMied pennaiuMit setllement by 
 Europeans. NarfDw jis it is, its forests arc 
 patliless, and its dense shroud of matted and 
 rotting vegetation, with all its animate and 
 inanimate iu)rro'*s, suUenly opposes the opera- 
 tioiis oL man. 
 
 'J'lie unliap[)y Seotelunen, wlio had liojied, 
 after linisiiing thcMr fortilieatio.\s, to sally fortli 
 in seareh of irold, found that the sad task of 
 burying their dead, and of seeking for some 
 addition to their raindlv diminishiii«x store of 
 food, demamUnl all their energies. When June 
 came without bringing any news of the ex- 
 pected re-enforeements from Scotland, the 
 wretched colonists decided to desert the settle- 
 ment, antl to set forth in three sliips witli no 
 more delinite object than to reach the lirst port 
 whither Providence should ouide them. 
 
 One of the shi[)s got over to Jamaica. The 
 other two made their wa}- uj) to Nt>w York, 
 where they arrived in a pitiful condition, and 
 their crews and passengers became objects of 
 charity to the kindly disposed people of the 
 place. 
 
 Now, just when the famine-stricken remnant 
 of the colonists was giving up the undertaking 
 
Till': DAIilKN KXP EDITION. 
 
 45 
 
 The 
 York, 
 
 :ind 
 'Is of 
 )f the 
 
 in (lospair, tlic (•()m[)aMy at liomo was (ittinj^' out 
 a socond (;xp(Mli(i(ni. Two vcisscls w(irc du- 
 HpattOuMl in May, 1<UU), four otli(3is folIow(!(l 
 in August, and a third Mciit in S('j>t(!nd)or. 
 Iinau^inii llio disajjpointiniMJt and depression <>f 
 this second (expedition, when, on its anival at 
 Darien, instead of hiding re(;oiv(!d witli true 
 Scottish liospitality hy a [)r()sp(;rous, liappy coni- 
 nuinity, tlieri; was notliing to ])e seen save a 
 deserted and dismanthMl fort, th(; ruins of Ji vil- 
 laj^e, and a graveyaid sown thick witli nusnio- 
 riiils of the (head. Yet they liad the conraj^»'e 
 .ind resolution to stay, and take tlie clianee of 
 a liappier fate than tlieir prechecessors. 
 
 But tlie fates, unmoved hy their sturdy sj)iiit, 
 were not dis[)osed to deal any more kindly with 
 tliem than witli the otlujrs. The same causes of 
 failure were present and no h^ss potent. In 
 addition thereto the sluj^i^ish S[)aniards were at 
 last bestirrini^ thems(;lv(;s, and with (tharacter- 
 istic dj^liheration preparing,' jin armament on 
 the other side of the isthmus, which in due 
 time was to clos(i around and destroy the little 
 settlement as a huge hear might crush a terrier 
 in its mighty end)race. 
 
 Each day tlic gloom deepened ; and although 
 
46 
 
 THE ItOMAXCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 the Scots, Icarniiic^ of the projected attack, 
 sought to ward it off ])V strikincr tlie first blow, 
 and did distiiiguisli themselves by putting to 
 flight a Jiiiu'h superior force at Tubacanti, on 
 the Kiver Santa Maria, yet when the victors 
 returned laden with spoils, it was to find the 
 poor little colony blockaded by a number of 
 men-of-war. 
 
 There was no alternative but to surrender; 
 and the Spaniards, only too glad to be rid of 
 their unwelcome captives, willingly allowed 
 them to get away as expeditiously as they 
 could manage. This capitulation was the vir- 
 tual destruction of the great Indian and Afri- 
 can Company, as well as the colony it had 
 attempted to plant, and of the grand scheme 
 for a world's free port. There was fierce in- 
 dignation felt in Scotland at the loss both of 
 money and of national honor the lamentable 
 failure of the enterprise involved ; but there 
 seemed no way of redeeming either, and so the 
 Darien Expedition went to join the catalogue 
 of famous though futile undertakings. 
 
 p .1 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
attack, 
 blow, 
 ng to 
 iti, on 
 /ictors 
 id the 
 ber of 
 
 ender ; 
 
 lid of 
 
 11 owed 
 
 i they 
 
 lie vir- 
 
 l Afri- 
 
 it had 
 
 chenie 
 
 ce in- 
 
 oth of 
 
 table 
 
 there 
 
 so the 
 
 alogue 
 
 r 
 
 m 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 
 
'A 
 
 3^ 
 
i 
 
 CHASE OF THE SPAN IS! f a.lLLKOXS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CHASE OF THE SPANISH GALLEONS. 
 
 What a thrill of romantic interest these two 
 words, "Spanish galleons," excite I The mo- 
 ment we see them they bring np before ns vis- 
 ions of briorht bars of silver and jjlisteninor 
 ingots of gold, with diamo:ids and pearls as big 
 as walnuts, and emeralds larger than pigeons' 
 eggs, in heaping liandfuls, such as gladdened 
 the eyes and enriched the pockets of Francis 
 Drake and the other freebooters whose ex- 
 ploits have been so brilliantly celebrated by 
 Charles Kingsley in his Westward Ho. They 
 remind us, too, of daring deeds at sea, when in 
 vessels smaller than a hrst-class fishincf schooner 
 of to-day. and not half so seaworthy or so ea- 
 sily handled, the British mariners flung them- 
 selves upon the huge Spanisli ships, whose 
 poops towered high above their decks, and cap- 
 tured them by the sheer impetuosity of their 
 attack. 
 
 And it must not be forfjotten that it was in 
 
48 
 
 rilK Ii().\fAN(f: OF (OMMKliCK. 
 
 llic quest of 11k\so very galleons along tlio 
 const of South America, and in the liglitino- of 
 tlieni in the English Channel, when the (Jreat 
 Armada horo down so menacingly upon poor 
 little Kngland, that the English sea-dogs 
 learned the secret of the mastery of the seas, 
 a less(^n that did more than any other to build 
 up and maintain their country's glory and 
 strength at hoi.ie and abroad. 
 
 Now, what were the Spanish galleons, and 
 liow canu they to have such precious cargoes ? 
 Thv3 term "galleon" was, in the first instauce, 
 applied only to sliips-of-war having three or 
 four gundecks , but later on its use became 
 more general, and all large merchant vessels 
 went by that uame. They must have been very 
 imposing-looking affairs when under full sail, 
 although hardly less clumsy than a canal barge. 
 Tliev were blunt of bow and round of stern, 
 very low in the waist, but exceedingly high at 
 either end. In fact, some of them must have 
 resembled two wooden tower:^ joined by a bul- 
 warked raft, and having masts sticking out of 
 their tops, to which sails w^ere attached by 
 means of mauy cross-yards and a maze of 
 
 I 
 
 riGrefinor. 
 
 ^>v>^-' ■ 
 
(11 Ask of riih: spamsii cm.lkoss. 
 
 49 
 
 the 
 
 poor 
 (logs 
 seas, 
 
 and 
 
 It w.'is in one of tlieni lliat ( 'oluiiiltiis discov- 
 en!(l auotlier world, ami tonk possession of the 
 Island of San DoniinLTo. li\' tluiir ii.ul ( 'ortez 
 and his steel-clad soldieis niad(^ their way to 
 Mexico, and crnshcd the Aztee enij)ii-e with 
 appalling ernelty, and Pizarro, at the head of 
 liis daring adventurers, aeeoniplished the con- 
 quest of Peru. In fact, these galleons were the 
 keys by which the })lucky, though pitiless, Span- 
 iards unlocked the treasure-houses of the New 
 Woi'ld, whose marvellous contents wci'c; poured 
 into the eoffiu's of King Charles V. and Philij) 
 II., thereby (enabling thost; monarchs to lift 
 Spain to the proud position of lirst of Euro- 
 pean powers. 
 
 Between 1492 and ir)G8 Spain had the fudd 
 practically all to herself. From Florida to the 
 River Plata on the eastern side of the conti- 
 nent, and from Panama to Patagonia on the 
 western, her sway was supreme. To the right 
 of concpiest was added the authority of the 
 church ; for by a papal grant the whole of 
 America was conveyed to the Spanish crown, 
 and this vast trust the bigoted Philip was as 
 anxious to guard from the taint of heresy as he 
 was from commercial competition. Terrible 
 
■ I 
 
 50 
 
 TIIK ROMANCE OF COMMKItCK. 
 
 tlireats wore })rocl.'iiiiu;(l, jjiiriiiailiirly against 
 the Bi'itisli " sea-dogs," who had already given 
 liis galleons trouble along tlie European coasts. 
 For a time these measures prevailed; but as the 
 sixteenth century drew towards its fourth quar- 
 ter tliey ceased to bo sufficient to restrain the 
 national ' atred of Spain and the national crav- 
 ing for a wider con mercial field, even though 
 it had to be won at the point of the pike. 
 
 The renowned John Hawkins was the first 
 to dare the dungeons of the Inquisition by 
 violating the Spanish monopoly of the New 
 Worlfl, and so successful was his venture that 
 he soon had many imitators. Among them 
 was one whose fame soon eclipsed that of all 
 others, growing into such proportions, and gath- 
 ering about its kernel of fact such an amazing 
 mass of fiction, that his latest biographer says of 
 him : " He was not dead before his life became 
 a fairy tale, and he liimself as indistinct as Sir 
 Guy of Warwick or Croquemitaine. His ex- 
 ploits loomed in mythical extravagance through 
 the mists in which, for high reasons of state, 
 they long remained enveloped ; and to the peo- 
 ple he seemed some boisterous hero of a folk- 
 tale outwitting and belaboring a clumsy ogre." 
 
yHIASE OF THE SPANISH GALLEONS. T)! 
 
 This was the hero of the chase of the Spanish 
 galleons, the true founder of Britain's naval 
 supremacy, Sir Francis Drake. 
 
 liOokins: back over his astonishincr career, 
 and considering the overwlielming odds that, as 
 a rule, he liad to meet, and the absolute com- 
 pleteness of Ids victories over them, it is not so 
 very luird for us to understand the su[)erstitious 
 Spaniards giving him credit for being in league 
 with his Satanic Majesty, and winning his way 
 by diabolical means. For a quarter of a cen- 
 tury the name " El Draque " was full of terror 
 to them. 
 
 It was not by any means mere greed for gold 
 that spurred Drake on to his extraordinary ex- 
 ploits. As an Englishman and a Puritan he 
 hated the would-be monopolists of the American 
 continent, in the first place because they were 
 Spaniards, and in the second because they were 
 Roman Catholics. Moreover, to this national 
 and religious hostility was added a deep per- 
 sonal grudge for the treachery which wrecked 
 the first two of his ventures into the Spanish 
 Main. At La Ilacha, and again at Vera Cruz, 
 by violating their solemn covenant the Span- 
 iards gained a temporary advantage. But it 
 
r.) 
 
 77//-; liOMANCN OF COM M IHHN. 
 
 i 
 
 was dearly boui^lil; for not only did it win for 
 Kin^^ riiilij) and liin |u'rjuivd viciM'oy llu! mor- 
 tal iMiniily of l)oth Jolni Hawkins and Knincis 
 Diakc, hut it showed tho latter the road to his 
 rcveiiL,*-!'. 
 
 Ilavinuf found tho road, Drake; wasted littlo 
 time in venturin*^ n[)()n it. In the merry month 
 of May, l')T2, there sailed out of IMymouth 
 Sound two small sliips that were destined to 
 mark an epoch in the world's history. These 
 were the l*asha, of sovonty tons, commanded 
 hy Drake himself, and in her wake the little 
 Swan, of twenty-live tons, in charge of liis 
 brother John. In view of what was before this 
 littlo ex[)edition, tho project certainly looked 
 more like a schoolboy's escapade than a serious 
 enteri)rise. The crews, all told, men and boys, 
 numbered about seventy-three souls. There 
 was only one of them ^vho had reached the 
 a<je of thirtv. And yet their modest scheme 
 was nothing less than to seize tho port of Nom- 
 bre-de-Dios in tho Panama Isthmus, and the 
 Treasure House of the World ! 
 
 The wildest kind of a design truly. Never- 
 theless, they came within an ace of accomplish- 
 ing it. As it was, they stormed the town, held 
 
en ASK OF rill': n/my/n// (jallho.ws. M 
 
 ill for 
 ) unn- 
 nine is 
 to his 
 
 lililo 
 inoiilU 
 inoiilli 
 iK'cl to 
 
 These 
 ian(h;(l 
 3 littU; 
 of liis 
 iro this 
 h)uku(l 
 serious 
 hoys, 
 
 There 
 ed the 
 
 cheme 
 Nom- 
 
 id the 
 
 Never- 
 nplish- 
 11, held 
 
 |)oss(5Hsion of it for sonu^ hours, and iiiikK! their 
 wsiy into th(; tniasuiy, wlici'e tlirii' astoiiislied 
 eyes were met with a si^'lit siicli as exeecided 
 tlieir most fevcn-ed expectations; to wit, th(5 
 ^ray sliimmer of a pile of silver hars ten feet 
 in hnNuUli, twelve feet in heiglit, and seventy 
 in lenj^th. 
 
 15ut the Spaniards presently rallied from 
 their afTright. Drake was severely wounded, 
 and very reluetantly the daring invaders liad 
 to return to their hoats, leaving the vast hooty 
 untouehed. In retreating to cover tliey took 
 with them, liowever, a well-filled galleon tliat 
 lay in port; and after a fortnight of rest on an 
 island they swo()[)ed down U[)()n Cartagena, cut 
 out a large ship that was at the quay, and once 
 more vanished. 
 
 But they soon reappeared, and after making 
 a dashing, though fruitless, attempt upon the 
 Panama gold train, sacking Vera Cruz, ca[)tur- 
 ing thirty tons of silver almost at the very 
 gates of Nomhre-de-Dios, and securing other 
 hooty, they at length decided to call a halt, 
 and go hack to England for a rest. The return 
 voyage was safely accomplished ; and on a fine 
 Sunday in August, 1573, the good folk of Plym- 
 
54 
 
 77/7'; liOMAXCJ': OF COMMKliCi:. 
 
 outli scaiidalizeil tlio iJi'cachor 1)V niiiiiinuf 
 out of church as tlie triumphant young free- 
 booter's guns thundered out a salute to the 
 batteries. 
 
 Some idea of the wonderful daring and en- 
 ergy shown by this handful of men during their 
 twelvemonth in the Spanish Main may be gath- 
 ered from the statement, that, of two hundred 
 vessels of all kinds which then navigated the 
 Caribbean Sea, they calculated that there was 
 not one they had not overhauled once at least, 
 and some of them had suffered this unpleas- 
 ant treatment three times. What'wer may be 
 thouglit of the propriety of such proceedings, 
 this must not be forgotten — that Drake never 
 maltreated a prisoner, and was as renowned for 
 his mercy to the vanquished as he was for his 
 courasfe in the face of foes. 
 
 After four years inaction at home, Drake, 
 with some difficulty, succeeded in organizing 
 another expedition into the same rich field. It 
 was not much more imposing than the other, 
 comprising as it did only five sliips, of which 
 his own, the Pelican, measured but one hun- 
 dred tons, and tlie smallest was a mere pin- 
 nace of fifteen tons ; yet the results were to 
 
CUASE OF THE SPANISH GALLEONS. 55 
 
 free- 
 D the 
 
 be the most mryineiitous, without question, in 
 the whoJo nav^iil history of Enghmd. 
 
 The littl'j squii(h-on sut sail from Plymouth 
 in Novei»il*er. 1")7T. iind took n(3iirly tliree 
 months to reach tlic Strait of iMageUan, and 
 three weeks more to get tlirough that perilous 
 passage. TIkmi the Fates, which had hitherto 
 been very un[)ropitious, seemed to do their 
 utmost to wreck tlie enterprise. Two vessels 
 liad been left on the other side of the strait; 
 and of the remaining tliree, one went down 
 with all hands, and the other fled back home, 
 leaving Drake alone in the Pelican to go on in 
 a strancfe sea — for he was the first Eufdishman 
 to navigate tlie Pacific — and along a strange 
 coast held in force by the deadliest foes of 
 England. 
 
 But his great spirit was equal to the emer- 
 gency. Dauntlessly he pressed northward, and 
 splendidly was he rewarded. In the harbor of 
 Valparaiso he found one of the great galleons 
 from Peru, having on board "a certaine ([uan- 
 tity of fine gold of Bolivia and a great crosse of 
 gold beset with emeraulds, on which was nailed 
 a God of the same metal." This '* certaine 
 quantity" amounted to about twenty-four 
 
56 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 \t 
 
 thousand pounds, and was only the begin- 
 ning ! 
 
 From December to April the story of the 
 voyage reads like a fairy tale. The saucy little 
 Pelican ran in and out of the harbors, hardly 
 ever losing a man or failing to add to her store 
 of booty. The Spaniards, who no more thought 
 to see an Englishman on these coasts than tlie 
 Pope himself, seemed to have attempted no re- 
 sistance, preferring to be plundered rather tlian 
 to figlit. At Tarapaca, the Englishmen found 
 a lot of silver bars ready piled on the pier for 
 shipment, and tlie Spaniard in charge sleeping 
 comfortably by their side. " Whereon," writes 
 the chaplain, in a humorous strain, "we freed 
 him of his charge, which otherwise perhaps 
 would have kept him waking, and so left him 
 to take out the other part of his sleepe in more 
 security." 
 
 At the next landing they "met a Spaniard 
 driving eight Peruvian sheepe (Llamas) ; each 
 sheepe bearing one hundred weight of refined 
 silver. Now we could not endure to see a gen- 
 tleman Spaniard turned carrier so; and there- 
 fore, without entreatie, we offered our services 
 and became drovers, onely his directions were 
 
 I ^4' 
 
CHASE OF THE SPANISH GALLEONS. 57 
 
 not so perfect that we could keepe the way 
 which hee intended, for almost as soon as liee 
 was parted from us, we, with our new kinds of 
 carriages, were come into our boats." 
 
 At Arica, " some forty and odde barrcs of 
 silver of the bignesse and fashen of a brick 
 batte " were annexed ; and at Lima their eyes 
 were rejoiced by the sight of a fleet of ships 
 read)'" freighted for sea, "• aboard wliom we made 
 somewhat bold to bid ourselves welcome," with 
 the result of the addition of fifteen hundred 
 bars of silver, a chest full of gold reals, and 
 some bales of costly silk to their valuable cargo. 
 
 Tlie greatest prize, however, was still ahead. 
 This was the huge galleon, Cacafuego, "the 
 great glory of the South Sea," full to the brim 
 of gold and silver. Sailing two miles to lier 
 one, the Pelican overtook her off Quito, and 
 made her an easy captive. " We found in her," 
 records the chaplain in his quaint way, '' some 
 fruits and other victuals, and (that wliich was 
 the especiallest cause of her heavy and slow sail- 
 ing) a certain quantity of jewels and precious 
 stones, thirteen chests of ryals of plate, eighty 
 pound weight in gold, twenty-six tonne of un- 
 coyned silver, two very fair gilt drinking boules 
 
IT 
 
 Ik 
 
 58 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEIiCE. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ! 3 
 
 I'' 
 
 valued at about three liundred aud sixty tliou- 
 saud pexols " (more tliau two miUion dollars). 
 
 Euou<:^li had now been done l)()lh for glory 
 and profit; and Drake decided to liurry home, 
 which lie did, not by going back through the 
 Strait of jNIagellan, but by continuing right on 
 around the world, which feat, hitherto unper- 
 formed by a British mariner, was safely accom- 
 plished ; and after nearly three years' absence 
 lie returned to Plymouth, the richest man in 
 the kingdom. 
 
 Of course there were others besides Francis 
 Drake who made prey of the Peruvian treasure- 
 ships, but none who succeeded so splendidly; 
 and he may be accepted as their representative 
 in so far as to render unnecessary the following 
 out of their checkered careers. 
 
 Moreover, there was another phase of this 
 chase of the Spanish galleons which still needs 
 to be touched upon. I have already pointed 
 out that of galleons there were two kinds, 
 freight-carriers and ships-of-war. It was with 
 the latter kind that Drake and his associates 
 had to contend, when, in the summer of 1588, 
 the prematurely styled " invincible " Armada, 
 consisting of no less than two hundred and 
 
CHASE OF THE SPANISH GALLEONS. 59 
 
 thirty galleons, galeases, caracks, and other 
 crafts, bore down upon England in its imposing 
 crescent formation. 
 
 There is no need to relicarse the story of that 
 famous figlit, which continued tlirough days and 
 nights of thrilling anxiety until at last the ele- 
 ments came to tlie aid of the Englishmen, just 
 when they were well nigh spent with their 
 almost superhuman exertions, and com[)leted 
 the demoralization of the mightiest naval force 
 that ever the world had seen. 
 
 Throughout this tremendous struggle, Drake 
 bore the leading part. To him more than to 
 any other was due the glorious result whereby 
 the sceptre of the seas fell from the liand of 
 Spain into the hand of England, where it has 
 ever since remained; for in tlie chase and con- 
 quest of the Spanish galleons, little as Queen 
 Elizabeth or her ** sturdy little pirate," Sir 
 Francis Drake, imagined it, England laid l)road 
 and deep the foundations of her maritime 
 supremacy. 
 
 m 
 
 IS 
 
\l 
 
 60 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ij 
 
 
 k 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE QUEST FOR A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 The story of accidental discoveries of great 
 importance, made by persons wlio had other 
 objects in view, would be one of the most in- 
 teresting cha[)ters in the history of Imman prog- 
 ress. While prosecuting fruitless search for the 
 imaginary pliilosopher's stone, thn calchemists 
 of the Middle Ages chanced upon many valu- 
 able processes and compounds in chemistry ; 
 and in equally vain endeavors to solve the 
 problem of perpetual motion, ingenious inven- 
 tors liave worked out no small number of prac- 
 ticable meclianical devices. 
 
 It was when sailing westward to find a 
 shorter route to that marvellous Zipangu of 
 whicli Marco Polo had lieard at the court of 
 Kublai-Klian, tliat Christopher Columbus found 
 tlie continent of America barring his way, and 
 was fain to discover it instead. 
 
 Control of trade with the Orient has from the 
 remotest antiquity been coveted by Western 
 
QUEST FOR A NORTn-WEST PASSAGE. 01 
 
 nations as a prime sonrre of wealth. Mercan- 
 tile communities engac^ed in carrying Eastern 
 freight invariably prospered, and tlie greatest 
 cities of ancient time owed much of their splen- 
 dor to the ricli traOic. Alexander the (Ireat, 
 Tamerlane, Mohammed, Caliph Omar, and other 
 great military rulers, had keen eyes for the 
 commerce of the golden East ; and when Mecca, 
 the Holy City, was at the lieiglit of its glory, 
 the bright chintzes and snowy muslins of Hen- 
 gal, the brilliant shawls of Cashmere, the sa- 
 vory spices of Malabar, the flasliing diamonds 
 of Golconda, the iridescent pearls of Kilcare, 
 and the gauzy silks of China, made the mer- 
 cliants' booths places of sore temptation for 
 the pious pilgrims. 
 
 Then the discovery of a path to India by the 
 Cape of Good Hope changed the course of 
 trade between Europe and Asia. The golden 
 tide now swept the shores of Spain and Por- 
 tugal ; and those kingdoms suddenly rose out 
 of their obscurity into commercial importance, 
 vying in opulence, political weight, and mari- 
 time enterprise with the proudest nations of the 
 day. 
 
 But the navigators of those times had little 
 
1 
 If # 
 
 I 
 
 62 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 liking i'»r the stormy passage around the Cape 
 whose pacific name was so inconsistent with the 
 treatment usually meted out to tlieni there, and 
 they came to the conviction that .across tlie un- 
 tracked waters of the Atlantic lay the shortest 
 and best way to tie riches of the East. 
 
 All the Mr^ i o-peditiins of discovery from 
 Europe to ite «h(?res of the Western continent 
 had their origin it this idea. It was while 
 hunting for an all-sea route to China that John 
 Cabot discovered the coast of Newfoundland 
 and the mouth of the St. Lawrence in the reign 
 of Henry VII. ; and from his day down to the 
 year 1854, when Captain McClure, while achiev- 
 ing the feat, also proved beyond a peradvanture 
 the utter uselessness of the passage for com- 
 mercial purposes, the ivolief in such a highway, 
 and the determination to discover it, led to the 
 loss of many precious lives, and the expenditure, 
 on the part of Great Britain alone, of over one 
 million pounds sterling. 
 
 The list of those who, under the banner of 
 England, imitated the example of John Cabot, 
 is a long and inspiring one. Sebastian, his son, 
 followed in 1498. Then came Robert Thorne 
 of Bristol (1527) ; Master Hore (1536), and 
 
qUEST FOR A NOirrU-WKST I'ASSAGK. 03 
 
 of 
 
 [bot, 
 
 |son, 
 
 )rne 
 
 land 
 
 Master Micluiol Lok (^164;')), of London, — men 
 who knew " cosmo^^niphie " and the " weiglity 
 and • dhstantial reasons for a (Hscovery even to 
 tiie nortli pole." ivext we have nioie familiar 
 names : Froljisher (loTG), Sir Humphrey (lil- 
 bt.-t (^1583), James Davis (1585), the ill-fated 
 Henry Hudson (1G07), Sir Thomas JJutton 
 (1612), HafFin and liylot (1G15), Fox and 
 James (1031), and so on, a glorious mu "»'-rolI 
 of heroes of the quarter-deck whose nien< ies 
 have been perpetuated by their na\M3b being 
 given to the bays they entered, the t'tru':^ they 
 passed through, or the capes they do ^le'l. 
 
 Bearing in mind liow miserable were the craft 
 they sailed in, compared with the modern speci- 
 mens of marine architecture, and how imperfect 
 was their equipment, the achievements of these 
 dauntless searchers into the mystery of the sul- 
 len North, call for our warmest admiration. 
 Now breaking through the icy fetters which 
 fain would bind them fast, then being chained 
 by them in seemingly hopeless captivity ; at one 
 time big with hope of having hit upon the pas- 
 sage, only to be beaten back by the terrific 
 storms and irresistible beig-laden currents that 
 held guard over it, — these men never faltered 
 
04 
 
 77//; /.'o.uj.vr/'; OF commkiice. 
 
 I \ 
 
 ill tliuir fiiilli, never (luspaired of final suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Among those who won \\v^\\ places in the 
 lionor list of Arctic explorers by their daring 
 and persistence in striving to penetrate the 
 fastnesses of the Frost King, were Sir Jolni 
 Ross, Sir Edward Parry, (^aptain Buchan, and 
 Sir George Back. But tlie hero above all 
 others, without (piestion, was Sir John Frank- 
 lin, one of the noblest navigators that ever 
 faced the terrors of the deeji. 
 
 Born in 1786, with an innate longing for the 
 sea, Franklin, whose parents wanted him to bo 
 a clergyman, was sent to Lisbon when a mere 
 boy, on a small merchant ship, in the hope of 
 curing him of his romantic notions. But the 
 experience had precisely the contrary effect. 
 He returned home more than ever charmed 
 with a sailor's life, and nothing else would 
 satisfy him than an appointment in the navy. 
 Yielding to his earnest entreaties, his friends 
 i)rocured this for him ; and at the age of four- 
 teen he had tlie pleasure of i)acing the quarter- 
 deck of the fine sixty-four Polyphemus. 
 
 Ilis life on board ship had no lack of exciting 
 incident from the start, as he was one of those 
 
I 
 
 QUEST Foii A yonrn-n'KST rAssAaK. (m 
 
 wlio lioli)e(l Lord Nelson to win tlie great naviil 
 battle of Copenhagen ; ho liad a sharp taste of 
 shipwreck in tlio sontliern Paeifie ; h(^ assisted 
 (Commodore Dance to i)nt to iiii^lorions ront 
 A(hniral Linois's fleet in tlie Strait of Mahuu'a ; 
 lie was mentioned in the (lesj)atehes as *' evin- 
 cing very conspicuons zeal and activity" at the 
 battle of Trafalgar ; he was wounded in the 
 gunboat attack on New On^ans in December, 
 1814, and again honorably mentioned in the 
 despatches ; and finally, when peace was pro- 
 claimed, and there were no more foes to fight, 
 his adventurous, energetic spirit loathing inac- 
 tivity, he went off as second in command of an 
 expedition despatched to find the north pole. 
 
 Although he did not find the north pole, 
 Franklin acquitted himself so well that he was, 
 shortly after his return, put in chief command 
 of an expedition which made a marvellous 
 journey overland from Hudson Bay to the 
 mouth of the Coppermine River, and thence in 
 frail bark canoes eastward along the dreadful 
 coast, where beetling cliffs alternated with glis- 
 tening glaciers for hundreds of miles, — a jour- 
 ney which, it has been said, must always rank 
 as one of the most daring and hazardous ex- 
 
00 
 
 TiiK noMAyci: of (ommkuck. 
 
 ■I * 
 
 ploits ever accomi)lisheil in the interest of 
 geopfrapliic.il research. 
 
 The snfferings er'lurcd hy the explorer and 
 liis party were beyond all (h'scription ; yet so 
 lirm was liis belief in the nortli passage, and so 
 intense his ardor for its discovery, that in 1820 
 lie took command of a similar expedition. This 
 time, however, there were no hardships to 
 speak of, and the possibility of the passage 
 was proved so far as it could bo from tlio 
 shore. 
 
 All that now remained was to prove it by 
 sea, and in the year 1845 the great explorer was 
 given the opportunity. With two specially 
 prepared ships, the Erebus and Terror, provis- 
 ioned for tlireo years, equipped in tlie most 
 complete manner possible, and manned and 
 ofiicered by carefully selected men to the num- 
 ber of one hundred and thirty-four in all, Sir 
 John Franklin sailed from England on May 
 lOLh, in the full confidence that, entering tlio 
 Arctic regions through liafTni Bay, he would 
 emerge at Bering Strait with the secret so long 
 and jealously guarded wrested from the ice 
 king's mighty grasp. 
 
 On the'20tli of July following, the two ships 
 
QUEST FOn A Sonril-WEHT PASSAdK. 67 
 
 wore 8cen inado fust to tho ico in Melville Buy 
 by tlic ojiptiiiii of a whsiler from Hull, who had 
 a visit from some of tho oflicurs. So far as is 
 known they were never sij^hted again. Al- 
 tliough traces of them were discovered many 
 years afterwards, there is liitle more than mere 
 conjecture as to the subsequent history of tho 
 entire expedition. Despite its leader's unwav- 
 ering faith, dauntless courage, and well-nigh 
 superhuman endurance of hardships that would 
 liave appalled a thousand other men, victory 
 remained with the ruthless North, and the pas- 
 sage still continued untraversed. 
 
 If tho conjectured course of the ill-fated ex- 
 pedition at all approach the truth, there is 
 nothing more pathetic in tho whole record of 
 human enterprise. It would seem that good 
 progress was made during the summer of 1845, 
 tho winter passed as pleasantly as could bo 
 expected, and the succeeding summer was put 
 to such good purpose in achieving farther ad- 
 vance that they had got almost within sight 
 of success when the pitiless grip of winter fas- 
 tened i. Don them, never again to relax. 
 
 "To winter in the pack," says Captain Mark- 
 ham, "is known happily only to a few. I'o 
 
-' 
 
 G8 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEUCE. 
 
 puss two successive winters in the ice is an 
 experience that has fortunately been vouch- 
 safed to fewer still ; yet tlie brave explorers of 
 the Krebus and Terror were destined to ])ass 
 not onl}' one, but two long, weary successive 
 winters helplessly beset and (innly frozen up 
 in their icy bondage. 
 
 In May of 1847 a sledge party under Lieu- 
 tenant Gore left tlie ships, and made their way 
 to King William's Island, whence they were 
 able to sec in the distance the North American 
 continent, and to realize that only a compara- 
 tively short channel blocked with ice lay be- 
 tween tliem and the success for which they had 
 suffered so much. Depositing a record, which 
 was found by the McClintock expedition twelve 
 years later, they hastened back to the ships 
 with th':* joyful tidings, only to find their be- 
 loved leader, who had so often before been face 
 to face with death and come off scatheless, now 
 fighting his last battle with the relentless foe. 
 lie had scarce time to be assured that the 
 supreme ambition of his life had been achieved, 
 that what old Thomas Pnrchas pronounced 
 "the only thing whereby a notable mind might 
 be made famous, " was practically accom- 
 
QUEST FOR A NORTir-WEST PASSAGE. 0)0 
 
 plishcd, before, on llie Ittli of June, 1847, ho 
 passed peacefully awa}-. 
 
 As to the rest of tlie unfortunate expedition, 
 it would appear that in the following April 
 they abandoned their ships, and set out for the 
 Great Fish Kiver on foot, liopinj^ there to meet 
 with Indians who would lielp them ; but they 
 all droo[)ed and died by the way, leaving little 
 or no trace of tlieir course. 
 
 Everything that human forethought and ex- 
 ertion could devise or accomplisli was done to 
 discover and rescue the missing ex[)edition, but 
 the various searching parties sent out returned 
 but little wiser than they went. 
 
 Six years after Sir John Franklin's death. 
 Sir Robert McClure succeeded in making liis 
 way from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, 
 partly by vessel, partly by sledge, and in so 
 doinfif settled forever in the nei^ative tlie feasi- 
 bility of a north-west passage for vessels. 
 
 Seeing tliat to England rightfully belongs 
 first place among the nations tliat have ex- 
 pended life and treasure in seeking a sliort 
 route to the Orient through th(! 'Mbrilling 
 region of thick-ribbed ice," how })oetically just 
 it seems that she should, after all her cruel 
 
70 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 disappointments, find a far better liighway for 
 her commerce right throngli lier own territory, 
 and tliat, so long as the rails of the Canadian 
 Pacific gleam briglitly across the continent, 
 there is no need for any other north-west pas- 
 sage. 
 
HOW MERCHANTS OPENED THE WOULD. 71 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HOW THE MEllCHANTS OPENED UP THE WORLD. 
 
 We have grown so used, during the hist 
 century or so, to give scientific or journalistic 
 enterprise the credit for the great things done 
 in the way of exph)ration and discovery, that 
 we are apt to forget the great deht we owe to 
 commerce for even greater things accomplished 
 in the days when there were no Smithsonian 
 Institutions nor British Associations for the Ad- 
 vancement of Science, and when newspapers 
 like the New York Herald and London Daily 
 Telegraph did not exist, to undertake the send- 
 ing forth of expeditions into tlie burning wilds 
 of Africa, or the ice-bound legions of the 
 mysterious North. 
 
 Neither scientific nor religious ardor, nor 
 greed for a growing empire, inspired the dis- 
 coverers of the tift(Mjnth century to voyage so 
 bravely forth into unknown seas. Trade was 
 the grand object. The merchant went ahead, 
 and opened up the path for the soldier and the 
 
7'' 
 
 / //r lioM \ \( t, i)r I t)M w; /♦•«•/.; 
 
 puo>^J. \\\\\ lo» lu< ciHtM |>! I .(« il iM «|nH«« poMHi 
 
 h\o \\\i\\ j|\,» suiM.l .>! (1 
 
 IC tMI(» 
 
 111). I 
 
 llitl \MI\»'(|, 
 
 Up l.» \]\0 |M«'s«M>l (l;l\ \l) Kllr liilll |||i> ( 'III JH 
 
 ri»0 > .>\ ;!»;,» nl < "»»lmul»n » \\ MM 1) 
 
 n i'\)'t 
 
 |>l ion 
 
 l"ni.\ lu> \>,i.i i\ol Imnsoll" ;i inri.liMiil. Mis 
 M^pn;\t)on< so:no«l lnj',li m1»o\o tlio incrcciiin v 
 
 i«loas oj' lU.M.' »n;Ul.M ol 1;|,'| IdlsilU'SN. Hill ll 
 
 i»» 
 
 o\po«lition wlui'h l»o ('tMhlmdMl (o so pJoiioiiM 
 nn i^siio 1>;(«1 l.M It •; ItMindiition lli.< «|t'Mir(> jo 
 nviil tlu» \ tMuMiiiUH ni tli*' li.idc ol' iIkH \\ on 
 *ljMf»ll (';itlin\ winch p.Mnrtl snt li ti IIoimI nf 
 woaltli iulo t1i«> liip of ilio ("il\ «if ilio Isles. 
 
 It 
 
 \U 1 
 
 wonUi h(» tjuitc n\iposNil>l(> ni :i smjno ;nh- 
 
 1.1, 
 
 'lo to tt^il tli»' \\l»«>li» sloiN i^\' ;inv on<» (»f ll 
 
 i(» 
 
 >lit 
 
 <'\)>r«tuions w 
 
 In.l 
 
 \ \v\{':\ 
 
 l.'.l 1 
 
 • » \\on«loiin}' 
 
 I- 
 
 II 
 
 r.^]nM]u» lulluM to iininKijMnrtI o\lon( iy\' AfritM, 
 
 anv 
 
 1 til 
 
 le o,^Mn p.tthwiiv to ln<li;i jMonntl tlio 
 (\rpe «^f (iv^oil ||»^pi>. ,\l nit>sl I r;\n l<n( solccl. 
 s«">ino of tlu» most stiilvini*- features o( tlie eliief 
 
 o\po 
 1 
 
 ih\ 
 
 uma. 
 
 ;tt 
 
 rt^n)ii:;»l is tlu^ ('ountiT, aiul I>oim 
 Honvv. son oi ,lohn I., the man, entitled to tin* 
 houiM* of ]>t^>:innini>" tlie sJ:oi>d woik. The vonusr 
 prineo's imagination was exeileil l>y tlu» gh^.w- 
 
nnn Minrif \\ IN nrtrMcn rtw: wmnn 7'. 
 
 Hm' |ri»Mil. AfiiiMiii •l»'Hri(., Mini liM «l«<l crin J ri»« I l'» 
 i|n (ill diiil liiy in lim |iow(<i tit M«>lv(^ tlio rnyM 
 tiMy lli»'»i rxiMlinjr WW |o llio hIi(||»m \\\\i\ hi/.m (»f 
 (Im» SmiHIipiii ( 'mil iin>i!l. 
 
 ilillimln MM l'iiiiM|M<)in Mliip IumI \tu\ li(>yori(| 
 ('ii|M« nojiitlnr, wlii'li tniiilot llm rifiilli'iri mi«I 
 of llin Sill III ni. I )<>K<>i I ; IIm^ hIkhi^j ciii miiIm wliiili 
 Mt«l iihhmhI IIiiiI. rp|«'l»iul«(| nipM loivirij^ Krnr(«| 
 llip iniiiiiMMM nf lliiii liiiiM, wlio ii"jmimI''I it iix 
 ii «liviiH' Wiiiiiinjr j»» yn no fjirtlMW. lint hom 
 llciiiy (l<<M|tiil('lM>(| nh«< nx |M'(lil i'Mi iiflrr iinnt lift 
 to MiiiK)> IIm' lit l)<Mi|)t., until lit, la-^t, in llm ycitr 
 I |I''J, lilt' niinli (|irii(|i'«l KKslinln win Hnf•(•«•^wl- 
 'nlly HiH iiiniinli'il l»v (iiliiincM in ;i. kiiikIc </»■.»■!, 
 M rciii, IImmi i«>jrMi<l*M| ,i;i liilly i>(|ii;i,l t'» ;iny <»l llic 
 
 MUM o 
 
 hil 
 iJinr I' 
 
 r II 
 
 f'iriiin \ 
 
 It I 
 
 M'WWr 
 
 M 
 
 IIIM lllil' 
 
 iMvnIniicn 
 
 liiul 
 
 no (I 
 
 riil«'r|»risM, 
 
 Um^ I' 
 
 l»j('(tt 
 
 li 
 
 ♦sir 
 
 KM! to Miirli ;i,n 
 li, I. 
 
 o|in \v;i,4 yi)Ui[ »iii(»ii(Mi, My vvfiy 
 
 i»r slin\vin!( liis iipproviil of |)omi ll<wiry, 'o (ton- 
 It*!' upon iiini ;i. Kiant oT fill ili'' iiiJi'lH \\\. ini^^lit. 
 
 )m' <li 
 
 >i I 
 
 iHcovricil hcyoiMl \ apn l»oj;w 
 
 I ( 
 
 I 
 
 fir.r I 
 
 I ill'. 
 
 K;iHt, 
 
 linlii'M, l,tijrr|,||(.r willi fnll iilisolntiori for tliM 
 hoiiIh of ;ill who .should lo.sc, l.luiir I .'-h wiiil*; 
 in tlni (li.scovny of Ihi'iii. 
 
 'I'hu.i (loiihly fortiiitjd, (iiJiaiicH roturnod to 
 
m 
 
 74 
 
 rilR lii)MAM !•: OF iOMMtUH'K. 
 
 i\w rliarpfo in 1 l.'M with l\v<> vessels, iiiul pusstMl 
 u 1nin<li'(Ml miles lu'voml the eii|)e, wImmo, oii 
 landing, tracks of men ami e;ittl(» wmo fonml. 
 'I'he next y(»ai' lio m;nl»» f;irtlier pioi^nt'ss, and 
 
 \vm\ 
 
 \\\ (Miconntcr with sonm nalivt^s who issn«M 
 
 h 
 
 .1 
 
 from a eavr, hohlinjjf javelins in their hands. 
 Sov(Mal of thes(^ and ono of tlu< I*ortn^neso 
 wore woinuled, this heinijj the hei^nnnin^*' of that 
 
 w 
 
 blooil-sheddinuf which unha|t|tily stained tl 
 hoh^ eoinse of Portntnu'si' discovery and 
 
 w 
 
 I'oloin/ation, 
 
 K;u'h. succeedini,' year the vessels worked 
 farllier st>v.tlu tlu i)- owners lii,ditin^', tra<lin^, 
 oheatiiK/, :\iid h im.' their w;iv towards the ^reat 
 
 (liscoverv 
 
 tl 
 
 ev wi 
 
 re destined vet, to achieve 
 
 (lold, ostricii feathers, ivory, and slaves were 
 thi» principal oi»jci'ts of trade: and if hnsiness 
 was not Itrisk, th(» Tortuirnese never hesitated 
 to resort to frand or force to improve matters 
 
 for tl 
 
 lemselves 
 
 Cape lUanco and Cape Verde were* passed in 
 the Scneiral and Hio (irandi^ risers dis- 
 
 turn 
 
 oovt 
 
 red, as well as the Azores and the ('ai)e 
 Verde Islan«ls : the tMpiator crossed withont a 
 
 in 
 
 isliap; the (iiain (\)ast (so callcil from cochi- 
 neal, known i.i tho Italian market as arana 
 
now MiaiCllANTS OVKNKD TIIK WnULlK 7r» 
 
 »/<7 parailiHo^ Iwiii^ <)l)liiiin'(l lluinO; t|j« Ivory 
 Coast, (lold Cojist, ami Slavic ('ojust wjto 
 rcaclird in siiccrssioii, and likrwisj? llio hIioh-s 
 of lioaiij^o, ('oMM^o, and Anj^ol.i. 'I lie Kin^ <»f 
 Poitni^al now to(»U tln^ litlo of Lord n|" (iiiinoa; 
 tliu dnnatinii of all lands was (:onlirin(><l hy tho 
 l'o|M>; and notliin^ remained hut to [Hish on to 
 llio lartlnvst pnint, i^et aronnd it, seo what theiJ? 
 WJ18 on tho othui sido* and thus .solvo thu i^nciU 
 mystvry. 
 
 Tho sufoosH of Cojnjnhns had mnch to do 
 with stirrioj; n|> tho I'ortu^nn'so to aeiMnnpiish 
 this. Thi'V w'vYi) no l(;ss satisfied tiian hu that 
 tho IU!NV world ho had <lis(u»v(rn!d "as hut an 
 outlying portion of India, and ihey wrre- detor- 
 niiiiiMl to timl out if it was not possihlo to roach 
 
 th 
 
 l1 I 
 
 I til 
 
 ith 
 
 H» sanio i^oal r>y j^oiulj arouno uiu soutnorii 
 extrrniity of Afiiea. 
 
 Uartholomew Dia/. ^'ot as far as tlio point six 
 veal's hefi»r(5 ('nlmnl»iis siLfhted America, and, 
 cne.ounterin^^ a licrctj storm there!, called it Tor- 
 iihMitosa, and turnccl back. Hut on his nturn 
 thu kini^, in ]>roof of his faith in the future, 
 chanj^ed tho tith; to (\il>o tic I'Uimu rsf/rninzfi 
 (Capo of (lood Hope), which it l)e;irs to this 
 day. Tho Haino foolish superstition prevailed 
 
4(1 
 
 77//; /,•(),)/. I V(7-; (>/'• (ihM.ynanJK 
 
 iMtiu'i'iiiiiii; it tliiit liiul lii^litt'iKMl mjuiiu'iH iiwiiy 
 iVoin (';i|M' l^»ji»(lor. it was luIi«>viMl (liat llio 
 
 storms whit'h ilr«»v«' l)i;i/, luul 
 
 \ WVVi) 
 
 IMM|, 
 
 ■tiiii!. 
 
 and that it was an im|ii >us tt'm|>tiii!j; of l*i«>vi- 
 «i»'iuT to pt'isist ill jmu'ccdiiii^. Kiiii^ Mniaiiiicl, 
 liowrMM', was suju'rior to this folly ; ami schMt- 
 iiii; \ asco ila (Jama, "-a j;«'iith'man of <|uality, 
 
 ii)iht 
 
 iml coinaLi'i' 
 
 1 
 
 w. sen 
 
 I 1 
 
 iim o 
 
 IT 
 
 III 
 
 tl 
 
 10 
 
 vi'ar 
 
 ll'J 
 
 I wi 
 
 111 th 
 
 ;h 
 
 it'(M« small snips, and oiio liiiii- 
 
 h 
 
 (Irotl ami sixty mm, Ih'ariiijjf lotlcrs of iiitro- 
 (luction {o i\u) Kiiii^ yA' Calicut, and I'rcstcr 
 tlolm, tlu» l(»s^tMi(lary potontati^ wln>so tlominioiis 
 uiM'o sin>[M>stMl to 1)0 somowliiMo ill i\\{) vast 
 
 roiiions o 
 
 f A 
 
 sia. 
 
 10 
 
 'Vhc littlo Hoot, had a rouq-li ]>assai:!fo to 11 
 C^ipi* : hut whoM tlioy ivachod it fortiino favored 
 tlvoni with fair wiMthor, and on Nov. IS tlu'y 
 siU'CrssfuUy douhlod it, thoir ciinvs shouting 
 anil si>iindin^' tnimpots in tokon of their Iri- 
 
 lunpn 
 
 T\ 
 
 \c\v proi^ivss norlhwaid alon 
 
 til 
 
 d all 
 
 !(»■ 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 eoasl was full of novelty and (^xeitemenl, for 
 thev were sailiuL); in seas no iMironean keels Jiad 
 ever eloven before. At. San lUas they si 
 three tlu>usand sea-wolves on a roek in the li; 
 
 iw 
 
 ir- 
 
 bor. On (^hristmas Day, 1 l!KS, they touehed at 
 a plaee whieh. in honor of the day, llicy called 
 
inny Mi':i{(ii.i\ IS oriisi'.h riii<: wont.h, 11 
 
 TiciTJi <1() Niilal, ri iiuiiK* Miiit .still miuiiriH. A 
 fnrl.iii;^Iil liih'i* lliry m;i\v (Ui llic slioin ii l;ir«M) 
 (Munpaiiy of very (all |M(>|ilr, iiiid on liiiidin;^ 
 \V(?r(5 well r(M'('iv*'<l l»y llii'iii. I)a(iii,mii iiiado 
 (li(^ iic^^ro |H'in('.(5 :i pn'scnl, nf ii ml jarlo-l, sl.octk- 
 
 il 
 
 ■\XU'\ 
 
 ilv hl< 
 
 >! Ii 
 
 il.l( 
 
 iii^rs, and cap, wliicli vastly pIcasDl ins sahh! 
 Majrsly, and «!X<;iu!d IIm} nillmsiaslic admira- 
 tion <»r Ills .snl)j(M',tH. 
 
 Sailinir al( 
 
 (Uii; III u Icisiiicly, <*;miI loii 
 
 fas! 
 
 lion, 
 
 tliciy passcMJ tlir(Hit,di tiio .'■li-iit \\ liicli Sfjiaralcs 
 
 Mada^a.S(>ar fr(»ni tlio main IiiikI, 
 
 llld ln'MII to 
 
 liKMit with si;^iis of tli(5 picsiriKM) of tln! Aiahs, 
 as tli(5 na(iv(!S nndrrstoocl soiiurlliiiiL'' "f Hn; lan- 
 
 urwi 
 
 l^r(. 
 
 and wtM'u less astonished than olln rs liad 
 
 hiMiii Jit tht) sij^ht of slianj^(!rs. At iMo/amhicpK;, 
 DiV (Jama was rcjoiiuid at hcin;^ assii!«'(l that 
 Ik; was on tin; iiL,dit track for th(! n^nowiKMl (;ity 
 of (Calient, in India. At Mohassa, tlic Moors, 
 jcah)us of intnidisrs npon th(5 lichl of which they 
 had liitJiurto cnjoycMl a monopoly, hc'^rim to ^riv(! 
 trouhlc, hnt wc.t'j (!asily diiv(;n ofi", and their 
 [>h)ts for tlio dcstrnction of the ile(;t frustrated. 
 Continiiintr coastwaid as far as the town of 
 
 Melindj 
 
 Ii 
 
 d n 
 
 I, a lai'L^e and liourishiiif^ plac(5, witli 
 
 h 
 
 .Ii 
 
 itli 
 
 ir streets, iin<l honses several stones 
 
 1 st( 
 
 lii'd. 
 
 rcguh 
 
 where, to their greiit surprise, they met with 
 
78 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE, 
 
 Christians wlio luiiled fiom India, tho three 
 vessels, on April 22, sailed off dauntlessly into 
 that immense and unknown traet of o(;ean which 
 stretched hetwt^en tho continent of Africa and 
 tlie })eninsnla of India, that was the j^nind and 
 crowninjjf ohject of the voyage. Hitherto Vasco 
 da Cfama had simply been feeling his way along- 
 shore, so to speak ; hut now he was to dare 
 the dangers of the uncharted waters, two thou- 
 sand miles in hreadtli, that lay between him 
 and Calicut. Well was it for the little expe- 
 dition that its leader had both a sound head 
 and a strong heart. 
 
 Tho good fortune which had favored the fleet 
 thus far still continued, and at tho end of a 
 month's pleasant sailing the high iiills near 
 Calicut came in sight. Anchoring some dis- 
 tance from the city, Da (Jama sent on shore 
 to reconnoitre one of the criminals lie had 
 brought with him for tho purpose. The man 
 was conducted to tho house of a Moor who 
 could speak Spanish, and who at once roughly 
 demanded what he had come for. After some 
 conversation, however, he grew more courteous, 
 and accompanied his visitor back to the ship, 
 where he accosted Da Gama in Spanish with 
 
now MEIWIIANTS orENKI) rilK WollLh. 71) 
 
 the words: "Good luck! (iood luck I nuiuy 
 rubies, nuiny emeralds. 'J'Ikui juI hound to 
 give God thanks ; for lio hiis brought you where 
 there are all sorts of spices and precious 
 stones, with all the riches of the world." The 
 admiral and his companions were so much de- 
 lighted at hearing this good news in a Chris- 
 tian tongue, when so far from home, that they 
 wept for joy. Tlie Moor i)romised to do all 
 the service ho could for them, and returned 
 to land, leaving them in high spirits. 
 
 Very soon an invitation came from the Sa- 
 niorin, as the King of Calicut was called, to pay 
 him a visit. Taking twelve of liis companions, 
 Da Gania accepted it, although his brother olTl- 
 cers feared treaciiery on the part of tho Moors, 
 who were very numerous and influential. They 
 were received with much pomp, and borne in 
 splendid litters tlirough crowded streets to tho 
 palace, where the Samorin welcomed them with 
 every mark of respect. Ho was found reclin- 
 ing in a largo room, tho floors and walls of 
 which were covered with rich velvets and silks, 
 while ho himself was clotluMl in line linen, 
 stiff with gold embroidery and pearls, his tur- 
 ban gleaming with precious stones, and his 
 
^. 
 
 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 873-4503 
 
A^^ 
 
 
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I f 
 
 80 
 
 THE liOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 lingers and toes being laden with diamond 
 rings. His attendants all held their left hands 
 before their mouths, lest their breath should 
 reach the royal beings. 
 
 The visitors having been duly seated, refresh- 
 ments in the form of fruits were introduced, fol- 
 lowed by water in a curious vessel having a 
 long golden spout. Being informed that it was 
 a gross breach of etiquette to let the spout 
 touch the lips, the Portuguese were fain to hold 
 the vessel off at some distance, and try to pour 
 the water into tlieir gaping mouths, as the 
 natives did. But being unused to the proceed- 
 ings, they made a poor business of it, and spilled 
 a good deal, Avhereupon the courtiers showed 
 that they could be as guilty of bad manners as 
 they subsequently proved of bad faith, by laugh- 
 ing outright at their guests' awkwardness. 
 
 At the outset the Samorin evinced every 
 desire to be friendly, and to gratify Da Gama's 
 desire to open up trade. But no sooner was 
 this apparent than the Moors, who for a long 
 time had had a monopoly of the commerce of 
 India, which they carried on by way of the Red 
 Sea and Alexandria, began to plot against their 
 European rivals, and by bribing the Samorin's 
 
UOW MEIiCIlAyTS OPEXEI) THE WOULD. VA 
 
 a 
 
 jry 
 
 of 
 Led 
 
 I 
 3 
 
 courtiers, succcedud in lilling liis iniiid with 
 suspicions about the newcomers. Tlie negotia- 
 tions whicli liad opened so prosperously were 
 interrupted ; and iinally the admiral and some 
 of his companions were seized and confmed, not 
 being released until Da Gama's brother liad 
 sent a quantity of goods as ransom. 
 
 On regaining his liberty, Da Gama Avas so 
 disgusted at this treachery that he resolved to 
 set out for home. Two days after he sailed lie 
 was attacked during a calm by sixty large boats 
 full of soldiers. Happily a w^ind sprang up in 
 time to save the Portucfuese fleet from fallincr 
 into the hands of these treacherous rascals, and 
 the homeward voyage was begun Avithout fur- 
 ther mishap. They had, however, by no means 
 so easy a time in getting back to the African 
 coast as they had in making India. For four 
 months the little squadron struggled with bad 
 weather and head winds. Scurvy in its worst 
 form broke out ; and both officers and crew be- 
 gan to give themselves up to despair, in spite of 
 their brave leader's earnest exhortation to trust 
 in Providence. At length a fair wind dispelled 
 their fears; and soon they reached Melinda, 
 where they were w^ell received. Thenceforward 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ■ 3 
 
 I 
 
 the ships made steady, if somewhat slow, prog- 
 ress, until in September, 1499, they cast anchor 
 in the Tagus, having been absent two years and 
 two months. 
 
 Next to that of Columbus, this brilliant and 
 eventful voyage made by Vasco da Gama was 
 fraught with more important consequences than 
 any other in the world's history. By thus 
 opening up a new route to the Far East, the 
 Portuguese admiral, without knowing it, had 
 prepared the way for the commercial downfall 
 of the maritime states of Italy, Egypt, Turkey, 
 Arabia, and all those countries between the 
 lied Sea and the Caspian, which throve upon 
 the overland commerce between Europe and 
 India; and, what was stranger still, it was ac- 
 cording to the decrees of destiny that this 
 lucrative traffic, after being for only a brief 
 while in the hands of Portugal, should be taken 
 hold of by the British, and prove chiefly instru- 
 mental in the building up of their colossal 
 empire. 
 
 As soon as it became known in England that 
 there was money to be made by trading to the 
 African coast, the merchants and mariners be- 
 gan to compete there with the Portuguese, and 
 
 t *■ 
 
HOW MEliC HANTS OPENED THE WOULD. 83 
 
 many profitable voyages were made by Lok, 
 Touersen, Rutter, liaker, and others, despite 
 the angry opposition of the Portuguese. Details 
 of these expeditions have been preserved in the 
 Hakluyt collection, and make wonderfully in- 
 teresting reading. 
 
 In this way the world was opened up, com- 
 merce, not conquest, being the chief motive of 
 the pioneers in the discovery of new countries 
 and nations, and of new routes to marts which 
 had hitherto been reached only by long and 
 costly overland journeying. True it is that 
 civilization and Christianity owe a larger debt 
 to the practical men, " prone to value none but 
 paying facts,'* than is generally conceded. 
 
* 
 
 84 
 
 TIUJ JiOMA^'CE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 '] 
 
 11 f 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE EISE AND FALL OF JOHN COMPANY. 
 
 There is, perhaps, more of the poet's fancy 
 than actual fact about some of the lines in our 
 familiar missionary hymn which makes "In- 
 dia's coral strand " rhyme with " Afric's golden 
 sand ; ' ' but the reference to the spicy breezes 
 that " blow soft from Ceylon's isle " is correct 
 enough, and it was probably the pleasant scent 
 of those very breezes which first called atten- 
 tion to the great and wonderful land of India. 
 
 As shown in the preceding chapter, Portugal 
 was the first European nation to open up trade 
 with India on her own account. 
 
 For some time the Portuguese navy rode tri- 
 umphant in every part of the Indian Ocean, 
 while the treasury of the court at Lisbon was 
 enriched by the tribute of many Indian princes 
 and the monoply of a most profitable commerce. 
 During this period the history of the Portu- 
 guese presents a series of events without a paral- 
 lel in the annals of fact, and scarcely surpassed 
 
ORIGINAL ARMS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 Incorporated 1600. Danvers " India Office Records." 
 
RISE AND FALL OF JOHN COMPANY. 8") 
 
 by the wildest fKjtion. All the talents and vir- 
 tues which ennoble the discoverer — courage, 
 coolness, patience, and loyalty — were displayed 
 in the winning of their empire ; all the vices of 
 conquerors inflamed by avarice and fanaticism 
 disgraced them after its establishment. 
 
 But they were not left very long alone in 
 this lucrative field. In 1594 the Dutch sent 
 their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope to 
 secure a share of the profitable traffic in Asiatic 
 luxuries, and with such good success that be- 
 fore many years not only was the bulk of the 
 business in their hands, but also territorial 
 possessions more extensive than those held by 
 their rivals, who, after a hard fight to keep 
 them out, gave up the struggle as hopeless, 
 and resigned themselves to the situation. 
 
 The next claimant for the right to make 
 money out of India was Great Britain, or, 
 rather, an association of British merchants. 
 They got the idea from the renowned Sir 
 Francis Drake, who visited the East Indies in 
 the course of his remarkable voyage round the 
 world, and brought back such glowing accounts 
 of these little-known regions, that, in the year 
 1600, " Good Queen Bess " was moved to grant 
 
 
86 
 
 THE JiOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ■^\l 
 
 
 
 B« 
 
 ■i 
 I 
 
 :l 
 
 a cliarter of corporation to " The Governor 
 and Company of Merchants of London trading 
 to the East Indies." This charter, like others 
 of tliat time, was exclusive, proliibiting all 
 other Englishmen from trading within the 
 space included between the Cape of Good 
 Hope and Cape Horn ; i.e., the whole of the 
 Indian and Pacific Oceans, a monopoly that the 
 company continued to enjoy until 1813, when 
 the Indian trade was thrown open to all. Thus 
 began the famous East India Company, popu- 
 larly known as the "John Company," which, 
 starting with a small settlement in Surat, ob- 
 tained by the grace of a native ruler, grew and 
 prospered through two centuries and a half of 
 varied and romantic experiences, during which 
 it decided the fate of rajahs, kings, and em- 
 perors, putting down one and setting up an- 
 other, and drew under its direct rule no less 
 than one hundred millions of people, with 
 seventy millions more under allied sovereigns 
 more or less subservient to its influence. 
 
 To make clear how all this was accomplished 
 would, of course, require a big book. Only a 
 mere outline can be given in this chapter. The 
 first expedition sent out by the company con- 
 
HIRE AND FAlL of JOHN COMPANY. 87 
 
 sisted of five small sliips under command of 
 Captain James Lancaster. They were laden 
 with cloth, glass, cutlery, lead, and tin ; and 
 the profits of the undertaking were so satisfac- 
 tory that other and larger fleets followed in 
 quick succession. Some idea of these profits 
 may be gained from the fact that a cargo of 
 cloves, which cost the company only three 
 thousand pounds in Amboyna, realized in Lon- 
 don the magnificent sum of thirty-six thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 Not all the transactions, to be sure, proved 
 quite such bonanzas as this one, nor was the 
 English company permitted to have its own 
 way without let or hindrance. The Portuguese 
 did not at all like the idea of a fresh rival in 
 the field, of which they had once been solo 
 masters to their great profit ; and they were dis- 
 posed to be very troublesome, until the com- 
 pany's fleet, under Captain Best, gave a decisive 
 beating to a much superior Portuguese force 
 off the port of Swally, in 1615. This victory 
 served a double purpose. It disposed of the 
 Portuguese, and it produced a profound im- 
 pression upon the natives, who had hitherto 
 believed them to be invincible, and thereby 
 
88 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 1 
 
 made matters much easier for the Englislmien 
 in future. 
 
 The Dutch liad next to be reckoned with. 
 They, too, were strongly opposed to IJritlsli 
 competition, and did everytliing in tlieir })owcr 
 to thwart tlie company's ch'signs, even going so 
 far as to massacre the members of tlie settle- 
 ment at Andjoyna in the year 1022. But, in 
 spite of all opposition from either European 
 competitors or liostile natives, tlie I^ritish per- 
 severed ; and bit by bit their ])ower and posses- 
 
 sions grew. 
 
 Their plan was first to obtain permission to 
 plant a trading-station, or " factory " as it was 
 called. Presently the factory developed into 
 a fort, the fort into a fortified town, and so on, 
 until it became the capital of an extensive dis- 
 trict. In this way ^ladras, Calcutta, and other 
 cities of renown, had their beginning. 
 
 Some of the incidents of those early days are 
 worth noting. Thus, the demand for ships was 
 so great that the ship-building yard at Dept- 
 ford was unable to meet it; and another yard 
 had to be obtained at Blackwall, in which was 
 built the Royal George, of twelve hundred 
 tons, the largest vessel hitherto constructed 
 
RISE AND FALL OF JOHN COMPANY. 80 
 
 in England. In the year 1045 the Emperor 
 Shan Jelian showed his gratitudo for tho ser- 
 vices Surgeon lioiiirliton of tlio Hopewell ren- 
 dered the heauties of his zeiuuia, hy granting 
 important concessions to tho company ; and in 
 1G08 King Charles II., for an annual rent of 
 ten pounds, transferred to them Bombay, which 
 had come to the British crown as part of tho 
 dower of Catherine of Braijanza. 
 
 With the Portuguese and the Dutcli out of 
 the way, the company for a time had plain 
 sailing, until its rapidly growing wealth at- 
 tracted the attention of the native rulers ; and 
 the Englishmen found that, in order to resist 
 these potentates' increasing extortions, they 
 must needs set up a regular army and naval 
 establishment, — in fact, that, while continuing 
 to be traders, they must also be chiefs and 
 conquerors. 
 
 Then began a new era in the company's 
 history. During the following century and a 
 half, there were few years free from wars or 
 rumors of wars. Brilliant successes and dis- 
 heartening reverses alternately rejoiced and 
 saddened the hearts of the shareholders, and 
 stirred the pulses of the English people. The 
 
 ! 
 
 Ml \ 
 
HI < 
 
 I; 
 I i 
 
 i 
 
 r ! 
 
 !^ I 
 
 I*! I 
 
 90 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 period is illuminated by the fame of great com- 
 manders, wise statesmen, and admirable ad- 
 ministrators. The names of Warren Hastings, 
 Robert Clive, and Sir Eyre Cook ; of the Mar- 
 quises of Cornwallis, Wellesley, and Hast- 
 ings ; of Generals Holt, Napier, and Pollock ; 
 with others hardly less noteworthy, — form a 
 roll of heroes scarce to be equalled in the his- 
 tory of any other land. 
 
 Above them all, the names of Clive and 
 Hastings stand pre-eminent for the romance 
 of their careers. That of the former, indeed, 
 was no less pathetic than romantic. The son 
 of a small land-owner in England, Clive seemed 
 to be such an idle scapegrace of a boy that his 
 friends were glad to get rid of him by de- 
 spatching him to Madras as a clerk in the ser- 
 vice of John Company. Poor in pocket and 
 shy of disposition, detesting the dry drudgery 
 of the desk, and haunted by homesickness, he 
 twice attempted suicide; and it was only on 
 the second failure that he flunrif down the de- 
 fective pistol with a conviction that destiny 
 had better things in store for him. His oppor- 
 tunity came a few years later, when, having 
 resigned his clerkship for a commission in the 
 
RISE AND FALL OF JOHN COMPANY. 91 
 
 company's army, he came forward with a dar- 
 ing scheme for the relief of Trichinopoly, then 
 besieged by the French and their Indian allies. 
 His scheme was accepted, and proved a bril- 
 liant success. He twice defeated the French 
 and their Indian allies, foiled every effort of 
 the dashing Dupleix, and razed to the ground 
 a pompous pillar that the too sanguine French 
 governor had set up in honor of his earlier 
 victories. 
 
 The defence of Arcot for fifty days with 
 three hundred and twenty men all told, against 
 a besieging force numbering no less than 
 seventy-five hundred, which finally retired in 
 disorder ; the marvellous victory of Plassey, 
 when, to wreak vengeance upon Surajah Dow- 
 lah for the awful crime of the Black Hole of 
 Calcutta, he attacked him with only three 
 thousand infantry against fifty thousand foot 
 and fourteen thousand horse, and sent the 
 whole vast army in headlong rout before him, 
 losing only twenty-three killed in the action, 
 — these and similar astonishing exploits raised 
 him to the highest pinnacle of fame, and proved 
 that Pitt had not spoken too strongly in call- 
 ing him a "heaven-born general." 
 
t 
 
 92 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 »M 
 
 But, alaa I tlio clouds that liad sliadowcd 
 his early days rcippearcd iu the very zenith 
 of his career. Returning to England, broken 
 in health by his niiglity exertions, he was met 
 by false and cruel charges of abuse of power 
 and extortion. lie personally refuted tliese 
 accusations, but took them so keenly to -heart 
 that, in a lit of deep melancholy, he died by 
 his own hands, in November, 1774, when he 
 had just completed his forty-ninth year. 
 
 Warren IlastiiKjfs, whose name an.d fame are 
 inseparably associated with Robert Olive's, had 
 an equally unpromising start in life. Plis 
 chance came when he obtained a seat in the 
 Calcutta Council in the year 17G1. If Clive 
 was the ideal commander for those trouble- 
 ous times, Hastings was the ideal statesman 
 and administrator. What the one gained by 
 astounding daring and strategy, the other re- 
 tained by strong and sagacious statecraft ; and, 
 as if to complete the parallel, Hastings on his 
 return to Enoland was assailed, as Clive had 
 been, with a startling array of charges based 
 upon his administration of affairs in India. 
 Burke and Slieridan exhausted the resources 
 of tiieir oratoiy in denouncing this conduct. 
 
JtlSJS AND FALL OF JOHN COMPANY. 93 
 
 he 
 
 ty 
 
 ces 
 t. 
 
 Tlio IIouso of Commons sustained tlie allecra- 
 tions. lie Avas conseqULMitly impcaoliod boforo 
 the IIouso of Lords. But, after a iiu!inora])lo 
 trial that lasted more than seven years, lie 
 was lionorably aequitted l)y tliat auf^iist tri- 
 bunal, and retired to a life of well-earned ease 
 and dignity for nearly a quartc^r of a eentury, 
 in Daylesford, the original home of his family, 
 wliieli, when a boy, he had vowed he would 
 reeover before ho died. 
 
 The work of conquest and consolidation, so 
 well begun by Clive and Hastings, was stead- 
 fastly carried on in the face of difficulties and 
 set-backs by their successors in council and 
 in the field, some of whose names were a lit- 
 tle while ago mentioned. The Mysore wars, 
 the Mahratta campaign, the great battle of 
 Assaye, when General Wellesley (who after- 
 wards became the Duke of Wellington), with 
 only forty-five hundred men, defeated a j\Iuh- 
 ratta force of thirty thousand foot and twenty 
 thousand horse, the capture of the imperial 
 city of Delhi by General Lake, the conquest 
 of the Avarlike Goorkhas, the bringing to terms 
 of the fierce Afghans, the crushing of tlie Sikhs, 
 — Avhat wonderful feats of arms these were ! 
 
94 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 VI 
 
 
 f, ! 
 
 And all this was done by the servants of a 
 corporation, not of a king or an emperor. Again 
 and again, in spite of strong opposition, was 
 tlie charter of the company renewed. The last 
 renewal would have carried it on until 1873. 
 But in 1857 broke out the Sepoy rebellion, 
 with all its appalling consequences. The com- 
 pany was unequal to the task of coping with it. 
 The limit of its power had been reached. To 
 save India to the British crown, it was neces- 
 sary that the British government should assume 
 the charge of this vast empire. Accordingly, 
 in the following year, this was effected, and 
 the long and romantic career of John Com- 
 pany came to an end. 
 
 For more tlian two centuries this remarkable 
 organization had filled a place in human history 
 no other company ever approached. For a 
 whole century it had ruled an empire of its 
 own, worthy to be ranked among the great em- 
 pires of the world. And, besides paying fine 
 dividends to its shareholders, what had it done 
 for its subjects ? 
 
 Among many benefits conferred upon them 
 were these : the security of person and property 
 from the cruelty and rapacity of tyrannous ru- 
 
RISE AND FALL OF JOHN COMPANY. 05 
 
 lers ; the establislinieiit of civil and religious 
 liberty ; the abolition of slavery, widow-burn- 
 ing, thuggism, and infanticide ; the building of 
 roads and bridges connecting the different parts 
 of the country ; the introduction of the steam- 
 boat and the railroad, and of those twin agen- 
 cies in promoting civilization and uplifting 
 mankind, the printing-press and the Bible. 
 
 A glorious record truly ; and if there be some 
 spots upon the sun, let it not be forgotten that, 
 but for the East India Company, the great Em- 
 pire of India might be to-day no higher in the 
 scale of civilization than Persia or Afghanistan. 
 Taking it all in all, John Company deserves 
 to be considered the savior of India. 
 
ix; 
 
 77//; /;(>.)/.LV( /•; or ( ommhih i:. 
 
 i i 
 
 CUAVTVM IX. 
 
 
 THE HUDSON S llAV TKA1>1N(5 COMPANY. 
 
 UNgrKSTioNAHLY tlio iiK^st strikiiiir cliaptors 
 in tlio roiHiiiUH' of connuorcH^ ivl;itt3 to two ro- 
 iiwirkablo i'or[)oiatioiis, wluch, though Iiaving 
 imu'li in connnon in tluMr constitntion antl 
 powers, woiv sin«;ularly dissiniihir in tho nature 
 of their domain, and cliarai'ter of their product. 
 Tlie}' both had tlieir birth in England in the 
 jseventeentli century. Tliey both were nomi- 
 nally mere trading associations, having nothing 
 more and)itions in view tlian the securinix of 
 large dividends for their shareholders, yet in 
 reality held almost imperial sway over un- 
 counted leagues of territory. They were both 
 the subject of lieri*e attacks that at times put 
 their very existence in jeopardy, and in the end 
 they had both to succund) to the resistless 
 march of civilization, which in these latter 
 days, when the ends of the earth are drawing 
 nearer together, could not tolerate the idea of 
 commercial corporations keeping to themselves 
 
f") 
 
 PRINCE RUPERT. 
 Mezzotint by himself, 
 
UUV80N\S BAY T HA DING COMPANY. 97 
 
 vast landed possessions fifc to be tlio liomes of 
 nations. So much had these two mighty corpo- 
 rations alike ; but while the one bargained, 
 intrigued, fought, and waxed opulent under the 
 burning rays of an Oriental sun, the otlier pur- 
 sued a quieter, though liardly less prosperous, 
 career amidst the snov / wilderness of this 
 Western world. The story of one has just been 
 briefly sketched. The following pages outline 
 the history of the otlier. 
 
 It was in the merry days of the Restoration, 
 when the second Charles might well be lavish 
 toward those who had faithfully served his 
 father " of sacred memory," that to a hero of 
 many battles, retired upon his laurels to spend 
 a well-earned furlough in fascinating, if not 
 particularly fruitful, chemical experiments, 
 appeared one Des Groseliers, an enterprising 
 Frenchman who had travelled much in North 
 America, and made acquaintance with the In- 
 dian tribes inhabiting the southern part of the 
 Hudson's Bay region. Monsieur Des Grose- 
 liers's story was calculated to fire the heart of 
 a less adventurous being than Prince Rupert, 
 whose attention had indeed been already 
 drawn to that terra incognita^ by reading in 
 
08 
 
 TIIK noMAXCK OF COMMERCE. 
 
 W 
 
 u 
 
 Marco Polo liow the I'ciiowiumI VLMiotiaii trav- 
 eller found in the lent of the Grand Khan of 
 Tartary furs and sables "brought from the 
 North, the land of darkness," and had thereby 
 stirred within him the thought of what a splen- 
 did scheme it would bo to put forth an organ- 
 ized effort to tap this treasury of precious 
 peltries. The Frenchman found an interested 
 listener ; and the sequel was, that after an ex- 
 perimental trip had been made in 1668, with 
 encouraging results, a joint-stock company of 
 noblemen and gentry, with " our dear and en- 
 tirely beloved cousin, Prince Rupert, Count 
 Palatine of the Rhine," as its leading spirit, 
 was formed under the imposing title of "The 
 Honorable Governor and Company of IMerchant 
 Adventurers trading into Hudson's Bay," and 
 having for its motto the words "Pro pelle cu- 
 tem^^^ an application of Scripture whose wit and 
 felicity it would not be easy to parallel. 
 
 This corpoi ttion, in the year 1670, obtained 
 from the free-handed king a charter investing 
 it with the monopoly of the furs and lands of 
 all the borders of all the streams flowing into 
 Hudson's Bay, not occupied by the subject of 
 any Christian prince; and, furthermore, the 
 
 .1 
 
 1 
 
JIUnsON'S liAV TUATUNC; COMPANY. 90 
 
 privilege to make war and peace witli the peo- 
 ple not subjects of any Christian prince. The 
 nominal consideration for this royal bounty was 
 the annual payment of two elks and two black 
 beavers, which, liowever, were only to be ex- 
 acted when the sovereign should liappen to be 
 within the territories granted. It is immensely 
 to the credit of the Hudson's Bay Company 
 that these practically unlimited powers were 
 from the first wielded with marked moderation, 
 humanity, and equity ; so that, without in any 
 wise intending it, the corporation undoubtedly 
 became a factor of inestimable value in the 
 subsequent peaceable occupation of the North- 
 west by the white settlers. 
 
 The first post established by the company 
 was Moose Factory, at the mouth of the river 
 running into the extreme south of James Bay; 
 Forts Albany, York, and Churchill, command- 
 ing the wJiole western shore of Hudson's Bay, 
 followed in due time ; and each succeeding year 
 found the company waxing more prosperous 
 and powerful. They were not, however, to 
 have it all their own way, remote as the field 
 of their operations might seem to be from cen- 
 tres of human interest. The value of the Hud- 
 
L 
 
 ! 
 
 1(10 
 
 riih: ii(>MAt\(i': of coMMEncE. 
 
 sou's \\\\y ti'iritoiii'S was by no luciins unknown 
 to the Freut'li, who were then masters of Can- 
 ada ; and, h)Ug before Priuee Rupert acted as 
 the promoter of the Kuglisli company, a charter 
 liad been conferred by Louis XIII. \\\k)\\ a num- 
 ber of his subjects, containing terms almost 
 identical with tliose jxranted bv his " dear 
 cousin" Charles. Thus was the Company of 
 New France founded, on the 27th of April, 
 1G27. 
 
 Nor were the pretensions of the French with- 
 out foundation. Fourteen years before the 
 date of the Hudson's Bay Company's charter, 
 Jean Bourdon, sometime chief engineer and 
 procureur of New France, claimed to have 
 penetrated overland as far as the shore of the 
 bay, and to have taken possession of the neigh- 
 boring territories in the name of Louis XIV. ; 
 and six years later the Des Groseliers already 
 mentioned did, without doubt, reach the bay 
 by sea, and establish a trading-post there ; 
 while the following 3-ear Despres Couture, if 
 he is to be relied upon, made his way overland 
 to the bay, and buried, at the foot of a big tree, 
 a French flag, a sword, and a plate of copper, 
 having engraved upon it the arms of the 
 
 
 
JIL'DSOWS liAV Tli.HHS'd (JOMrANV. 101 
 
 French king, in token of the occupation of 
 the country in his Miijesty's name. If tliese in- 
 teresting relics could only he resurrected now, 
 how precious tlicy would he ! Under tliese cir- 
 cumstances the Frenc!i could hardly he hlamed 
 for contesting the occupation of the country 
 by the English company; and in 1080 the re- 
 nowned Sieur d'lherville, supported by two of 
 his hardly less famous brothers, headed a hos- 
 tile expedition into the bay, which captured 
 three out of tlie live forts established by the 
 company, and several of its vessels into the 
 bargain. 
 
 This was the beginning of a warfare which 
 waged intermittently between the two powers 
 with varying success for more than a century, 
 and seriously interfered with the operations of 
 the company, whose forts were occui)ied, trade 
 interrupted, and energies weakened from time 
 to time. Nevertheless, although the records 
 show that between 1082 and 1088 its losses 
 amounted to one hundred and twenty thousand 
 pounds, so enormous were the profits upon its 
 operations that its annual dividends averaged 
 from twenty -five to fifty per cent, and the stock 
 soon became the most " gilt-edged " investment 
 
I 
 
 102 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 of the day, the shares being practically never 
 in the market, but jealously retained as heir- 
 looms, and handed down from father to son 
 after the fashion of entailed estates. 
 
 The last and most notable act in the drama 
 of war, of which Hudson's Bay formed the 
 theatre, was the capture of Fort Prince of 
 Wales, in 1782, by the famous French admiral, 
 La P^rouse. This splendid structure, which 
 took twenty-five years to build, was intended 
 to guard the entrance to Churchill Harbor. It 
 was about four hundred feet square, with ma- 
 sonry walls six feet thick and twenty feet high ; 
 and the black muzzles of forty-two cannon 
 thrust themselves threateningly through its 
 entrance. Yet when La P^rouse appeared be- 
 fore it in a seventy-four, accompanied by two 
 frigates, and summoned it to yield. Governor 
 Hearne, evidently deeming discretion the bet- 
 ter part of valor, lowered the British flag that 
 had been floating proudly in the breeze, and 
 replaced it with a table-cloth in token of com- 
 plete surrender. The conqueror spiked the 
 cannon, partially destroyed the walls, and 
 sailed away with the garrison as prisoners of 
 war. The damage done by him was never re- 
 
HUDSON'S BAY TRADING COMPANY, 103 
 
 paired ; and the old fort stands to-day, probably 
 the most imposing ruin of the kind on the con- 
 tinent, with the guns that were never fired still 
 rusting upon the ramparts, and cannon-balls, 
 balked of their mission, strewing the interior. 
 One would naturally expect that, so soon as 
 they had obtained a firm foothold on the shore 
 of Hudson's Bay, the officials of the company 
 would seek to penetrate into the vast region 
 stretching out indefinitely to the west and 
 south, from which the Indians, with whom 
 they dealt, drew their supplies of precious pel- 
 tries. But such was not the case ; on the con- 
 trary, they were very slow to venture away 
 from the sight of the sea, although the mana- 
 gers in England were most anxious for them to 
 push inland, offering special rewards to those 
 who should take part in such expeditions, and 
 pensions to the widows of all whose lives might 
 pay forfeit for their enterprise. The men them- 
 selves were not so much to blame for this inac- 
 tion as the organization of the company. It 
 was, as Father Drummond shrewdly indicates, 
 too wooden, too much on the London counting- 
 house plan. There was no spontaneity, no 
 adjusting of means to an altered environment, 
 
t ..Vlil 
 
 
 104 
 
 TDE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 i I M 
 
 'ii' 
 
 :ji 
 
 
 h 
 
 nothing of what Parkmaa calls "that pliant 
 and plastic temper which, in the French, forms 
 so marked a contrast to the stubborn spirit of 
 the Englishman." With a view to isolating 
 their officials, the company forbade them enter- 
 ing an Indian lodge. At least one man was 
 flogged for lighting his pipe at an Indian's 
 tent. The factors feared the interior as a land 
 of unknown danger. Terrible stories were cir- 
 culated, to keep up a dread of the Indians and 
 the French. Minute instructions were given to 
 the men to protect themselves, especially in the 
 winter. Scouts were to reconnoitre every daj'; 
 and did they not return by nightfall, every- 
 thing was to be got ready for a siege. At all 
 times the cannon were to be in order, and all 
 obstructions that might impede the view from 
 the fort were to be cleared away. 
 
 Hampered by these restrictions, which were 
 as unnecessar}' as they were burdensome, the 
 officials naturally enough preferred tlie com- 
 fortable, if commonplace, life at the forts to 
 the discomforts, difficulties, and dangers in- 
 separable from expeditions into the interior. 
 Thus it came about that more than a century 
 elapsed before they first made their way into 
 
 
 wk 
 
 ^u. 
 
HUDSON'S BAY TliADIXG COMPANY. 105 
 
 the Red River region, wliic^li subsequently be- 
 came the centre of their operations. 
 
 But, in the meantime, tlie French Canadians 
 were showing a far different spirit. Knowing 
 nothing about the exclusive privileges of tlie 
 company, or caring less if they did ha[)nen to 
 be informed, their coureurs du hols., following 
 in the track of La Verandrye, year b}' year in 
 increasing numbers, set out from McMitreal, 
 ascended the Ottawa, made their way by por- 
 tage, lake, and stream to Lake Nipissing, 
 thence into the greater Lake Huron, across 
 that inland ocean, Lake Superior, to its far- 
 thest shore, where the Kaministiquia was en- 
 tered, and the voyage continued through Lac 
 la Pluie (Rainy Lake) and river, over Lac 
 du Bois (Lake of the Woods), and down the 
 River Ouinipique (Winnipeg) into the lake 
 of the same name, thus reaching the borders 
 of the fertile prairies, where the buffalo took 
 the place of the deer, and which rolled away 
 in billows of verdure until they broke at the 
 base of the Rocky Mountains, where the ter- 
 rible grizzly met the trappers with fearless 
 front. 
 
 These coureurs du hois were perfectly adapted 
 
106 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 I 'I 
 
 ^ii 
 
 li . 
 
 i; 
 
 for their business. They always kept on 
 the best of terms with the Indians. They 
 treated them as their equals. *' Witli that 
 light-hearted bravery and cheerful fortitude 
 so common among the descendants of the 
 French," writes one of their eulogists, "they 
 sought out the savage in his wigwam. They 
 often spent the whole winter with him, bear- 
 ing with all his rudeness and caprices, and 
 winning their way to his heart before they 
 asked for his furs. Quick to learn the Indian 
 languages and the tricks of Indian life, fertile 
 in expedients, they were loyal and warm- 
 hearted to the core. They were not mere cal- 
 culating-machines or animated money-bags. 
 Instead of waiting for the savage, they met 
 him on his own ground, and began by making 
 him presents of trinkets and tobacco; and not 
 until they had him in good-humor did they 
 broach the question of trade." 
 
 Naturally enough, the Indian very much 
 preferred dealing with these fascinating fel- 
 lows, who came right to his wigwam, to travel- 
 ling away up to the Hudson's Bay fort, where, 
 he would be stiffly received by an official who 
 spoke to him through a barred window, and 
 
HUDSON'S BAY TRADING COMPANY. 107 
 
 jl- 
 
 fel- 
 
 10 
 
 id 
 
 I 
 
 whose manner seemed to say, *' Be off as soon 
 as you are fleeced ; " and the consequence was 
 that the pick of the peltry found its way into 
 the hands of the French, and went by the 
 overland route to Montreal, while only the 
 beaver and otter skins got up to Hudson's Bay. 
 It was not long before the managers of the 
 company realized that this state of things must 
 not be permitted to continue ; and again and 
 again we find the General Court writing to the 
 factors, and urging upon them the necessity of 
 securing other furs than beaver and otter. In 
 response to these repeated demands, the factors 
 sought to extend the sphere of their opera- 
 tions by establishing forts farther inland. As, 
 year by year, they thus made their way to 
 the south and west, it could only be a ques- 
 tion of time when they must encounter the 
 ever-increasing stream of expeditions which had 
 their source in Montreal ; and the first meet- 
 ing did take place in the year 1774 at Fort 
 Cumberland, on the Saskatchewan River. "In 
 that year," says Professor Bryce, " the two 
 rival currents of trade, Canadian and English, 
 met in the far north-west ; and the struggle 
 between them began, which for well nigh fifty 
 

 108 
 
 THE llOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 \X 
 
 years went unceasingly on, now in dangerous 
 eddy, then in boiling whirlpool, till at length 
 as one stream they flowed on together in one 
 course." 
 
 The stru<]f<xle tlius referred to forms the most 
 exciting portion of the history of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, and at the same time the por- 
 tion concerning which, owing to the bewil- 
 dering variety of contradictory evidence, it is 
 most difficult to arrive at clear and satisfactory 
 conclusions. The company, of course, looked 
 upon the Canadian traders as unauthorized in- 
 vaders of its territory ; for the bulk of the furs 
 they secured were undoubtedly obtained from 
 Indians whose hunting-grounds came within 
 the terms of the company's charter. Not only 
 so, but these intruders were guilty of inter- 
 cepting Indians on the way to the forts ; and, 
 what made the matter worse, the furs the red 
 man bore were already pledged to the com- 
 pany for advances made them. Now, the Hud- 
 son's Bay officials Avere not the men to endure 
 this sort of thing in silence. For the most 
 part they were Scotchmen of the sturdiest 
 type ; and the aggressions of the Canadians, 
 Scotch though many of them were also, 
 
HUDSON'S BAY TRADING COMPANY. 109 
 
 :ud" 
 
 lure 
 lost 
 liest 
 ms, 
 llso. 
 
 aroused in them an angry spirit which could 
 lead but in one direction. Sooner or later the 
 matter had to resolve itself into a question of 
 force ; and in the meantime they were ready to 
 say with Wordsworth that — 
 
 it 
 
 . . . the good old rule 
 Sufficeth them, the simple plan, 
 That they should take who have the power, 
 And they should keep who can." 
 
 It would appear that the Canadians disputed 
 the right of the company to exercise any mo- 
 nopoly in the north-west, and in proportion to 
 the weakness of their position were strong in 
 its reiteration. It seems equally clear that from 
 the first they did not hesitate to resort to vio- 
 lence and intimidation in order to gain their 
 ends. But the worst feature of all was their 
 introduction of fire-water into these territories, 
 which hitherto had known nothing of human- 
 ity's chief curse. Owing to the advantages of 
 its position, the company was able to offer 
 higher prices to the Indians than its rivals 
 could; and, in order the better to obtain and 
 retain control of the poor red man, the Cana- 
 dians resorted to the importation of spirits, for 
 which he at once manifested the frantic pas- 
 
 i;: 
 
110 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ■. < 
 
 m 
 
 ^1 
 
 i^i 
 
 sion that was lying dormant awaiting the ad- 
 vent of the tempter. It liad been from the 
 first a leading principle of the company that 
 no spirits should on any account be sold to 
 the Indians, and it is one of the brightest 
 leaves in their laurels that their officials so 
 long adhered to this in spite of many tempta- 
 tions. 
 
 Close upon the introduction of the accursed 
 fire-water into their dealings, the elements of 
 violence and bloodshed, hitherto happily un- 
 known, began to manifest themselves between 
 the red man and his white brother. The most 
 daring and turbulent spirits were now attracted 
 to the Canadian fur-trade; and, if we follow 
 Professor Bryce, the chief qualities sought in 
 those sent out from Montreal were a love of 
 violence, and a thorough hatred of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Company. They were not long, 
 however, in finding out their folly in resort- 
 ing to strong drink as a means of increasing 
 their trade ; for while it did undoubtedly give 
 them a temporary advantage over the company, 
 retribution followed fast. In the year 1780, at 
 Eagle Hills, on the Saskatchewan, the rendez- 
 vous of the Montreal traders, a liberal allow- 
 
 « I . 
 
HUDSON'S HAY TliADIXG COM PAN V. Ill 
 
 at 
 iw- 
 
 aiice of grog was bestowed upon a lai-ge baiul 
 of Indians ; and one of the traders, wlio had had 
 some trouble with a chief, put a big dose of 
 laudanum into his glass by way of subduing 
 his aggressiveness. The experiment proved a 
 complete success in that regard, for the Indian 
 never awakened from the drunken stupor into 
 which he immediately fell. But his friends 
 and followers, not appreciating the situation, 
 arose in their wrath, attacked the camp, killed 
 the offending trader as well as several of the 
 men, and sent the survivors flying for their 
 lives, leaving a fine collection of valuable furs 
 behind. A little later, two posts on the Assini- 
 boine River were attacked, and a number of 
 traders and Indians were slain in the struggle. 
 These lamentable events were but the begin- 
 ning of sorrows. Thenceforth matters went 
 from bad to worse, until at length the business 
 became utterly disorganized, and the traders 
 bankrupt in purse and morals alike. 
 
 In the meantime the company had not been 
 slow in defending its interests. It was not 
 according to human nature that its sturdy 
 Scotchmen should remain indifferent spectators 
 of unscrupulous endeavors to cut the ground 
 
112 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 -! 
 
 ■„,! 
 
 from under tlieir feet. They had already 
 shown their ability to protect tlieir interests 
 by more than one device. By fomenting divis- 
 ions and animosities among the Indian tribes 
 in the interior, they had made it difticult and 
 dangerous for any one but themselves to trade 
 with them. They had even gone so far ui)on 
 one occasion as to seize and drive ashore two 
 ships that had ventured into Hudson's Bay on 
 a trading expedition, pleading in extenuation 
 that the vessels were lost through stress of 
 weather. And now they bent all their energies 
 to the task of opposing, hindering, and ruining 
 the petty rivals who had the presumption to 
 encroach upon their domain. Tlie latter soon 
 realized tho necessity of combination if they 
 would not be driven out. So powerful and 
 well-intrenched was the company that only an 
 organization of corresponding magnitude and 
 resources could hope to cope with it success- 
 fully. From this necessity sprang, in the year 
 1783, the famous North-west Fur Comppjiy of 
 Montreal, which, beginning with a mere part- 
 nership of the principal merchants engaged 
 in the fur trade, developed with astonishing 
 growth until it positively overshadowed its 
 
HUDSON'S HAY TliADIXa COMrANV. 113 
 
 elder riviil. The nictliotl of the Iliulsoirs Bay 
 Company was to pay its employees simply by 
 salary, but the new company introduced a bet- 
 ter system. Every ofiicer had before him the 
 immense inducement of a probable partnership, 
 for thus were the faithful and energetic ones 
 by due process of promotion rewarded. This 
 masterly policy kept every man up to the high- 
 water mark of his abilities; and the result was 
 that in a few years from the inception of this 
 enterprise the annual profits had reached tho 
 splendid figure of forty thousand pounds, wliile 
 ten years later they were three times that 
 amount. The conservative old Hudson's Bay 
 Company was astonished at the magnificence of 
 the newcomers, and old traders yet talk of the 
 lordly "North-wester." Washington Irving, 
 who was a guest of the company in the height 
 of its prosperity, has given us a characteristi- 
 cally graphic record of his impression. 
 
 The principal partners, who resided in Mon- 
 treal and Quebec, formed a kind of commer- 
 cial aristocracy, living in lordly and hospitable 
 style. Their early associations were as clerks 
 at the remote trading-posts ; and the pleasures, 
 dangers, adventures, and mishaps which they 
 
114 
 
 77/ a; liOMAM'E OF COMMKliCK. 
 
 ;i 
 
 lijul sIuuhmI t(tL,'('tlit'r ill tlu'ir wild-wood life 
 lijul linked tlinii lu'jirtily to eacli other, so 
 tliat tlicy fonnod a convivial fruternity. Few 
 tnivellers that liave visited Canada in the days 
 of tlio McTavishes, the MeClillivrays, tlie Me- 
 Kenzies, tlie Frohishers, and the otlier mag- 
 nates of tlie iiortli-west, when the company 
 was in all its gloiy, but must remember the 
 round of feasting and revelry kept up among 
 the Hyperborean nabobs. 
 
 Sometimes one or two partners, recently 
 from interior posts, would make their a2)pear- 
 ance in New York, in the course of a tour of 
 pleasure and curiosity. On these occasions 
 there was always a degree of magnificence of 
 the purse about them, and a peculiar propensity 
 to expenditure at the goldsmiths and jewellers 
 for rings, chains, broodies, watches, and other 
 rich trinkets, — a gorgeous prodig,.uty such as 
 was often noticed in former times in Southern 
 planters and West India Creoles, when flush 
 with the profits of their plantations. 
 
 To behold the North-west Company in all 
 its state and grandeur, however, it was neces- 
 sary to witness an annual gathering at the 
 great interior place of conference established 
 
jnrj)S0N\s itAY ruADTNa company. 11 5 
 
 lit Fort William, mnir wluit is called ili(? Grand 
 Portagij of J^ako Superior. Here two or three 
 of tlio leading partners from Montreal pro- 
 ceeded onco a year to meet the partners from 
 the various trading-posts of the wilderness, to 
 discuss the affairs of the company during tlio 
 preceding year, and to arrange plans for the 
 future. 
 
 On these occasions might bo seen the change 
 since the unceremonious times of the old 
 French traders and the coureurs du hols ; for 
 now the aristocratic character of the Briton 
 shone forth magnificently, or, rather, the feu- 
 dal spirit of the Highlander. Every partner 
 who had charge of an interior post, and a 
 score of retainers at his command, felt like 
 the chieftain of a Highland clan, and was al- 
 most as important in the eyes of his depend- 
 ants as in his own. To him a visit to the 
 grand conference at Fort William was a most 
 important event ; and he repaired thither as to 
 a meeting of Parliament. 
 
 The partners from Montreal, however, were 
 the lords of the ascendant. Coming from the 
 midst of luxurious and ostentatious life, they 
 quite eclipsed their compeers from the woods, 
 
in; 
 
 77/ a; IiO.\fAN('E OF COMMEliCK. 
 
 ' '^ 
 
 H 
 
 whose forms anil faces had Ihhmi hatierod and 
 liardLMiod by hard living and hard service. 
 Inileed, the partners from below considered 
 the whole dignity of the company as repre- 
 sented in their persons, and conducted them- 
 selves in suitable style. They ascended tho 
 river in cfreat state, like sovereiufus making a 
 progress. They were wrapi>ed in rich furs, 
 their huge canoes freighted with every conven- 
 ience and luxury, and manned by Canadian 
 voyageurs as obedient as Highland clansmen. 
 They carrieil with them their cooks and bar- 
 bers, together with delicacies of every kind, 
 and abundance of choice wines for the ban- 
 quets which attended this convocation. Happy 
 were thev, too, if they could have some dis- 
 tinguished strangers — above all, some mem- 
 ber of the British nobility — to grace their 
 hio'h solenniities. 
 
 Fort William, the scene of this important 
 annual meeting, was a considerable village on 
 the farther shore of Lake Superior. 
 
 As already pointed out, the Hudson's Baj 
 Company was slow in extending its operations 
 beyond the region directly tributary to the 
 bay, and its oi^cials seemed to prefer that the 
 
HUDSON'S liAV TliADTNa COMI'ANY^. 117 
 
 Tndiaii.s should coiiio to i]nm\ instisid of tlu!ir 
 Cfoinir <^nt to scok tlic Iiidiuns. l>!il now tlio 
 Nor'-Westcrs pusluMl away north and west, un- 
 til they not only touched the feet of the Uocky 
 Mountains, but fearlessly scaled that mighty 
 harrier, and floated upon the waters of tho 
 Peace Uiver. At tho first, they met with no 
 active op[)osition from their older rivals; and 
 it is possible that tho two organizations might 
 never have come into active conflict but for 
 a series of events, not directly connected with 
 the fur trade, which precipitated the struggle. 
 Lord Selkirk was a philanthropic Scotch 
 nobleman, whoso kind heart was stirred to 
 its depths by the woes of his fellow-country- 
 men at the times of the " Iligldand clearances ; " 
 and he determined to devote his resources to 
 finding for some of them, at least, the oppor- 
 tunity in the New World across the Atlantic 
 " to redress the balance of the Old." lie had 
 heard of the wonderful pi'airies of the north- 
 west, waiting only to be tickled with the hoe 
 to make them laugh into abundjint harvests ; 
 and after planting a successful colony in Prince 
 Edward Island, he forwarded another instal- 
 ment of emigrants, via Hudson's Bay, to the 
 
Ill 
 
 ns 
 
 / // r /.'i> w 1 \ ( /' «»;• r.'V V f In !<: 
 
 |>l;n\\M ol" (ho IumI liivt I, O'llnltli.Mliiiiit m rnlniiy 
 wlwi'h \\\ !:»1(M NOMiM Imm'ihho lln» inicloim 
 
 tl 
 
 o 
 
 UM\^ 
 
 Mo\ mco. 
 
 n 
 
 I" IV wow I 
 
 rho Novihwosii ('on<pin<y nl onoo look 
 ];nn», U wMntotl thoMO I'ovlilo |\linnM pro- 
 s«M\o»l n^A IwnUinir ivroinulM, und did not lolifdi 
 tlu' ido;\ of thoif l>oi\M> popiilnli'd lt\ llio o\o\- 
 u> ll<o\i;^:\ndM ol' ({ton! Hrilnin. Isvoiy 
 
 tl 
 
 »>\\ n 
 
 i>oss\'>lo oUslMolo \Vi>M pluood ill il»0 \\i\\ nl' 
 \\w oolouis(s. ln(in\idnlion. miuI »m«M) vinlonoo, 
 woro n^sorlod \\\ !\nd iho livoM of tlio |M>or v\\\'\ 
 
 > 
 
 r;\t\ls \MMO lillod \\ill\ (otroi 
 
 ri 
 
 UM 0«»II1 
 
 liiof 
 
 st\\>uoiv \n»'onso« 
 
 \ 11 
 
 \o r»^»^d om 
 
 I 
 
 ijMiniM 
 
 i (I 
 
 »o 
 
 now oon\p;n\y 
 
 iind lo ot\;d>lo \\\\\\ llio l)oll(»r 
 
 io punish thom, lu^ houj^hf i\ll ll»<^ IlndNon'M 
 
 1 
 
 \;n 
 
 ron\| 
 
 >:\nv s s 
 
 t»>v'U h«» oould ohlMin, iinlil. 
 
 holdino son\o forty thousMnd pounds' wortli 
 ont »^f a o;\pit;\l of ono luradrod Mnd liv(» thou- 
 sand ]>vninds. ho had tho oontrolliui; intiMi^st. 
 
 At onoo ho Ivjran to oxoit h\UKS(>ll ajjanisl Ww 
 v>bno\ions \\>r'-\vostors. Kousini;- up tho Hud- 
 son Uays from thoir lothar^y, ho instituted a 
 vio»n>us oinnnotition. WhiMvvor tho fornior 
 ostaKishod a fort, tho lattor huilt auothor uoar 
 In-. Kvovv niothod whioh artiti"o. fraud, or vwu 
 violonco oould sno^^vst was adopted by ouch 
 
HI'lhUifN'M II, \y lUMHNU iOMVANY 
 
 \\\) 
 
 (o (illlwit llin oIImm mimI to oi»lMi(i llio fiitM of 
 [\\{s ItMliiiiiM, wlio (lid Mol. OMM wIimI, rriinpiiriy 
 
 |M»(. lln'if I'lMH MM I'tlljr MM llicy VV«MO W'll (»i».l'l 
 
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 MlniipM nl" Iln> i tiMCM irfUdh-'l (o liy Mm iiv)i.l,4. 
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 i'i>|M)ir(M| llin M|i}irn!irli dl' ii, i)>iM(| of InHinjist 
 rnriM'iiiiijr from m liiniriri;r rx |ir(litJoM. No 
 HooJinr wiiM IIiIm li<>iii(| IIdmi m, jMiircl hii.ll w;m 
 |;ivrii lo (liM Nor' Wr^'.lf'iM. (»i«!(l, |(f »'j»;u;i,f,io;i'; 
 
 wriM iiiiu 
 
 lo I' 
 
 or il, nti'l n, royiil t,ifn«! w;i, 
 
 l.arl. 
 
 I'mI. wliiln llio irvoJlciM vvio liippiMjr (Ik; jifrlit, 
 flMllllHlic. Ion To iJin liillhi'', oF Sr,(»t,r|i H'{'\-\ iu\(\ 
 Hl.mlliH|»nyf!, M, Mc.oio of t",\.\\\v.y,\, riiori vv»'fM l»imily 
 1, WJM'h in M, fu'(lii»l«(| Hpot, }»!i,f,kiri{/^ K^•,fl;,i^f•,^ 
 
 u 
 
 nil 
 
 ih 
 
 fr 
 
 Willi ^n»o(|M iMMl |»r('(iiM in/r lor Ji, joiifrify. r^ooh 
 limy mIiiiI. oIT Kilc.iilJy ; no li»il<lin(^ of l»fll,4, no 
 ('nicKinjr of wliipM, no hIkhiIh lo tJio <lo;.r4» u.h 
 lliry <lisii,|»|»rji,r iiil.o llin <l;ul<nf,MM, vvliil'; thr-, 
 hiill ^rocH inonily on. 'Ilif, follf»vvin;^ fl;i,y tlio 
 M()|'-VV<".hI. mcoiiIh i«',))ort, t.lm, Hiurif, ['?i.rt,y f<f 
 
 Iiidi 
 
 liUlM, iind UH (IIIM 
 
 y 
 
 I 
 
 M. 
 
 i.H t)OHsn»lf; a Hf 
 
 ;t of 
 
 HldijdiM <l«'|>iirl. from llioir foil; wiUi loudly rlrirr- 
 iiif^ ])(!I1m. After Ji lonf^' manjli (>f forty rriiWiH 
 ilic.y rciicli tlio ('.n(',;i,m|)irH;rit, only to find all 
 ilio IndijuiH gloriously dnink, «'uid udl a hirjglo 
 
120 
 
 THE llOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 i 
 
 1 ' 
 
 ll 
 
 skin, not even the tail of a musquash, to repay 
 them for their trouble. Then it was tliat they 
 perceived the true inwardness of the ball, and 
 vowed to have their revenge. 
 
 Opportunity was not long wanting. Soon 
 after this, one of their parties encountered a 
 Hudson's Bay train on its way to trade with 
 the same Indians of whom they were in search. 
 They exchanged compliments with each other, 
 and, as the day was very cold, proposed light- 
 ing a fire, and having something to drink to- 
 gether. A huge fire was soon roaring in their 
 midst, the canteens were produced, and they 
 each tried who could tell the biggest yarns, 
 while good liquor mounted to their brains. 
 The Nor'-Westers, after r« little time, spilled 
 their grog on the snow, unperceived by the 
 others ; so that they kept fairly sober, although 
 their rivals were becoming very much elevated. 
 At last they began boasting of their superior 
 prowess in drinking, and in proof thereof each 
 of them swallowed a big bumper. The Hud- 
 son Bays, not to be outdone, followed their 
 example, and almost instantly fell over upon 
 the snow helplessly drunk. In ten minutes 
 more they were tied firmly upon their sledges, 
 
HUDSON'S IlAV T HA DING COMPANY. 121 
 
 and tho dogs being turned homewards, away 
 they went straight for tlie Hudson's Bay fort, 
 where in due time they safely arrived witli 
 the men still sound asleep; while the Nor'- 
 Westers made haste for the Indian camp, and 
 this time had the furs all to themselves. 
 
 But such convivial and friendly devices to 
 outwit each other soon gave way to more rep- 
 rehensible proceedings. As the competition 
 grew keener, the temper of the rivals waxed 
 hotter ; and, ere long, forts were attacked, taken, 
 and burnt, the officials and their adherents im- 
 prisoned and harshly treated, the furs on their 
 way to the rendezvous intercepted and appro- 
 priated by main strength, if necessary, and 
 the whole trade turned into a furious conflict. 
 The governor-general of Canada sent out war- 
 rants and proclamations in vain. These were 
 alike treated with sovereign contempt in that 
 distant land, where "the king's writ runneth 
 not ; " for both sides well knew that he had 
 no means of putting his high-sounding words 
 into action. 
 
 So matters went from bad to worse, until, 
 in the year 1816, they reached a climax in a 
 battle royal, which took place before the gates 
 
I 
 
 10O 
 
 THE liOMAXCK OF COMMERCE. 
 
 of Fort Garry, llio Hudson I^ays' principal 
 post in tlio Kod River roa^ion, and in which 
 hiniontahlc affair seventeen men and three of- 
 ficers of tlie company, including Governor 
 Semple, fell, pierced with hullets. 
 
 Yet even this dreadful occurrence did not 
 at once ahato the contlict. All parley was now 
 at an end, and the password was " war to the 
 knife." Olhcers and men were engaged hy 
 the companies, principally with a view to their 
 fighting qualities ; and more interest was taken 
 in a successful encounter than in a proiitahle 
 barter. Such a state of afl'airs could not long 
 continue. The whole trade was being ruined ; 
 the Indians were becoming demoralized with 
 iire-water ; the prices paid for the peltries were 
 out of all proportion to the value. The cooler 
 heads of the concern then saw their oppor- 
 tunity ; and negotiations were entered into, 
 which, in 1821, resulted in their giving up 
 conflict for coalition, and being united with 
 the approval of Parliament, under the name 
 of the older company, some additional privi- 
 lesres beincf Cfranted at the same time. Soon 
 after the coalition, a shrewd young Scotchman, 
 who had been sent out from London to exam- 
 
HUDSON'S BAY TRADING COMPANY. 123 
 
 ine tlio condition of things, sliowed Huch apti- 
 tude for business, and suuli fertility of resource, 
 tliat he was put at the liead of affairs in North 
 America, with the title of (iovernor-in-chief of 
 liupert's Land. '"It was a great responsibil- 
 ity," writes Professor Bryce, " for young and 
 inexperienced George Simpson to undertake the 
 management of so great a concern, to reconcile 
 men who liad been in arms against each other, 
 and to bring their trade from the brink of 
 ruin vo a successful issue. Yet for forty years 
 lie remained at the helm, and with such marked 
 success as to have the lionor of knighthood 
 conferred upon him in token of his services. 
 He was the virtual ruler of about half of North 
 America, and, though an autocrat, lield the 
 reins of power to the last with unslackening 
 grasp. Small in stature, he was of indomi- 
 table perseverance, albeit somewhat impatient 
 in temper. It is told of him — and one may 
 say of the story, " si non e vero ; " it is at least 
 ^'•hen trovato^'' — that on one occasion, while 
 passing through the Lake of the Woods, and 
 urging his crew overmuch, a powerful French 
 Yoyageur, his right-hand man, became so in- 
 censed at his unreasoninir demands that he 
 
121 
 
 TlIK nOMANCK OF COMMKliCE. 
 
 I 
 
 ? * 
 
 seized him by the iieek, lifted luin over i\w 
 guinvaU , plunged him into the water, mid 
 then drew him, drii)[)iMg, in again, to be, for 
 tlie remainder of that voyage, a more con- 
 si(U*rate master. 
 
 Under Sir (le'^''ge Simi)son's sway, tlic story 
 of the eom[)any was one of peace, prosperity, and 
 progress. The infusion of Noith-west bh)od 
 and ea})ital gave it more vigorous life ; and 
 each year witnessed extending operations, un- 
 til, in 180)0, its ledger show(>d one hundred and 
 lifty-live establishments, in charge of twenty- 
 five chief factors, twenty-eight chief traders, one 
 hundred and lifty-two clerks, and one thousand 
 two hundred other servants, besides a legion of 
 subject natives. The trading districts were di- 
 vided into four departments, covering the coun- 
 try from ocean to ocean, — from Ungava on 
 the bleak Labrador coast, to Fort Victoria on 
 the liord-picrced shores of British Columbia, — 
 an empire hardly smaller than tiie whole of 
 Europe, though but thinly populated by some 
 one hundred and sixty thousand Indians, half- 
 breeds, and Esquimaux. 
 
 Hardly was the Dominion of Canada well 
 born, than its statesmen began to look with 
 
 / ' 
 
 i 
 
 
// unsoN ' .s /; A r rn a din a com pa n y. 1 25 
 
 longing oy(\s upon tlio l)()un(ll(;sM [)r.'iiii(!H of tlio 
 nort]i-\v(;.st, and to (UMii.md in no uniuM-lain 
 languago from Uio imoUk!!* country tlio abroga- 
 tion of till) (sliartcr giving tlio Hudson's '»ay 
 (/oni[)aTiy a niono[)oly of tliat promised land. 
 But, of course;, tlio company could hardly l)o 
 expcotod to yield up so splcndi<l a property 
 without Jidccpiate com[)onsation. Negotiations 
 wore accordingly entered into, which, in tho 
 year 18()0, resulted in a ])argain iHsing effected. 
 Tho company surriiiidered its prr)[)rietary riglits, 
 and in return therefor received the tidy sum of 
 three hundred thousand pounds st(;rling, and 
 one-twentieth of the land within tho fertile belt, 
 as well as fifty thousand acres in immediato 
 proximity to its posts. 
 
 As a monopoly, the Hudson's Bay Company 
 then ceased to exist. As a commercial corpora- 
 tion, trading upon just tho same basis as other 
 cori»orations, and still practically free from 
 troublesome competition in the more northern 
 territories, holding vase landed estates, ever in- 
 creasing in value as the country opens up, and 
 able to pay a decent dividend on capital now 
 swollen to two millions of pounds, the " Honor- 
 able Company of Merchant Adventurers Trad- 
 
' « 
 
 126 
 
 THE liOMANCE OF VOMMKUCE, 
 
 ing into Hudson's Bay " lias still, no doubt, in 
 store for it a prolonged if uneventful future. 
 
 The headquarters of the company continue to 
 be in Fenchurch Street, London ; but the recent 
 election to the chief governorship of Sir Donald 
 Smith of Montreal, whose life for the past half- 
 century has been part of the company's history, 
 has brought the control of affairs into closer 
 touch with the country, and made it seem more 
 than ever in the past a national enterprise. 
 
 I have thus sketched in scanty outline the 
 romantic history of the great corporation ; and it 
 now remains for me to give some picture of its 
 internal workings, of its method of dealing with 
 the Indians, and of life at the hundred or more 
 forts scattered throughout so many thousand 
 miles of varied territory. 
 
 Regarded strictly as a fur-trading enterprise, 
 the Hudson's Bay Company reached its zenith 
 about the year 1868, just before the surrender 
 of its proprietary privileges to the Dominion of 
 Canada ; and as the methods and manners in 
 vogue then remain practically unchanged to-day 
 at the more distant forts, whither settlement 
 and civilization liave not yet made their way, 
 I will ask my readers to imagine themselves 
 
 
\ 
 
 ay, 
 ves 
 
 HUDSON'S liAV TRADING COMPANY. 127 
 
 transported to a typical post of tliat period, and 
 interested spectators of its picturesque, uncon- 
 ventional life. 
 
 If, on approaching a Hudson's Bay post for 
 the first time, you had the higli-sounding word 
 " fort " suggestive of rampart, bastion, embra- 
 sure, and battlement, much upon your mind, 
 and were accordingly full of appropriate ex- 
 [)ectation, you would be doomed to disappoint- 
 ment. Excepting Fort Garry, which, before 
 the city of Winnipeg swallowed it up, was 
 really a fortress with substantial stone walls 
 and towers, the forts are quite unimposing af- 
 fairs. Fancy a parallelogram of greater or less 
 extent according to the importance of the post, 
 inclosed by a picket twenty-four feet in height, 
 composed of upright trunks, and fastened along 
 the top by a strong rail. At each corner stands 
 a stout bastion built of squared logs, and 
 peirced for guns commanding both sides of the 
 angle. Inside the picket is a gallery running 
 riglit around the inclosure, just high enough 
 for a man's head to be level with the top of the 
 fence. At intervals along the side of the picket 
 are loopholes for rifles, and over the gateway 
 frowns another bastion, from which anybody 
 

 128 
 
 TUE nOMAXCE OF COMMEUCE. 
 
 attempting to storm tljc g:ito may be warmly 
 peppered. In the centre of tlie space inclosed 
 are tlie houses of tlie factor, or trader in cliarge, 
 and liis cliief snbordinates, while ranged around 
 the sides close to the stockade are the trading- 
 store, the fur-room, the wareliouses, servants' 
 quartere, etc. Beside the factor's residence 
 rises a lofty flagstaff from which floats the flag 
 of the company, bearing its motto : " Pro Pelle 
 Cutem," and near by stands a bell-tower which 
 sounds out the important houi*s of the day. 
 
 In the earlier days one of tlie garrison would, 
 watch by watch, pace round the gallery, crying 
 out at intervals the houi-s and the state of the 
 weather; partly as a precaution against Indian 
 invasion, and partly as a fire patrol. But the 
 establishment of the Mounted Police by the 
 Dominion Government has rendered the for- 
 mer duty unnecessary, and the practice is now 
 almost obsolete. 
 
 The advent of a band of Indians, burdened 
 with the result of a season's hunting, arouses 
 the fort from its humdrum routine ; and it be- 
 comes a scene of picturesque animation and 
 bustle. If the band be an important one, its 
 coming has been announced by a couple of 
 
 
miDso.ws liAv rii.iDixa comiwxv. 1-Ji) 
 
 braves sent on alicad as advance agents, and 
 everytliiiig is in readiness. This means not 
 only that the company's goods are ready for 
 the barter, but that every precaution lias been 
 taken to guard against a sudden reconnaissance 
 in force on the part of the red men, whose feel- 
 ings are apt to be powerfully operated upon 
 by the knowledge that what seems to them 
 illimitable wealth is kept out of their grasp by 
 only some rough wooden walls, and a handful 
 of white men. The manner in which the busi- 
 ness of barterini, goods for peltries is then con- 
 ducted has been graphically described for us by 
 a writer familiar with the proceedings. The 
 Indian with his bundle of furs proceeds in the 
 first instance to the trading-room, where the 
 trader separates the furs into lots, puts a val- 
 uation upon tliem according to their kind and 
 quality, and after adding up the amount, re- 
 turns to the Indian a number of little pieces 
 of wood indicating the number of " made-beav- 
 ers " to which his '* hunt " amounts. Bearing 
 his bundle of sticks, the happy hunter then 
 proceeds to the store-room, where he finds 
 himself surrounded by bales of blankets, slop- 
 coats, guns, scalping-knives, tomahawks, pow- 
 
 I 
 
It 
 
 • I 
 
 f ■: 
 
 |1 
 
 l:;o 
 
 77//'; liOMAM'N OF i'OMMKlU'K. 
 
 (lor-lionis, 5i\(\'<, <Mo., ;iii(l is Mu'rciby niiulo to 
 f(H'l wry iniu'li like a l)unu^ry hoy \vX loose in 
 a pastry-cook's, and wonld withont donbt be- 
 havo in a nuicli similar fashion if lie dared. 
 I'ai'h article has a recognized value in "made- 
 heaver.'' A slop-coat, for example, may ho 
 Avorth iive 'Mnade-lu'avers," and the aborigine 
 l);iys for his civili/Anl fniery with twelve of liis 
 sticks ; for a gini he gives twenty ; for a knife, 
 two ; and so on nntil his stock of wori ^en 
 *Mcoal tender" is cxlKUuted, when, with pro- 
 fonnd regret and longing eyes, he retires to 
 make room for the next comer, aiid prondly to 
 exhibit his purchases to his friends and family. 
 At every j)(xst, or at least in every district, 
 there V:, a tarilY established wliich varies little 
 from year to year. The mind of the Indian, 
 \.ntutored to the rise and fall of the markets, 
 and knowinjx nothino- of what it means for furs 
 to be "firm " or " unsteady," is not tolerant of 
 varying prices ; and, accordingly, to faoihtate 
 mattei*s (he comjKiny takes the risk of changes, 
 and, unless the fall in price is of long continu- 
 ance, gives the same price for fur as formerly 
 when it was high, or vice versa; thus on some 
 peltries the company loses, but compensates 
 
 s/f 
 
HUDSON'S It AY TUADlsa COMPANY. WA 
 
 ils(^lf by inakiiii^ a Ijir^c; profit upcni oUior.s. 
 'J'liis systtiin lias ono advantago. 'J'ho Indian 
 novur alUiinpls to raiso tlio prico of fiirH, or boat 
 down th(5 prico of tlio nuivcliandiso. Tbo tariff 
 is un(',bang(;abh!. If }io is not |)b!as(!d witii it, 
 lio is at porfoc-t libci'ty to go to tho ni;xt h1io[> ; 
 and tbis, combined vvilb tbu fact tbat tlio com- 
 pany sells notbing wlncjb is not of tbc best 
 (piality of its kind, lias given it advantage over 
 all competitois tbat it will bo long in losing. 
 Before tbe establisbment of the monnted polici;, 
 the posts in tbe plain country, at wbicb tbe 
 wily, iinscrupidoiis lUackfeet and Crees were 
 tbe princijjal customers, bad to take mii,ny pie- 
 cautions wben a large band of Kedskins came to 
 trade. (Juns were loaded, and placed iu tbe 
 loopboles commanding tbe Indian and trade- 
 rooms, and tbe gates of tbe stockade securely 
 fastened. All conununication between tbo In- 
 dians and trader was cut off; and tbere re- 
 mained for tbe customers only tbe narrcw 
 passage leading from tbe outer gate of tbe 
 stockade to tbe Indian-room, tbe Indian-room 
 itself, and tbe narrow ball way Ixjtween it and 
 tbe trade-room. Tbis latter was furnisbed with 
 two beavy doors, witb a space between tbem 
 
i;vj 
 
 77/ f; li()^fA^('K or commkhck. 
 
 t\ ^ 
 
 \\\\'w\\ would lioM from two to four TudiaiKS. 
 Only Uvo Indiana were admit tml at a timo into 
 the tiado-rov):ii, 'IMiis was divided by a stout 
 partition roaoliinii^ from lloor to ceiling, in tlio 
 centre of whieli an aperture about a yard scpiare 
 was cut, and divided, by a grat-'ig, into siiuare.s 
 sulVieiently largo to admit of the easy passage 
 of gmxls, but not of tbe red man in person. 
 As a still further preeiiulion, th<3 passage lead- 
 ing to the window was in some instances made 
 crooked, for the very good reason that experi- 
 ence had tauirht the tradtn* that the Indian was 
 apt to bring heated bargaining to a dramatic 
 climax by shooting him from behind. 
 
 There lias been a wonderiid change in values 
 since the gootl old days in the early part of this 
 century. When Fort Dunvegan was estab- 
 lished on the Peace River, near the Rockies, 
 the regidar price of a trade musket was Rocky 
 ^lountain sables piled up on each side until 
 thev were level with its muzzle when held 
 upright. Xow these sables were worth in Eng- 
 land about three pounds apiece, while the cost 
 of the nuisket did not exceed one pound. The 
 price of a six-shilling blaidcet was, in like man- 
 ner, thirteen beavers of the best quality, beaver 
 
IHrDSON'S liAV rilAhlNQ dOMPANV. l'^3 
 
 tlit'ii boin^ worlli tliiity-iwo sliilliiijjfH a jtouiid, 
 jind a good .skin wdigliing a ])ound or inoro. 
 
 But ill ilio courst} of tiiiio ilio IndiaiiH hogau 
 to know lK!tt(n' tlu5 rrlativo value of tlio nnis- 
 kots and tlicir furs, and to objcKit most deci- 
 dedly to tlio one hoing piled along tlio barrel 
 of tho other (vvliieh report sayetli was lengtli- 
 ened year by year until it attained colossal 
 <liniensions), so that the trade gradually beeamo 
 to be less jug-handled. 
 
 The company lias shown no less far-siglited- 
 ness than humanity in its dealings with tho 
 ignorant Indians, to so largo an extent in its 
 power. Its laudable jmsition with regaixl to 
 the use of spirits in trade lias luicn already 
 mentioned ; and although during the disastrous 
 rivalry with the Nor'-Westers, the Hudson 
 Bays did for a time fall away from grace, and 
 fight fire-watcr with fire-water, so soon as the 
 struggle ended in coalition, prohibition once 
 more prevailed. Then, every care has been 
 taken to prevent the extermination of the fur- 
 bearing animals ; and whole districts have been 
 " laid over " from hunting for years at a time. 
 Another sagacious principle was to pay a pro- 
 portionately higher price for inferior furs, such 
 
l:U 
 
 / ///.' iiOM \ \i r «»/.' row W/'/iT/.' 
 
 : \ 
 
 i«M t\ni .Kr:)l'4. livil (lio lixliiiMM nlioiilil ntnlliio 
 
 riii^l !» Novl «>!' pMloinul r;no n\or (lip |mm>|»Io 
 ul\.> nnrjd. in Nomo fi»Mi,;t\ Ix* it>j»;imltMl mm jIm 
 Winds. I,\1>(Mm1 MtlvMiUMv* II I o novor ipIumimI (o 
 t\\ls(y («;»pp«M,'4 ill «'aso nl' !h>(mI ; inwi In llin 
 »M'0»l\t o( tho ro«l luou l»o i( iimmjuNmI (liid. iiinOv 
 ;no th<^so oMioMliouM o\H(1»mI, i\\o rnmniuiv'M 
 
 sKit\ i';\n sot uu o\:»n»plo \>olI >voi(liv <>i inii- 
 l^uiou l>\ l\is pi\lo fiiooj l)r*>(l\«M'. An<l. liiiullv, 
 \n1\(M\ {\\o \\u\\a]\ y;vo\\H («>o oltl lo irnp niiil 
 ]\un( iis o( vor(\ \\o is m11«>\v«mI to luMMtnio ii. 
 ^(MisivMUM* npon tho oiMijpunv'M Itoimly, n\u\ 
 thiMV is h;\r»lly a tort thiit I^mm n«>t ji miumImm* 
 ot' s\u'l\ l\;\nv;oiN-on. Tlu* host possiMo roply 
 
 tluU 
 
 i';\n bo oiv(M\ 
 
 to tl 
 
 \oso \v 
 
 ho I 
 
 v.wo uuu 
 
 \o it 
 
 thoir Inisiui^ss tv» jihusi^ tho oonipnny for ji1Ioi;;(mI 
 ill-tn\\lnuM\t ot' tho liuliiins is to bo found in 
 {\\o i,\c{ that to this th»y {\\o o«>n»pMny is hmUod 
 \ipon with thv^ \itn\v>st nlTiU'tion i\\u\ vcMioni- 
 tion hy thoni. Tlio writtM* jiltt'Mtly (piotoil ri»- 
 huos th;\t odcw wlion lio oon»phiint>d Ihiil tho 
 Indians o]i;ui;vd him l\n' any sorviooa ivudortnl 
 
/n//>.M(>A''N It.n lUMUNH <'r>/V/M/V»'. \Mt 
 
 iiHirli Mioto iJiiiii iJioy woiild liti,VH cliiirjriwl 
 llii^ (Miiii|>iMi y, lio wiiM tiinl. vvil.li IImi ronrliifti vm 
 iiliMWfM': '* V«"i, I huovv vvn <!(» ; hill, if you I,m»»|< 
 niio of iiM ill Mill mIiI ii;(o, iukI linUid im \m 
 wt'll tin lliny lii'vo li(Mi,|,M(| iif!, I lull vvn woiihl 
 (In lliiM Inf ynii iii llin niMiin |iii('n." 
 
 liiiMllniiiitit ( iniilnii, who wiut Ml c.mmimismmI tt\ 
 llio lliior («x |M<<iil.i()iiM (|<<f«|iii,l.c,liM(| l»y IIm'; Msii imo 
 I )p|)ii.t I iiiiMil, III' ( 'iiiiiidii, iiiln 1 1 imI.'uiii'h l>)i.y for 
 llio |Mir|)OMo (if (Inlri iiiiiiiii;/ t.iio pOMMilHlil.in't of 
 (Jiiii. iiiliiiid McriMi n,M II, lii^r|iw;i,y of coMinicjcn, 
 WMM iiiiicli MJiiich Ity I, lid I'lM-.l, |,il)|,t> I.IlM offiriiilH 
 ill 11.11 llir JMImIm lin vi.'Ul.nil, witJl MJlllMlhlJ- IHKUlilll- 
 
 ily lold llinMiMiin iilory; vi/., iJifil, IJmmm wa-i no 
 pr(»iil. IxMii^f iniuln npoii l,li(?ir t.tfUiMiu'.rioiiM^ liiit 
 IIimI. (Iii^ |iomIm wcrn iiiii,iiil,;uii(i(| ni triply for l.lir) 
 Ixuiolil of iJio liidiiMiK iuid lvu|tiiMi;Mix. TIim 
 Hlinuvd Hiiilor did iiol, \v.{'.\ lioiind l,o Mccnpl, 
 Mh) Hlulntiiniil, itiirnM(M'V(M||y, Imt, no doiilft, it, 
 liiid (^iioiijdi Irtilii l,o l»iiJI;i,Ht. it.; lor tJic piolit.H 
 of fur ti;i.di!ij( liii-vii wofiilly riiJInn «)(! witliin 
 llio piiHl, (|U!ut<M- of .'I <M;iil,ury, and tJicrc; in 
 lillli^ lioiMi of tlidir <5Vor rci^aiiiirii' tlioir fonrjor 
 li;^nl^(^^. 
 
 Uu(, HO fur I liavo naid lil,lJo or nol.liin^ al)Oiit 
 tlio unicialM, and llK^y ccjilainly d(;S(;rvo a good 
 
136 
 
 THE liOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 part of an article to themselves. As already 
 indicated, the majority of those at the posts 
 have from the first been Scotchmen, although of 
 recent years many fiom England and Canada 
 have entered into the service of the company. 
 
 The grades of rank are very distinctly marked ; 
 and an effective, if not martial, discipline is still 
 maintained. The various officials of the com- 
 pany are classed as follows, beginning at the 
 top and working downward: Highest of all 
 are the governor, deputy-governor, and board of 
 directors, who reside in London, aiid form the 
 court of last resort as regards the direction of 
 their affairs. As mentioned in the fii*st part 
 of this article, the governor is, for the first time 
 in the history of the company, a Canadian, Sir 
 Donald Smith of IVIontreal now filling that 
 honorable office. 
 
 The staff of officials in Canada is made up 
 as follows : There are two commissioners, one 
 in charge of the land sales and one of the fur 
 trade, and known as the land and trade com- 
 missioners respectively. Then come the in- 
 specting chief factor, having three shares in 
 the stock of the company to his credit, as a 
 reward for long and faithful service ; then the 
 
HUDSON'S BAY TRADING COMPANY. 137 
 
 up 
 one 
 
 fur 
 ;om- 
 
 in- 
 Is in 
 las a 
 
 the 
 
 chief traders, ruling over districts or depart- 
 ments, and holding two and a half shares ; next 
 the factors, Vy'Iio are in charge of important 
 posts, and have two shares ; below them the 
 chief traders, with one and a half shares ; and 
 below them again the junior chief traders, who, 
 haying put in at least fourteen years of satis- 
 factory service, are promoted from the rank of 
 clerks, and given an interest in the company 
 to tlie extent of a single thare. The appren- 
 ticed clerks, the largest body of all, bring up 
 the rear. They are sturdy young men, ranging 
 ill age from fifteen to thirty ; and upon them 
 falls the hardest and most important work. 
 
 Next below the apprenticed clerks comes the 
 postmaster, usually a promoted laborer, who 
 for good behavior or valuable service has been 
 put on a footing with the gentlemen of the ser- 
 vice, in the same manner that a private soldier 
 in the army is sometimes raised to the rank of 
 commissioned officer. Still lower are the inter- 
 preters, who for the most part are intelligent 
 laborers of long standing, that have taken the 
 trouble to familiarize themselves with the vari- 
 ous Indian dialects, and thereby become indis- 
 pensable in conducting negotiations with the 
 
ii 
 
 * •; 
 
 pi P ■ ;| 
 
 138 
 
 THE liOMAyCI'J OF COMJu'EIiCE. 
 
 natives. Filially, at tlio bottom of all, are the 
 voyageiirs, liuntcrs, and laborers, whose duties 
 are as multifarious as they are laborious, cut- 
 tiiif^ firewood and shovelling snow in winter, 
 rowing, paddling, and portaging boats and 
 canoes with their heavy cargoes in summer, 
 and otherwise makii^g themselves generally 
 useful. 
 
 Life at a Hudson's l^ay post nowadays is at 
 best a ratiier dull and liumdnim affair. The 
 Indians are entirely u)jder control, and no more 
 a source of danger tliau the negroes in the 
 South ; and time is apt t hang heavily upon 
 the liands of the garrison, which may consist of 
 from two to half a hundred men, according to 
 whether the post is a central depot of supplies, 
 a pGrnianent fort, or merely an isolated stockade 
 for the accumulation of provisions and peltries 
 for the use of larger forts. But whatever may 
 be the character of the establishment, a certain 
 amount of discipline is carefully maintained ; 
 and an observer could ^.lardly fail to be struck 
 with the prompt obedience shown to oome mere 
 stripling of a clerk by the grizzled, weather- 
 beaten vovacfeurs and laborers under his control. 
 
 The day begins with breakfast, which is usu- 
 
 
HUDSON \S HAY TRADING COMPANY. I'iO 
 
 truck 
 1 mei'Q 
 ither- 
 ht^ol. 
 usu- 
 
 ally at six o'clock in winter, and an hour ear- 
 lier in summer, aUhou^^li ilic higluu" oHieials 
 may prolong their morning nap a little, if they 
 
 feel inclined. 'J'hero is an ofliecn 
 
 mess, and 
 
 •el nicimed. i nero is an oniecns mess, and 
 a servants' mess ; the latter drawing rations at 
 regular intervals, and having them cooked by 
 one of their number set apart for tlui purpose. 
 The officers by no mefins regard lightly the 
 pleasures of the table, and great care is taken 
 to keep the larder well stocked. Their fare is, 
 of course, confined hugely to such wild game 
 and fish as the country round about affords ; 
 but the supply is abundant, and the variety ex- 
 tensive. Buffalo hump, now, alas, little more 
 than a tender, juicy memory; moose-nuilTle, 
 tremulous and opaque as a vegetable conserve ; 
 beaver tail, unctuous and satisfying; venison 
 haunch and savory ^^uck, crimson salmon and 
 snowy whitefish, — one does not soon tire of 
 such viands as these, especially when they are 
 prepared by French cooks. The hours of busi- 
 ness at the forts during the summer season are 
 from nine to six, with a break at noonday for 
 dinner ; and, if the post be an important one, 
 there is plenty of animation and bustle, but no 
 undue haste, a careful attention to details being 
 
140 
 
 TUE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 
 In h 
 
 m 
 
 never forgotten. The Indians, in bands upon 
 liorseback, or single ui)on foot, present them- 
 selves with furs to tra.Ie. The voyageurs are 
 hard at work loading with bales of costly furs 
 the boats lying on the river, or unloading them 
 of the go ds they have brought. Brigades of 
 boats destined for n ore distant points pause 
 for a few days or hours to exchange the news, 
 and take a little breathing-spell ; while now 
 and then the arrival of the district inspector, 
 or some other important official, with his train 
 of servants, creates a sensation that only sub- 
 sides with his departure for another station. 
 
 All summer long a Hudson's Bay officer's 
 lot is rather a happy one, which many a cribbed, 
 cabined, and confined city -dweller might envy ; 
 for, in the intervals of the work, there are hunt- 
 ing, fishing, boating, swimming, and other ath- 
 letic pursuits, to be enjoyed in the finest climate 
 in the world. It is when the long winter comes, 
 and the whole region around is buried beneath 
 a pall of snow from three to thirty feet deep, 
 that the utmost ingenuity is needed to drive 
 dull ennui away. The cold is intense, yet not 
 unbearable, owing to the dryness of the atmos- 
 phere. Not a step can be taken except on 
 
HUDSON'S liAV TRADING COMPANY. 141 
 
 snow-slioes. A silence as of death has fallen 
 upon nature ; not a bird sings in the leafless 
 trees, not a creature stirs within tlie range of 
 vision ; " the waters are liid as with a stone, 
 and the face of the deep is frozen ; " and tlie 
 warm, cosey niessroom of the fort possesses 
 attractions not so evident in the glorious days 
 of midsummer. Then are the men thrown upon 
 their own resources for entertainment ; and 
 wliether the hours pass brightly or heavily will 
 depend upon themselves. There is very little 
 work to be done. The furs have to be sorted, 
 looked to frequently, and packed in readiness 
 for the coming of spring ; and visits may be 
 exchanged with the nearest fort. Those who 
 like to dabble in ink have now a fine opportu- 
 nity to write up their diaries ; and others, with 
 a taste for natural history, can amuse them- 
 selves in mounting and preserving specimens ; 
 while the studiously inclined can follow their 
 favorite lines of study. 
 
 The northern mail starts out early in Decem- 
 ber. It consists of two or more toboggans 
 drawn by dogs, and laden with strong wooden 
 boxes in which is placed an astonishing amount 
 of mail-matter. Proceeding as far as possible 
 
)! 
 
 Ill 
 
 li'j 
 
 ////; UdMAM H (»r t'i)MMh:ii('K. 
 
 aloiiLt (Ih» frozen Inisoiiis nf lln« lakos iiml rivers, 
 llu' train puslirs iinrtli\var«l al llir lalc nf forty 
 miles a <lay, tln» <liiv»'i"s nil siin\v-sli()(\s easily 
 l^eepiiiLT pJiee with tlie ueII-l»rnl\<Mi Joj^s, nf 
 whieh four aro liariiesseil to i'acli InhnK^aii, 
 iiiilil I''nrt Carltntu in tlie Saskatcliewiin N'ailey, 
 is reacluMl. Wvw tlie entire mail is nveiliaiiled 
 antl rep;iel\e<l, braneli paekt'ts hein^ scMit nIT 
 (Mist ami west, while I'ver north w.'inl nver tlu^ 
 snow-l)ill«>W(Ml jilains, aeross the (leej)Mliift(Ml val- 
 leys, throiiij^h the sii^hiiiix. slia«lowy forests, tho 
 main paeUet enntinues (liiiiini>hini^ steadily in 
 hulk as fort after fort is visited, until at last, 
 redueeil to a nuMe handful that a man iiii^ht 
 put in his p«)eket. it reaches the end of its jour- 
 ney at Fort Yukon, upon tho far frontier nf 
 Alaska. 
 
 When the younir elerk tirst went nut to Hu- 
 pert's Land, a wife, as a i'omyatfuou (/<• roi/<t(/t\ 
 
 w 
 
 as not tn he ennsi«lere«l : and then, wl 
 
 len the 
 
 time eame that he mii^ht indiih^^e in matrimony 
 
 ho was fi 
 laeo, few 
 
 ir a way 
 
 f 
 
 roni 
 
 til 
 
 e women of his own 
 
 iiidi'ed, t)f whom would he willincf 
 to stake their future upon the uneertaiuty of 
 
 tindi 
 
 ilds 
 
 lug sueli (tt^mesiio liappiness in the wi 
 of North Amerit-a as would eompensato them for 
 
m/i>s<)M's KAY ruAhisa tasti'ASY. I lo 
 
 tli(> InsM of uil t.li(^ (li'li^rlits of <'ivili/,!il ion. 'I'lin 
 iiatiii'iil (;()n.s4M|ii(!n('() whm, t liat, Inolvin;^ hIxmiI, liini 
 for a c()in|i:itii(iii, Iw; roiiiid liis clioicu; limited 
 to tlio dusky Ih'IIcm of tlio Iiidiuris. Soils and 
 daii;^dil(MH wcfi'O Ixuii, and \fvv.\v up to win tli(5 
 love dial was raicdy IxisIowcmI uj»om IIkj j>at,i(Mit, 
 faitlifid di-ii<l;^n! of a inotli<!r. Tlio natural uf- 
 foctioii of tlu! i'atlKU* proved slron^'er than tlio 
 artilieial laws of HO(',i«!ty, and tlic; eoniKiclion 
 thus strongly (Hjuuinliid continued unhroken to 
 t]i(3 (Mid. Tlui eoni[)any niado a point of cn- 
 couraKin«,' tliis mating' of the Indian laces with 
 their olhcers and nu;n. It insured th(5 ^ood-will 
 of tlu; one, and l)ound thcj other to the country 
 hy ti(^s not nsadily broken. So the eliiidreii 
 came in (juiversful to the Maes and JMerros; 
 and tlic blood of redskin warriors, inin^linrj witli 
 that of " Ilieland lairds " and French ])our- 
 geois, wont flowing forth in a steady stroani all 
 through tlie miglity possessions of tlie company. 
 It seems as thougli I had but scratolied the 
 surface of the story of this gnjat corporation, 
 which for more than two centui'ies lias wielded 
 so profound an influence throughout the north- 
 ern half of this continent. It may endure for 
 many decades, or even for centuries yet ; but 
 
144 
 
 TUE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 its career must be less romantic than that of 
 the Canadian Pacific Ilailroad. The returns 
 from sales of land already far overshadow the 
 profits from the fur trade, and the latter must 
 inevitably in time shrink into insignificance. 
 However that may be, the " Ilonoiablc Com- 
 pany of Merchant Adventurers of England 
 trading into Hudson's Bay," looking back u^ion 
 its records, may, with substantial reason, con- 
 gratulate itself upon having contributed one of 
 the most interesting chapters to the romance 
 of commerce. 
 
 :a 
 
 ft 
 
 n 
 
 ; I 
 
at of 
 turns 
 V the 
 must 
 aijce. 
 Coni- 
 ^laiul 
 upon 
 con- 
 Hie of 
 nance 
 
 LU 
 
 1/) 
 
 q:" 
 o 
 
 O 
 
 UJ 
 
 DC 
 
 o 
 
 CJ 
 
 c» 
 

 f 
 
 IP 
 
 fi 
 
i'i 
 
 THE CANADIAN PACIFIC HAIL ]r AY. 145 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 
 
 There is only one railway in the world 
 which, running clear across a continent, is from 
 ocean to ocean owned and operated by a single 
 company; and that is the Canadian Paciiic, 
 whose tide-water terminals, Halifax in the east 
 and Vancouver in the west, are joined by a 
 twin band of shining steel three thousand six 
 hundred and sixty miles in length. 
 
 Somebody has very well said that this rail- 
 way WAS a national enterprise, is a national 
 highway, and will be a national heirloom ; and 
 yet there were many times during the various 
 stages of its promotion and prosecution, when, 
 judged by all ordinary human standards, the 
 chances seemed about ten to one that the vast 
 undertaking would work as much injury to the 
 young Dominion of Canada as the Mississippi 
 Bubble did to France, or the Tulip Mania to 
 Holland. 
 
 It certainly seemed a very daring, if not un- 
 

 146 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 duly rash enterprise, for a British colony, by no 
 means abounding in cash, and having less than 
 six millions of people, to commit itself to the 
 construction of a line of railway whose total 
 cost would exceed a levy of twenty dollars a 
 head upon every man, woman, and child in the 
 country. 
 
 Yet that was what Canada did in 1871, in 
 order to bring British Columbia into the Con- 
 federation of Provinces ; and in spite of the rise 
 and fall of governments, and the occurrence of 
 political crises, into the details of which it 
 would be tiresome to enter, she honorably ful- 
 filled her contract by June, 1886, when the first 
 through train left Montreal for the Pacific coast, 
 and safely accomplished one of the most mem- 
 orable and momentous "runs" in the history 
 of railroading. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the whole of the 
 fifteen years referred to above were occupied in 
 the building of the road, although so gigantic 
 an undertaking might well have required that 
 space of time. Between 1871 and 1881 only 
 some widely separated sections, one in Ontario, 
 another in Manitoba, and a third in British 
 Columbia, were constructed by the Canadian 
 
 a 
 
 m 
 
THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 147 
 
 Government ; and when in the latter year the 
 task was gladly handed over to the powerful 
 combination of capitalists who had agreed to 
 assume it on certain conditions, there still re- 
 mained nearly two thousand miles of the main 
 line to build. 
 
 By the terms of their contract with the 
 Government, the Syndirjate, as this combination 
 was popularly called, had ten years in which 
 to complete their work, and earn their subsidy 
 of $25,000,000 and the same number of acres 
 of land ; but with such extraordinary and unex- 
 ampled energy did they press forward the con- 
 struction, that in less than five years the road 
 was open for traffic from end to end. 
 
 A big book of intense interest might be 
 written describing the difficulties encountered, 
 and the splendid skill and courage with which 
 they were overcome. 
 
 It was tremendous work ; for instance, in get- 
 ting around the north shore of the Georgian Bay 
 and Lake Superior, through a dreary wilderness 
 traversed only by the Indian fur-hunter, the 
 adventurous lumberman, or the hardy miner, a 
 way for the steel rails had to be blasted through 
 rock of the hardest description known to en- 
 
r 
 
 III : 
 
 r 
 
 ill ' 
 
 
 1:1 f 
 
 1 
 
 II i 
 
 ' ; '1 
 
 II 
 
 II' 
 
 i::| 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 118 
 
 riir: homamI': or com m rue r. 
 
 ginciM's, .'111(1 ilio oldest, known to ^(M)lo^ists; 
 imniL'ly, syiMiito siiid tnij). IMori^ tli.in two suul 
 a liidf million Ions of this stubborn stnfT liiul 
 to bo (lispbii'iMl, besides liirufij (inantities of looso 
 ro(dv and ]iardi)an. Wliat (U)stly Avork tliis was 
 may be jndi:e<l by tbe fact that for fifteen 
 montbs one linndred tons a montb of dynaniito 
 were used; tliis danq-erous material, tlie ex[)lo- 
 sivo power of wliieli is twelve times tliat of 
 ordinary jj^nn[)owder, being- niiinnfaetured on 
 tbc spot as lecpiired. Tlio total cost of dyna- 
 mite alone execcded one and a lialf millions of 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 Yet tliat was but one item in tho expenditure. 
 The work went on without intermission, day 
 and night, winter and summer; an army, whoso 
 numbers reaehed tw'olvo thousand men, toiling 
 like ants, relay sueeeeding relay, until at hast 
 tho utmost rosistaneo of "nature stern and 
 wild" liad been ovorcome. 
 
 An interesting feature was the employment 
 in the winter of dog-teams drawing toboggans, 
 whieh bore lieavy loads of provisions or material 
 over tho deep snow that rendered the use of 
 any other kind of conveyance quite out of the 
 question. 
 
77//'; CANADTA.y rAClFIC ItAILWAV. 110 
 
 N(»r were, tin; <;rim uwV ])!irri('rH of l]i;i,l, iioi'tli- 
 ciii kIioi'O Mu) most pcuplcixini^ ohstjidcs tlH5 
 l)Mil(l<M'M liiul to ov(M'(;onin. VaVcu mom dinicult 
 to rcc-lvoti witli w(3ro i]u) morasHOH, ucross wIioho 
 siillfMi, troacluM'ou.s Hiirfjico an oiiduring road- 
 l)t'(l liad to 1)0 laid. 
 
 Somn of tlioso proved vcM'itablo lK)ttoml(;HS 
 pits; and aftcM* montlis of toil, niid tlio lahorioiis 
 dinnpiiijj^ of thoiiHaiids of tons of stono and earth 
 wliich wore swallowed down without any per- 
 ('(•[)( Ible effect, the {ittem[)t to erosH th(!m liad 
 to he abandoned, and a more circuitous route 
 a(loj»ted. 
 
 Others pretended to bo gorged for a time; 
 but ere long opcMied their maws for road-l)(;d 
 and rails, and the filling in liad to be re[)eated. 
 It was only last ydar that the writer was de- 
 layed several hours by the sinking of the tra(;k 
 at one of these morasses, \vhi(di necessitated the 
 cars being carefully towed across the weak spot 
 one by one, and the train made up again on the 
 other side; and he was informed that into this 
 very morass thousands of carloads of gravel 
 had been dumped, yet it required constant 
 watching. 
 
 A pleasant contrast to this tedious and costly 
 
1 ;.o 
 
 I nr liOM ) V( r i)r rtwrniurK, 
 
 li 
 
 ill ! 
 
 i 
 
 ti 
 
 oonshuolion wmm llio iMiiMiM}*, nf (lio mml frnni 
 
 W'lMUIpCjJ \> osi (o (ho MtM'KN MoUMliliUM. Wow 
 
 i]\»Mo >>«Mv no lUfrfMMl \!\mninlM ol' lorK, no 
 «loop, JoriMllul nioiMMiu'M ; l»n( inslnnl iIumimiI' 
 jj»>o»l l»onoM( («n'' ooviMlii^v ())o liiuv^l wbor' 
 Koil in i\\\ 1^0 » 'ItV 
 
 N«'\v, MU'v ^vi* "vljo rotiroivoM of <1m» |»n\irloM 
 «s w Vi\s(. K \ > ( o\5 . Ms»» of v»M«hno JM jrnMilly 
 tuis(;»lvon. rho jMiiirio Im nol l(»v»'I nl nil in 
 any |>;\v(. It \n\*lul;\(('M liKo Ilu» t»«MM«n, liHin^r 
 nn»i fallir^v;- in j';\t>;\( swaliv^ Mn«l riunnhMl hoi 
 lo\>s. t*> \>lnol\ ;v vMilwMv innNl notMls tivroMtnio- 
 ihxio itsoll :»s l>os( il n\My. 
 
 'V\w h\u\y\o\n of tl\(> ('Mn;nliMn rnriCu' roiild 
 »u>l tl\oivt\nv sitnply liw tlown n lot of (ioM 
 rtn<l spiUo tl\(^ rail'^ io tli. \\\. To simmiiv a l(»V('l 
 n>;ui Ivti. :\tui ono ihal wonM stand phMity of 
 haul \vo;\r. an*! l>o aln^vt* tlu» wintor Nn«>\v, no 
 e-mail aniount *>f ovadino- an*! hallastinp* was 
 iuvo}4sarv. All of wlnoh was tlu>roni»hlv dono. 
 Yot for vapidity of ronst motion iho rooords of 
 railroad buiUlini;" prosont ni^thini^ to surpass 
 what was aoooniplishod on that sootii>n of tlu^ 
 lino. A fow tiii'uros anil datos will liolp to 
 iwako thorn oloav. 
 
 Hogiuniniv at WinnijVi; in the month of Muy, 
 
rnii: iANAhiAs iwciim' uaii,\v,\y \i,\ 
 
 ^'<H|,f)) (Im) rlo4n nf tli(« ycMir fniinR vvcin tiltln 
 (i, Mill M»r» iiiiIrM wrMlvviil'l nvMr (I liiiiMlir'! Ii)ir|<. 
 'I'jir fill |n\viii}r H«'iiHMn hiiw 11!' mil«^M fiinii' ( om 
 iilrlfi! ; mill ill \HH\\ ||i(> nwimimiij^ <»V<) iml< ••. of 
 Mil* |iiiiiiiM M(<( linn vvm |hiI. in iiiMinn'^ iiMlfi, 
 
 IIDlkill^^ III'* WOIIiIm fill Idttll of \)^'il Mlll'H of 
 
 wril liiiilt kiimI mm \\\i\ ri<Hiilr nf llircn KOiKO/m* 
 
 Wi»i 
 
 llow lliiM vvitM ncroinpliMlii (I It < «l lilq of 
 
 lIlP Witik U'V'Mll. Ill folly I wo »|)M ; t I' hir yt'MV 
 
 iHHlj, IH4 Miili'M of iiiiiiii lino w« in li I, l»ninjr 
 IMI avfun^rn of <». Ill MiilnH ii «l)i. v liiMiv; <>f 
 Hidin^rH. Tlin nnxl, yrii,r rvnn (liiH wondrrfiil 
 iicliiovnMiniit wim Hiir|»(i.MHn(|, ji,h in \it\\,y-i',\y\\[, 
 WnyH hl(> niiIrM wrin Im/kI ; wliilo in fMMi rfcfjifl- 
 ln«Mi.l\inj.( (lii.y llin jiIiiiohI, incr^irliMn fijnin', f>f 
 !>.IIH iiiil(<K vviiM }i,Mii,inc»|, no Ichh iJian ^)!0 t,on,s 
 nl Hi(H)I I'JiilH Ix'in^ i«'(|iiirn»| to " in»;i " tJio 
 rnii(M)0(l. 
 
 Of (MMimn no kiicIi luilliiuit r;i,l,n of r»rofaf;.H.H 
 
 WHS poHHihIn whrn Mm nioiint.ain r;i,n;n;,H wf-ro 
 rt'iicliiMl, and llin llockirH, tin; Sfilkiiks, ;ind U 
 
 in 
 
 (Jold Uan^M! Iiad to 1m; icickoncd vvitli. It nf^Ht 
 iKNirly a million ponndH Ht(;rlin^ to H';(;k out 
 and Hurvny a practicaMo ronto tliron<^di tlioso 
 gigantic ghujicr-crowiicd banioiH, and many 
 
T^ 
 
 [52 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEliCE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 more iiullions to construct tlio iron roiid. In- 
 trei)id cMi^inccrs luul to bo swunj^ from tlio 
 edges of dizzy cliffs, and cut tlicir way foot by 
 foot tbrough abysmal valleys choked with tho 
 iU'hri» of a thousand avalanches, before tlic lino 
 could bo laid out. 
 
 When tho work was at length com2)leted, 
 every niilo had its marvel of natural scenery 
 or of human ingenuity. Kow clind)ing high to 
 tho snowy summit, now descending far into tho 
 sliadowy canon, tho ever-varying vistas o])ened, 
 and made it easy for the traveller, lounging lux- 
 uriously on velvet cushions in the Pullman car, 
 to imagine himself transported to the legendary 
 land of Asgard, tho home of Thor and Woden 
 and of Balder the Beautiful. 
 
 In Avouderful ways had tho difficulties of tho 
 route been surmouuted. Tremendous trestles, 
 some of them hundreds of feet in height, or 
 steel bridges, seemingly as light as a spider's 
 web, bore the train over the gloomy gorges ; 
 liuge snowsheds, built of mighty timbers and 
 ponderous bowlders, made mockery of the ava- 
 lanches that otherwise would have gleefully 
 swept the track from the mountain-side ; lofty 
 tunnels bored through the solid rock solved 
 
THE CANADIAN PACIFIC HAILWAY. 153 
 
 many a problem in j^radc and progression. And 
 thus a safe and speedy way through the moun- 
 tains was triumphantly established. 
 
 Not only is this way safe and speedy, it is 
 also one of the most riehly endowed with scenic 
 splendor in all the world. From the time the 
 traveller enters the Gap just beyond Galgary 
 until he is almost withii sight of the Pacific 
 coast, he is passing through a sea of mountains, 
 where serrated peaks and vast i)yramids of 
 rock, with curiously contorted and folded strata, 
 are followed by gigantic castellated masses, 
 down whose gleaming sides the snow-white gla- 
 ciers like the water-falls of Tennyson's Lotus- 
 land, — 
 
 To fall, ami paus*^ and fall do seem, 
 
 or the Cascades, — 
 
 Liko a downward smoke, 
 Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, do go ; 
 
 while others yet again, — 
 
 Through wavering lights and shadows hreak, 
 Rolling a troubled sheet of foam below. 
 
 Amidst such sublime scenery as this, Cole- 
 ridge might have caught inspiration for a hymn 
 like that which he penned in the Vale of Cha- 
 mouni : — 
 
• i 
 
 1 1 
 
 IM 
 
 rilh: IH}}tA\rH or iOMMKUCK, 
 
 II 
 
 *' Vo Iro-frtlN! \o Ih.il fnMii llio nioiinlainS t»rn\v 
 Ailown ononnoii^ r:ivin<*<t nlopo nin.iin 
 TornMils, nu'lliiiik*. lli.-il lifinl :i inichly volt'O, 
 An«l hIo|))>«>«| at oiir«> niniilHi ili«<ir ii):«I<I«'.h| pliiiiKo! 
 Motiot>l««s.H lorriMiln! Silful «*siiiir;uMH! 
 Who iiiiiiti^ you );lorioii<( an llio gal«'.s of II«mv«mi?** 
 
 Hut aft«M' all, nii1r«»rnU aro clilrny instni- 
 nuMits of r»>miiu*n*»s aiul tlic most iM-auliful 
 and 8uMiino sfiMMMv will imt in itself contiMit 
 stockhoMtMs tMLjiT for »livi<lrinls. It is tlnM'o- 
 fon» of iniu'h iiioiv |>racti<al inonu'Ht tliat tlio 
 (^madiaii ratilur should offer to the Old World 
 tl\o sliortt'st n>ad to tlie marvellous, mysterious 
 Far I'^ist, toward wliiidi tlio evos of the world 
 havo of late boon turned with poouliar interest, 
 while sturdy, skilful, alert little Japan ileal t 
 cflfeetive Mow ui>on blow at huge but unwieldy 
 China. 
 
 So remarkable is the saving of time aeeom- 
 plished by this new route, that it is now j>ossi- 
 ble to go from Liverpool to Yokohama in little 
 more than double the time required to cross 
 the Atlantic but a few vears a<jo. 
 
 The Canadian Paoitic has its own steamers 
 plying between the Far West and the Far Fast; 
 splendid steamships of six thousand tons bur- 
 then, that plough their way through the waves 
 
TIIK I'ANADIAN rACUU: nAllAVAY. 1.^5 
 
 of llio l)i(»!ul I*ii('i('u' Jit IIk^ liiln of cij^'hicMUi 
 knots ui\ lioiir; iiiwl it Wiis liy inoaiiH of tlicsn 
 octMin gn'ylioiiii(ls that tlii^ Compiiny waH cn- 
 jiblcd to acu'oii plisli wliat was tliiis nM'oi«lr<l in 
 
 ' 'riic delivery of \\\v, mails 
 
 in 
 
 niu'H 
 
 tlu; Lon<l( 
 
 in liondon within tw<3nt}'-ono days of their ieav- 
 '\\\\r Yokohama is a frat ncivcr lM!for(5 accom- 
 j)lish('d, suilicicntly icmarkahh) in itscll, and 
 pregnant with niitohl issues for the future of 
 tlie IJritish l'inii»ir(\" 
 
 Huro is an outline of that uni([ue perform- 
 ic, beforo wliieh .Inh'S Veiini's Around llu; 
 
 un( 
 
 World in Ft'i/fiti/ l>nyn sinks into insi^Miili- 
 caiu;o. 'I'lio steanu-r lOmpnsss of Japan left 
 Yokoliamji in the moiniuf^ of Au^'. ID, 1800, 
 and rcaelicd V^ineouviu*, Itiitish (/olund^ia, hy 
 noon of tho 2!Hh. An liour hiter the mails 
 started eastward on a s[)eeial train that wliiried 
 them to Hrockvilh;, Ontario, in soventy-seveu 
 hours ! Having Iuhmi ferried across tho St. 
 Jiawrence, tlu^y were caught up hy a New 
 York Central train, which seven hours later 
 d Hvered them in New York City, wliero th(!y 
 were hurried on board tho steamsliip City 
 of Now York, which sailed at once for Liver- 
 pool, reaching there within six days. Such an 
 
 ^' 
 
i t 
 
 n 
 
 156 
 
 THE ItOMANCE OF COMMEltCE. 
 
 achievement is a veritable romance of com- 
 merce, a triumph of enterprise and invention 
 over conditions of space and time that, except 
 in some subordinate particuhirs, may remain un- 
 challenged until the air-ships, upon the verge 
 of whose practical adaptation we seem now to 
 be trembling, shall have made us gloriously 
 independent of all metes and bounds, and 
 brought us as near as we ever shall get to 
 the ability of being in two places at the same 
 time. 
 
THE MEDITERRANEAN OF CANADA. lo7 
 
 chaptp:r XI. 
 
 THE MEDITERRANEAN OF CANADA. 
 
 The history of human effort to pierce the 
 ice-defended mysteries of the arctic zone is 
 invested, not only with deepest interest, but 
 with the most moving patlios. Franklin and 
 his gallant shipmates battling bravely, but, alas ! 
 hopelessly, for life amidst tlie pitiless, pathless 
 ice-floes, and Henry Hudson thrust forth from 
 his own ship in a tiny skiff by his mutinous, 
 murderous crew, to find a grave in the waters 
 of the mighty inland sea that would alone pre- 
 serve his remembrance, are names associated 
 in our minds with feelings of tenderest sym- 
 pathy, not less than of warmest admiration. 
 Those who bore them were to our continent 
 wliat Livingstone was to Africa ; and to their 
 self-sacrificing lieroism we are indebted in like 
 manner for additions to the sum of human 
 knowledgfe whose worth cannot be estiniated. 
 
 Seeing that the first motive which impelled 
 men to pit themselves against the terrors of 
 
■ 1 
 
 r^ 
 
 
 158 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEBCE. 
 
 those thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice was 
 the hope of discovering a safer and speedier 
 passage to the wondrous treasures of the East 
 tlian the storm-beset route around the Cape 
 of Good Hope afforded, it is exceedingly inter- 
 esting to find that an important question of 
 to-day is whether or not a practicable com- 
 mercial liigliway can be established through 
 the inland ocean which bears the name of Hud- 
 son to the very heart of this American conti- 
 nent. The hope of a north-west passage to the 
 Indies has long been abandoned. Indeed, the 
 cutting of the Suez Canal would have finally 
 superseded the enterprise, even though there 
 had been prospects of a successful issue. But 
 a north-west passage to the North-west itself is 
 an altogether different thing, and it is some ac- 
 count of tlie extensive explorations which have 
 been carried on to this end that I shall now at- 
 tempt to give. 
 
 Looking carefully at the map of North Amer- 
 ica, and noting how far the vast bulk of Hud- 
 son's Bay thrusts itself inland, it is evident at 
 once that the examination of this miglity sea, 
 with a view to determining its possibilities in 
 the way of navigation, could be simply a ques- 
 
TUE MllbJTEUliAyEAN OF CANADA, lol) 
 
 tion of time. So long as only the eastern and 
 central parts of Canada were settled, the St. 
 Lawrence did well enough ; but when once the 
 tide of population began to flow over the bound- 
 less prairies of the west, and to garner from 
 them such harvests as not even Egypt might 
 surpass, the men who chafed at the long and 
 costly overland passage their grain must un- 
 dergo turned their eyes toward the great bay 
 that seemed to promise a means of relief, and 
 they demanded that the government of Canada 
 sliould take measures to ascertain whether the 
 promise could be fulfilled or not. 
 
 Parliament is proverbially slow to move. 
 You must be very much in earnest, very per- 
 sistent, and, above all things, have some influ- 
 ence over a constituency or two, in order to 
 gain any favors from it. Fortunate! v for their 
 enterprise, those who were interes i in Hud- 
 son's Bay possessed all of these v; liable quali- 
 fications ; and so in the early par >>f January, 
 1884, we find a committee of the House of 
 Commons appointed to take int(/ consideration 
 the question of the navigation of Hudson's 
 Bay, with power to send for persons, papers, 
 and records. The committee sat for nearlv two 
 
i 
 
 I f 
 
 I j 
 
 l» 
 
 160 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 months, examined a number of persons who 
 either had, or were supposed to have, some 
 knowledge of the subject, plunged deep hito 
 the records of the Hudson's Bay Company, 
 whicli went to show that for two centuries their 
 vessels had navigated the bay every year, and 
 altogether carried out their instructions in a 
 very thorougli and creditable manner, conclud- 
 ing tlieir labor by bringing in a report which 
 the government considered ample justification 
 for granting a sufficient sum of money tc cover 
 the expenses of systematic investigation. 
 
 The first exploring expedition set forth from 
 the harbor of Halifax in the month of July, 
 1884. It comprised a single vessel, the New* 
 foundland steam whaler Neptune, under com- 
 mand of Lieutenant A. II. Gordon, Assistant 
 Superint.y.ident of the Meteorological Service of 
 Canada, and having on l)oard Dr. Bell of the 
 Geological Survey, seven observers, and twelve 
 station-men. Tlie Neptune was not just the 
 most desirable sort of a vessel for tlie purpose. 
 Slie was as slow as a snail, afforded at best very 
 cramped accommodation ; and, moreover, having 
 seen long service in the odoriferous occupation 
 of whrJing, was rich in reminiscences of the 
 
TUK MtJDITEUIiANICAX OF CANADA. 101 
 
 business, which coukl iievtT by any possibility 
 liavo been mistaken for seeiits from Araby the 
 blest. Her redeeming feature was her sturdy 
 strenirth, which ena])led her to submit unharmed 
 to tlie fiercest buffeting, not only of the wind 
 and wave, but of ice-floe and rock-reef also. 
 
 Setting forth from Halifax on July 22, 1884, 
 the Neptune, sailing up through the (nilf of 
 St. I-;iwrence and Strait of Belle Isle, coasted 
 along tiie bleak, forbidding Labrad(^r shore un- 
 til she arrived at Cape Chudleigh, which forms 
 one of the lips of the mouth of Hudson 
 Strait. Many icebergs wt >; encountered on 
 the way, and constant vigilance had to be ex- 
 ercised to guard against their coming to close 
 quarters. 
 
 At Cape Chudleigh a dense fog enveloped 
 the vessel, and kept her a close prisoner for 
 several days. When it cleared away she pushed 
 on through the strait, and looked about until a 
 hue harbor was discovered on the north-west- 
 ern shore of the cape, which was evidently just 
 the place for Observatory Station No. 1. As 
 some slight consolation for having to spend 
 the winter there, the station was called Port 
 Burwell in honor of the observer who was 
 

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 1 
 
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 162 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEliCE. 
 
 placed in cliarge, with two station-men to 
 keep him company. Tlie same pleasant com- 
 pliment was paid each of the other observers 
 left behind during the progress of the expe- 
 dition ; and future geographers will therefore 
 I)lease take note of Ashe Inlet on the north 
 side of the strait, a little m-^re than midway 
 between the ocean and the bay; Stupart's Bay, 
 immediately opposite on the southern sliore ; 
 Port De Boucherville on Nottingham Island ; 
 and Port Laperriere on Digges Island. 
 
 At each of these places an observer and two 
 stationmen were established in snug huts taken 
 up for the purpose, and fitted out with unstinted 
 stores of food, fuel, furs, and every necessary 
 comfort, besides, of course, a complete list of 
 suoli instruments as would be required for the ob- 
 servations as to movements of the ice, tides, and 
 winds. The observers were also instructed to 
 note down carefully everything of importance 
 as to the migration of mammals, birds, and fish, 
 and also as to the growth of grasses. In fact, 
 they were to Ind out everything they possibly 
 could ; and it may be said here that without 
 exception they discharged their duties in a 
 thoroughly satisfactory manner, and thus ac- 
 
THE MEDTTEIiliANEAN OF CANADA. 163 
 
 cumulated an immense mass of information 
 about a region of country hitherto almost un- 
 known. 
 
 Having established the stations one by one, 
 the Neptune then turned northward to visit 
 Chesterfield Inlet and Marble Island, thence 
 southward to Fort Churchill, the future Liver- 
 pool of that region, if the hopes of the Hudson's 
 Bay railway promoters shall ever be realized; 
 and southward still to Fort York, the present 
 commercial metropolis of the bay, if so fine a 
 term may be applied to a place whose business 
 activity is compressed into a week or two out 
 of each year, and is then limited to receiving 
 a cargo from, and providing a return cargo for, 
 a single ship. 
 
 All this took from Aug. 6 to Sept. 12. On 
 the evening of the latter day the Neptune 
 struck out across the broad bosom of the bay 
 for Digges Island, and beginning with Port 
 Laperriere made a farewell tour of the various 
 stations, after which her course was shaped 
 homewards; St. John's, Newfoundland, being 
 reached by Oct. 11, when the voyage came to 
 an end. 
 
 The results of the expedition were very con- 
 
104 
 
 THE JiOMANCE OF COMMKUCE. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 .1 
 
 
 
 i! 
 
 n 
 
 
 sidcrable, iillliougli of course llioy were 011I3' 
 I)reliiuinaiy. \\\ rufercjiico to llui ice which liad 
 Ijithei'to been supposed to bo tlie luost formi- 
 diible barrier to the navigation of tlie waters, 
 Lieutenant (Jordon, tlie conunander of the expe- 
 dition, reported thnt on eh)se inspection its teri'or 
 very hirgely disappears. Tlie ice met with dur- 
 ing his cruise could be divided into three classes, 
 each class having a separate origin ; namely, ice- 
 bergs from the glaciers of Fox Channel, heavy 
 arctic ice from the channel itself, and ordinary 
 field-ice, being that formed on the shores of the 
 bay and strait. 
 
 No icebergs were encountered in Hudson's 
 Bay, nor were any reported as having been seen 
 there in the past ; but in the strait a good many 
 were met with, principidly along the northern 
 shore, where a number were stranded in the coves, 
 while some others were passed in mid-channel. 
 They were not thought, however, to form any 
 greater barriers to navigation than do those met 
 with in Belle Isle Strait, nor were they more 
 numerous than they frequently are in these 
 waters. The field-ice encountered, although it 
 would have compelled an ordinary iron steamer 
 to go dead slow, gave no trouble to the Neptune, 
 
THE MKlilTKintANEAN OF CANADA. Km 
 
 the vessel running at full speed between the 
 pans, and rarely touching one of them. 
 
 The following summer a second expedition, 
 in cliarge of the same commander as before, 
 went up to the bay, this time in a much su- 
 perior vessel, II. M. S. Alert, whicli had been 
 lent for tlie purpose by tlie British naval autlior- 
 ities. In every respect, except, perjjaps, speed, 
 a better vessel than this steamsliip could hardly 
 have been selected. She had been specially re- 
 built for the Nares arctic expedition of 1871), 
 and was so constructed as to be capable of resist- 
 ing great ice pressure, while her engines gave 
 a very creditable amount of steam for a snuiU 
 expenditure of coal. It being deemed essen- 
 tial to determine, so far as possible, the time of 
 the opening of Hudson's Strait for navigation, 
 a much earlier start was made than before ; 
 the Alert steaming out of Halifax harbor on 
 the 27th of May. Unfortunately, however, the 
 fates saw fit to frustrate this design ; for after 
 making her way witli much difHiculty, but no 
 mishap, through fields of ice and banks of fog 
 right up to tlie mouth of the strait, on the 
 IGth of June the ice set solid to the ship, fore 
 and aft, rafting and piling up all around her, 
 

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 Sciences 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716)872-4503 
 
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 and tlic next day it was diseovercd that the 
 iron stern-plates had been Ijroken off some dis- 
 tance below tlie water. Tiiis was a most serious 
 injury, as l^ieutenant Gordon did not dare drive 
 liis ship at all hard tlirough the ice, and from 
 that day until Jul}' G was compelled to let 
 her drift about, the })laything and sport of the 
 pitiless ice-king. Thus much precious time 
 was lost, and a still further delay occasioned 
 by the necessity of returning to Newfoundland 
 for repairs, which took until nearly the end of 
 the month, so that August had come before 
 the first station. Port Burwell, was reached. 
 The observer and liis assistants were found in 
 excellent health, and reported having passed 
 a very pleasant winter, even if the cold did 
 sometimes happen to freeze the mercury solid. 
 
 The round of the different stations was then 
 made; and the men who had ppent the winter 
 there Avere replaced by fresh garrisons, the 
 number in each case being the same as before. 
 With two exce})tions the men were found in 
 perfect health ; the exceptions being one of 
 the observers, who was suffering from a slight 
 attack of scurvv, and one of the station hands, 
 who had fallen a victim to that disease. In 
 
 \ 
 
TUE MEDITERRANEAN OF CANADA. 1G7 
 
 the latter case the fault lay entirely with 
 the unfortunate fellow, as during the winter 
 months he spent the greater part of his time 
 in bed, and persistently neglected every pre- 
 caution against an attack. After visiting Fort 
 Churchill, where, as may be readily supposed, 
 the advent of the Alert was hailed with de- 
 light by the little band of residents, and her 
 departure was delayed by a violent storm that 
 lasted over a week, the return voyage was 
 entered upon, the parting round of the sta- 
 tions made, and their tiny garrisons were left 
 to the cold and darkness of a long and dreary 
 arctic winter. 
 
 The third expedition in which the Alert 
 was again used sailed on June 24, 1886, and 
 had far better luck than its immediate prede- 
 cessor, as no special difficulty or cause of de- 
 lay was experienced, the season proving to be 
 somewhat earlier than the previous year, and 
 the ice consequently in a much more disor- 
 ganized condition. It is true that while ram- 
 ming at a thick bar of ice a little more than 
 half-way through the strait the screw got 
 worsted in the encounter to the extent of one 
 blade ; but as the same accident had occurred 
 
l-^ 
 
 5 U 
 
 jifil 
 
 168 
 
 TUE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 on both the previous trips, Lieutenant Gordon 
 knew exactly how to repair the damage, and 
 little time was lost. The stations were visited 
 in turn, and all their occupants taken off, as 
 they were to be maintained no longer. This 
 duty accomplislied, an excursion was made to 
 the Marble Island in the northern part of the 
 bay, a great resort of whalers, in whose chief 
 harbor there is a spot called I)eadman\s Island, 
 because of the number of graves dotting its 
 bleak and barren back, with pathetic memorials 
 of those who had gone out from their New 
 Bedford homes to return no more forever. 
 
 Forts York and Churchill were then called 
 at, and a survey made of the latter place with 
 a view of ascertaining its commercial capabili- 
 ties; the result being that it was pronounced 
 admirably suited for the water terminus of a 
 railroad system, and easily convertible into a 
 port fit for doing a business of great magnitude. 
 The estuary of the Nelson River, by the shores 
 of which Fort York stands, is, on the other 
 hand, declared by Lieutenant Gordon to be one 
 of the most dangerous places in the world for 
 shipping ; so that, if Hudson's Bay ever does 
 become the summer outlet for the commerce 
 
THE MEDrrEIiliAyKAX OF CANADA. 1()9 
 
 of the groat Nortli-west, Cliuichill hail)()r must 
 undoubtedly be tlie shi[)[)ing-[)oi't. Some day 
 or other tliere may be a boom U[) tliere, and 
 this little bit of information may i)r()ve very 
 valuable ; but I present it very freely to my 
 readers, notwithstanding, and they ean use it 
 as they see fit. 
 
 Having thus glanced briefly at the movement 
 of three expeditions, my next business is to 
 rescue the more im[)ortant results of their ex- 
 plorations from the quick oblivion of the blue 
 book, and make theiu public property ; a task 
 that has been rendered materially more inter- 
 esting through the kindness of Mr. W. A. Ashe, 
 observer at Ashe Inlet, in placing at my dis- 
 posal the extensive and valuable notes made 
 by him during his winter sojourn. 
 
 First of all, a word or two in reference to tho 
 Hudson Bay itself. Tlie proportions of this in- 
 land ocean are such as to give it a prominent 
 place among the geographical features of the 
 world. One thousand three hundred miles in 
 length by six hundred miles in breadth, it ex- 
 tends over twelve degrees of latitude, and 
 covers an area not less than half a million 
 square miles. Of the five basins into which 
 
170 
 
 TUE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ' ,1 
 
 Canada is divided, that of Hudson's Bay is im- 
 measurably the largest, the extent of country 
 draining into it being estimated at three million 
 square miles. To swell the mighty volume of 
 its waters, there come rivers which take their 
 rise in the Rocky Mountains on the West, and 
 the Labrador wilderness on the East, while 
 southward its river roots stretch far down be- 
 low the forty-ninth parallel, until they tap the 
 same lake source whence flows a stream into the 
 Gulf of Mexico. Strange as it may seem, it is 
 perfectly possible that a passing breath of wind 
 should determine whether the ultimate destiny 
 of the raindrop falling into that little lake be 
 the balmy bosom of the Mexican Gulf or the 
 chilly grasp of the arctic ice-floe. 
 
 Although seemingly so remote from the needs 
 of humanity, Hudson's Bay has been the scene 
 of many a conflict, its possession being fiercely 
 disputed by the French and English for a period 
 extending over two centuries. An interesting 
 relic of those tumultuous days is still to be seen 
 in what is without doubt the largest ruin in 
 North America, — Fort Prince of Wales, whose 
 battered walls stand out prominently upon 
 the point of the west side of the entrance to 
 
THE MEDirEIiliANKAX OF C AX A DA. 171 
 
 Churchill Haihor. Begun in IToS, it occupied 
 several years in building, and when completed 
 must have lof)ked very imposing, with its loi'ty 
 stone battlements and twoscore menacinfjf can- 
 non. Yet strong as it was, (rovernor Ilearne, 
 who had charge in 1782, surrendered without 
 firing a shot to the French Admiral La Pe- 
 rouse when he appeared before him in a seventy- 
 four, accompanied by two frigates, and sum- 
 moned him to yield. La Pc rouse spiked and 
 dismounted the guns, partially destroyed tlio 
 walls, and then sailed away with his prisoners, 
 leaving the fort to a neglect and silence that 
 have never been broken since, except when per- 
 chance some curious visitor explores its fast 
 crumbling ruins. 
 
 The chief reason for the deep interest mani- 
 fested in the bay by the two great rivals was 
 their desire to control the lucrative fur-trade 
 for which it offered so excellent an outlet. 
 The famous Hudson's Bay Company was formed 
 under the patronage of Prince Rupert in 1088, 
 and forthwith proceeded to establish forts along 
 the shore, beginning with Moose Factory at the 
 foot of James I5ay. Forts Albany, York, and 
 Churchill followed in duo time; and regular 
 
172 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 communicjition has been maintained between 
 them and Great Britain, the records sliowing 
 tliat with tlie exce[)ti()n of one year (1779) a 
 ship has annnally visited ]\Ioose Factory for one 
 hundred and fifty-one years, and York Factory 
 for ninety-seven years. 
 
 Tlic native Indians and Eskimos were from 
 the first deliglited at the establisluiient of these 
 forts, and at no time have the rehitions between 
 them and their white brethren been otherwise 
 than perfectly harmonious. Tliey scour the 
 country far and wide for furs, 'and, bringing 
 them to the fort, obtain in exchange ammu- 
 nition, guns, hatchets, knives, beads, and other 
 articles dear to the savage heart, and essential 
 to their wild life. They are a harmless, inof- 
 fensive people as a rule, and have readily lis- 
 tened to the missionaries sent to minister unto 
 their spiritual necessities, the consequent im- 
 provement in their life being easily perceptible. 
 
 The Indians of these regions have so much 
 in common with the ordinary red man as to call 
 for no special remark ; but the Eskimos present 
 an individuality and interest that render them 
 peculiarly attractive as a subject of study at 
 all events; and Mr. Ashe's acute and sympa- 
 
 'j 
 
 
 
TUB MEDITERRANEAN OF CANADA. ITo 
 
 ctweeii 
 liowing 
 .779) a 
 for one 
 Factory 
 
 re from 
 A these 
 between 
 Llierwise 
 our the 
 bringing 
 } ammii- 
 iid other 
 essential 
 
 of- 
 
 jss, in 
 
 idily lis- 
 
 iter unto 
 
 lent ini- 
 
 jeptible. 
 
 Iso much 
 
 to call 
 
 pr 
 
 ese 
 
 nt 
 
 Ler 
 
 them 
 
 itutly 
 
 at 
 
 symiJ 
 
 ja- 
 
 thetic observations help ns greatly toward a 
 better understanding of these little-known peo- 
 ple. For more than a year he dwelt iiniongst 
 them on an island on the nortli side of the 
 strait, at about the middle }toint of its length, 
 his homo being a frame house sixteen l)y 
 twenty feet in dimensions, in which he and his 
 two men successfully endured a climate whose 
 mean temperature was nineteen degrees below 
 freezing-point, permitting snow to lie in shady 
 places the whole year round, and mii 'ing a 
 snowstorm possible in the height of sununer. 
 It is a sad and gloomy land. In winter tho 
 world lies buried beneath its monotonous robe 
 of white. In summer it reminds one of a Dord 
 illustration to the Inferno ; for without a sign 
 of vegetation save a sickly growth of moss 
 in sheltered nooks, the bare, bleak rocks lie 
 tumbled about in chaotic confusion, wearying 
 the eye and chilling the soul witli tlieir un- 
 mitigated sternness. Amid such surroundings 
 do the Eskimos spend their life, passing from 
 cradle to grave without one faintest gleam of 
 the glorious beauty of flower-strewn meadow 
 or billowy, verdured forest. And yet they are 
 far from being an unhappy or unintelligent 
 
I m 
 
 «j 
 
 I iff f 
 
 J 
 
 ii# 
 
 174 
 
 Till': iioMAycH or coMMEHcb:. 
 
 race. On tlio conliaiy, tlicy ;no bolli cheerful 
 und l)ri<_rlit l>v ii;iliire to a (Icn'it'c thai ])Uts 
 tlu'in ii|)(>n a liij^luT level tliaii iiiiniy of the 
 liHliaiis wlio hav(! iiuieli greater advaiiiatres. 
 
 In tlie iiialter of iHechanical abllilv, for in- 
 stantu^, examine the tool-box of an Eskimo 
 when lu; eonsidcM'S it well fui'iiished, iind what 
 does it contain? A well-worn iile, an indiffer- 
 ent saw, a fi>w rusty nails, a eheaj) penknife, 
 and a very inferior sheath-knife. What would 
 the ordinary mechanic of civilization accom- 
 plish with such implements as these ? Yet 
 with these poor tools the Eskimos will repair 
 the locks of their guns, make harpoons and 
 spears, put together their kayaks and umiaks, 
 and manufacture all sorts of things out of wal- 
 rus ivory. They will take the blade out of one 
 penknife, alter it so as to be of suitable size, 
 and place it in another handle, drilling with a 
 broken needle the hole for the pin on which 
 the blade turns, having first by means of fire 
 carefully untempered the part of the blade to 
 be drilled. 
 
 The appearance of these Eskimos is sugges- 
 tive of patience and perseverance. They are 
 short and squat of figure, the men averaging 
 
chocrfnl 
 lilt pills 
 y' of ilio 
 lUilcres. 
 ,', for in- 
 
 Kskinio 
 jiiul wliiit 
 I iiulilTer- 
 penkniCo, 
 Mii would 
 m accom- 
 se ? Yet 
 vill repair 
 lOons and 
 el umiaks, 
 i\it of wal- 
 out of one 
 t;il)le size, 
 in or Avitli a 
 
 on wli it'll 
 lans of fire 
 ,e blade to 
 
 is sugges- 
 Tliey are 
 averaging 
 
 7///; Mj:i)ii i:ui:.i.\r:.i.\ or r.i.v.i/M. ITo 
 
 liV(! feel llil('(! ilK^lii'S, ;iii(l iIk^ woilU'li live I'nt, 
 ill liri^lit. 'riit'ir l)rcii(Itli is apt to vaiN' accord- 
 ing lo wlictliur lilt! fates liavc sent llicm plenty 
 of seal or not. Tlielr eves and liair ai'e of tlio 
 very blaekcsl, tlio latter Injing as straight us, 
 and not Ics.s coarse tliaii, liorse-liair. A fiuorite 
 aniusenieiit among llic women is for two of 
 them to st.'leet a liair ont of llieir licjads, and, 
 looi)ing one lliroiigli the other, lo pnll on the 
 ends hehl in llieir li;inds until oiio of the hairs 
 t^-ives wav, to the vast deli'dil of the fat Hllle 
 lady Avliose (Mipilhiry strength wins in Ihis odd 
 tuuf-of-war. 
 
 The men generally sport a muslaclie, and 
 occasioiiiilly a beard, the usual ihing, liowever, 
 being a tuft on the chin. They liave very Hat 
 noses and high cheek-bones, so that if you were 
 to liold a straif'ht rule from one of the eveballs 
 to the other, it would in many cases fail lo 
 touch the bridge of the nose. Their eyes have 
 an upward tendency at the corners ; their com- 
 plexion is of a light brown tinge, often dashed 
 with red ; their mouths wide, l)ut not thick- 
 lipped ; their teeth very irregular, and consid- 
 erably more like rusty iron than gleaming pearl 
 in color, wliile in the women they are apt to be 
 
lit; 
 
 TJii': lioMAXcj': or commkhce. 
 
 worn down almost to tlio gums hy their custom 
 of chewing, until it is soft enough to he easily 
 sewn, the sun-stiffenccl sealskin out of whicli 
 their garments arc made. However lacking in 
 attrac^tive qualities the Eskimo helle may ap- 
 pear to the civilized eye, she possesses one ele- 
 ment of hcauty which even the most charming 
 residents of ]\Iadison Square or Beacon Street 
 might fairly covet, and that is exquisitely 
 small hands and feet. While her southern 
 sister compresses her nnderstandings into the 
 tightest of French l)ottines, and yet is not sat- 
 isfied, the houri of Hudson Strait puts on 
 first a sealskin stocking with the fur inside ; 
 then another made out of the skin of a duck, 
 loon, or raven, with its feathers still on ; then 
 one or two more of sealskin; and lastly the boot 
 itself — notwithstanding all of whicli wrapping, 
 her foot seems small and daint}-. 
 
 The Eskimo costume consists in summer of 
 sealskins and in "winter of reindeer-skins, the 
 latter being always worn in duplicate, one set 
 with the fur next the body, the other with the 
 fur outside, an arrangement that is even better 
 than the famous one of Brian O'Lynn, who, ac- 
 cording to the old song, — 
 
77//; .u/'.7>/77';/;/.'.LV/;,i.v (>/•' r.i.v.i/>.i. 
 
 17V 
 
 nislom 
 1 easily 
 whu;U 
 king in 
 way ap- 
 )nc elc- 
 mnning 
 I Street 
 [uisitely 
 loutliem 
 into the 
 not sat- 
 puts on 
 inside ; 
 a duck, 
 n; then 
 the boot 
 rapping, 
 
 mmer of 
 [vins, the 
 one set 
 ^vith the 
 ill better 
 who, ac- 
 
 " liiiviiij; no l.rt'rohcs lo woar, 
 (Jot him a slict-psklii to inaki' him a i»air,'* 
 
 and lh(;n, — 
 
 *MVi!h tht' sldiitiy sldo out ami th(^ woolly .sitlc in, 
 lit! was Unci and warm was iJrian O'liynn." 
 
 Tho piittcrn of thuir garments varies not a 
 uhil from goneraiion to generation. Tho coat, 
 uliic'li doi's not button, but is liauled on over 
 the liead, has a hirgo capucliin, in Eskimo lan- 
 guage " amook," at tho back of tho neck. Tho 
 only difference between tho coats of the men 
 and the women lies in the Latter being graced 
 with a tail, both " foro and aft " so to speak, 
 upon which the feminine fondness for ornamen- 
 tation is indulged to tho full extent of the wear- 
 er's means; so that they may bo seen adorned 
 with numerous rows of beads and bits of brass 
 or copper, such tilings as the works of a clock, 
 for instance, not being despised. A very popu- 
 lar form of decoration consists of tablespoons, 
 which they break in two, and arrange in various 
 devices, grouping the handles in one place and 
 the bowls in another. 
 
 In the summer each family has its own home, 
 but in winter two or more families live together 
 for the sake of increased warmth and economy 
 
■jir jj 
 ill 1 
 
 178 
 
 THE liOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 of fuel. Tlie suiniiicr residence is a lent niiicle 
 of sealskins with the liair scraped off, giving 
 much the aj)pearance of yellowish })archnient, 
 which is stretched over 2)oles of driftwood ar- 
 ranged in the ordinary cone-shape. Tlie door is 
 always toward the water beside whicli they are 
 camped ; and at the opposite side of the tent is 
 the bed, composed of moss covered with sealskin. 
 As they sleep with head pointing doorward, they 
 necessarily lie down-hill, owing to the natural 
 slope of the land toward the shore. This does 
 not seem either a comfortable or iK;altliy posi- 
 tion, but apparently they are none the worse for 
 it. On either side of the doorway is their larder, 
 consisting of exceedingly repulsive-looking piles 
 of seal meat and blubber, wliich give forth an 
 odor that Samson himself, with his hair at its 
 longest, could hardly wrestle with successfully, 
 so overwhelming is its strength. 
 
 The winter habitations are made entirely of 
 snow, and are generally built under the shelter- 
 ing lee of a rock, in the drift that accumulates 
 there. The builders begin by marking out a 
 circle on the snow about fifteen feet in diameter, 
 whicli represents the inner side of the walls, and 
 with a saw or long-blade d knife they cut out 
 
it made 
 
 giving 
 
 uhnient, 
 
 t^ood ar- 
 j door is 
 tliey arc 
 e tent is 
 sealskin, 
 [ird, tliey 
 i natural 
 :iiis does 
 tliy posi- 
 worse for 
 iir larder, 
 ing piles 
 forth an 
 ir at its 
 essfully, 
 
 itirely of 
 le slielter- 
 [umulates 
 In ST out a 
 diameter, 
 Jvalls, and 
 cut out 
 
 TUE MKDlTEnUANEAN OF CANADA. 179 
 
 blocks of snow fiom tlirec to six feet long and a 
 foot thick and liigli, from inside tlie circle they 
 have marked ; then, placing tlie blocks around 
 the circle, they carry tlie walls up spirally (not 
 in tiers), until they meet in a keystone above, 
 at a distance of about nine feet from the exca- 
 vated level of tlie floor. The result is, except, of 
 course, as to colo", the production of a gigantic 
 beehive, over the door or in the centre of the 
 roof of which is set a big block of fresh water 
 ice to serve the purpose of a window in lighting 
 an interior that, although stainless white at first, 
 is soon blackened by the ever-smoking, evil- 
 smelling lamps the inmates use. 
 
 The furniture of these human hives is very 
 simple, as may be readily supposed. It consists 
 of a bedplace or divan along the side of the 
 " igloo " opposite the door, and two fireplaces, 
 one on either hand as you enter. These are 
 made of firmly packed snow, and raised about 
 three feet above the floor, the divan liaving its 
 outer edge faced with a pole to prevent it from 
 crumbling away when used as a seat in the day- 
 time. The beds are made up in the following 
 manner: first a layer of moss spread over the 
 snow; next a layer of sealskin; then a layer 
 
 i 
 
ISO 
 
 TUK UOMAyCE OF COMMKUCE. 
 
 of l)(':ii- or (leorskiii ; and finally the sleeping;' 
 haj^s, wliicli resemble exaggerated pillow-slips, 
 only tliat fur takes the place of linen, and the 
 fur is double, so that there may be liair both 
 inside and outside. Into these bags, of which 
 each adult ha,, one, the Eskimo, stripped to tlie 
 bare ])uf'f', creeps for the night, and sleeps very 
 comfortably. Up to the age of ten the chil- 
 dren share their parents' bag ; after that they 
 are promoted to having one of their own. 
 
 Their fires are nothing more than lamps 
 rndely fashioned out of soapstone, and so ar- 
 ranged as to be self-supplying, a mass of blub- 
 ber being hnng in sucli close })roximity to the 
 flame that the fat is converted into oil, which, 
 dripping into the bowl below, is consumed by 
 means of a moss wick. As the lamp has no 
 chinniev, and both oil and wiek are of the 
 poorest, the result is the reverse of brilliant, 
 neither lio-ht nor heat beincf obtained in what 
 we should consider a satisfactory quantity. Just 
 above the lamps a sealskin is stretched to pre- 
 vent the heat thawing the roof away, a precau- 
 tion that seems scarcely necessary, seeing that 
 the ordinary temperature of these snow huts is 
 twenty-seven degrees at the roof, and twenty- 
 
THE MEDITFAtUANEAN OF CANADA. 181 
 
 -slips, 
 
 id the 
 
 • both 
 
 ^vhich 
 
 to the 
 
 s very 
 
 3 chil- 
 
 ,t they 
 
 n. 
 
 lamps 
 so ar- 
 
 f blub- 
 to the 
 which, 
 
 ned by 
 
 has no 
 of the 
 illiant, 
 1 what 
 Just 
 to pre- 
 )recau- 
 {Cf that 
 Ihuts is 
 [iwenty- 
 
 four degrees at the level of tlie l)(3ds, — in other 
 words, from five to eight degrees below freez- 
 ing point. Pray pause for a moment, good 
 people, as you read this by cosey firesides, or 
 in register-heated chambers where the ther- 
 mometer keeps comfortably near the seventies, 
 and try to realize what it means. What sort 
 of a time would you have with the air chilled 
 to ten degrees below zero outside, and warmed 
 to only twenty -five above inside ? Verily, one- 
 half the world does not know, and indeed can 
 hardly understand, how the other half lives. 
 
 In order to keep out as much cold as possi- 
 ble, the doorways are very low and very nar- 
 row, — a fact which explains the curious phrase 
 with which the hosts speed their parting guest, 
 namely : " Tabourke aperniak in atit," that is, 
 " Good-by, don't bump your head." 
 
 Next to his children the most important mem- 
 bers of an Eskimo's household are his dogs, 
 they being essential to his hunting in summer 
 and travelling in winter. They are very wild, 
 wolfish animals, only half domesticated, and 
 possessing marvellous digestive powers. A pup 
 that Mr. Ashe was rearing, being left to amuse 
 himself in the house one day, did so very ef- 
 
nil ) 
 
 IP 
 
 '••^mmmmmmim 
 
 182 
 
 Tiri'J nOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 iff. 
 
 fectiuiUy l)y devouring stockings, gloves, the 
 greater part of a toji-boot, and many smaller 
 articles of a similar nature, none of which ap- 
 parently disagreed with him. In travelling, the 
 dogs are harnessed to the sledges by traces of 
 white whale-skin, the oldest and most trust- 
 worthy on the lead, the others in pairs on either 
 side of his line, — a dozen constituting a full 
 team, and the whole being controlled by a 
 driver who runs beside them, wielding a whip 
 with a lash thirty feet long, which, in his hands, 
 can with unfailing accuracy take a tuft of hair 
 out of the most distant dog. Where there is 
 no beaten track, some one must precede the dogs 
 to show them the way ; but on a well-defined 
 route they will trot along merrily by themselves 
 at the rate of five or six miles an hour. 
 
 Often when a pause is made for a rest, or 
 to ice the runners of the sledge, a discussion 
 will arise amoncj the dojjs as to whether all 
 are pulling their fair share. From barks they 
 soon come to bites ; and a scrimmage ensues, 
 which would cast the liveliest corner of Donny- 
 brook Fair into the shade. The dancing driver 
 with his cracking whip, the snarling, struggling 
 dogs entangled in their traces, and the over- 
 
 C; 1 
 
1, llie 
 ivciller 
 ;li ap- 
 g, the 
 ces of 
 trust- 
 either 
 a full 
 by a 
 a, whip 
 hands, 
 of hair 
 here is 
 be dogs 
 defined 
 nselves 
 
 rest, or 
 cussion 
 her all 
 s they 
 ensues, 
 Donny- 
 driver 
 
 bggling 
 le over- 
 
 TUE MEDITERRANEAN OF CANADA. 183 
 
 turned sled, combine to make up a scene that 
 defies description. 
 
 The Eskimos are very good to their dogs, 
 sharing their last bite with them when food 
 is scarce. So fond arc they of them too, that 
 it is exceedingly diificiilt to purchase a good 
 team. The Iliulson's Buy Company employees 
 find these dogs very useful in their work, and 
 there are large packs of tliem at every fort. 
 They are famous fish-caters ; and great are the 
 rejoicings in dog-town wlien a catch of por- 
 poises or white whales is effected, for then 
 they may gorge themselves to tlieir heart's 
 content upon the rich and juicy meat of the 
 marine monsters. 
 
 The Eskimo language is very soft and j)leas- 
 ing to the ear, but difficult to acquire, princi- 
 pally because of the peculiar use of the accent, 
 and the difference a wrong placing of it makes, 
 as a word incorrectly pronounced seems to 
 be quite unintelligible. jNIr. Ashe's first at- 
 temj^ts at conversation were so conspicuously 
 unsuccessful that he was much discouraged. 
 For instance, he said one day to a young 
 neiglibor, " Ibbe micky tiddleman picaniminy 
 petuang-a-too," meaning thereby to remark in 
 
ff rw- 
 
 
 W !■■ itil' 
 
 
 j|i( 
 
 i 
 
 III 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 '• 1 
 
 M 
 
 ' 
 
 I B : 
 
 ' 
 
 1 ■ nl ''' 
 
 
 1 9 
 
 
 ' ill 
 
 
 iJj 
 
 ! 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1' 
 
 II: '■ I 
 
 184 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 a friendly way, " Your dog had five puppies, 
 they are dead," but in reality testing his visi- 
 tor's self-control by the offensive assertion, 
 '*• You are a dog. You have not five children." 
 Although known to the world as Eskimos, or 
 Esquimaux, these dwellers in the far north call 
 themselves " Innuit," which means " the peo- 
 ple," as if they were the only people in the 
 world. The generally accepted derivation of 
 the term Eskimo is from the Indian word, 
 " Eskimautsic," signifying " eaters of raw 
 meat ; " but Mr. Ashe suggests another deriva- 
 tion that is at least very plausible and worthy 
 of notice. The whaler of to-day calls the 
 Eskimos " Huskies," a word that is not far 
 removed from " Ilusickie," and that again from 
 " Isickie," Avhich is the Innuit word for a male. 
 Now, what seems more probable than that the 
 earliest visitors to those icy regions, in seeking 
 information as to what the inhabitants called 
 themselves, were understood as wanting to 
 know whether they were males or females, and 
 receiving the reply, " Isickie,' ' have turned it 
 into Eskimo before handing it down to us? 
 The Eskimos call their white visitors, whom 
 they are always glad to see, " Kedloonah," that 
 
THE MEDITEllUANEAN OF CANADA. 185 
 
 is, the " crested people ; " they .it first suppos- 
 ing thiit the hilts worn hy them were part of 
 their pliysical constitution. 
 
 In reference to their religious beliefs and 
 superstitions, the Eskimos are remarkably reti- 
 cent ; for the reason, probably, that their inter- 
 course lias chiefly been with rough, rude sailors, 
 and they are afraid of having their cherished 
 ceremonies made tlie butt of the white man's 
 ridicule. 
 
 As regards matrimonial matters, they gen- 
 erally have but one wife, and never more than 
 two at the same time. No formal preliminaries 
 in the way of a marriage service seem to be 
 presented. When a couple come to the same 
 way of thinking, the man takes the woman from 
 her home, sometimes even without asking her 
 parents' consent, and installs her into his own 
 igloo as the fire-tender and " slavey " thereof. 
 Usually the relation is a happy one. Sometimes, 
 however, incompatibility of temper reveals it- 
 self; and then the uncongenial wife is returned 
 to her former home, having been taken only 
 " on approval," and no formal divorce being 
 required, which shows that in this one respect, 
 at least, the otherwise slow-going North has 
 
18G 
 
 THE nOMANCK OF COMMERCE. 
 
 advanced further even than Chicago her- 
 self. 
 
 Eskimo parents are not apt to he overburdened 
 "witli children, five being considered a large 
 family. This is due to the lack of farinaceous 
 food, which renders it necessary to postpone 
 weaning until the children are five or six years 
 old. What poor, dear Artemus Ward would call 
 "episodes" are quite unknown among them; 
 and when assured that triplets or even quartets 
 were not impossible in the South, their admira- 
 tion of the white man was vastly increased. 
 
 The dead are buried in the snow in the winter- 
 time, and among the rocks in the summer ; piles 
 of stones being heaped upon them to keep off 
 the wolves and dogs. With the male dead, they 
 bury a knife and spear. Before the era of guns, 
 they buried also a bow and arrow ; but when 
 these became obsolete, they did not put a gun 
 in their place, arguing soundly enough that he 
 must be a poor hunter indeed who cannot get 
 all the game he needs in the happy hunting- 
 grounds with a knife and spear as his only 
 weapons. It would appear as if there were ad- 
 vanced thinkers, moreover, who hold that even 
 the knife and spear are not necessary in a land 
 
 .ii;i. 
 
TUE MEDITERRANEAN OF CANADA. 187 
 
 of such unlimited plenty, and who accordingly 
 deprive the dead man of both, for it is very 
 rarely that graves are found still containing 
 these articles. With the women they bury 
 nothing, holding that somebody will hunt game 
 for them in the next world just as they have 
 done in t^ is. 
 
 The Eskimo pantheon is pretty well occupied, 
 there being gods to preside over the different 
 natural phenomena, such as the rain, snow, ice, 
 tides, {ind so forth, and others controlling human 
 destiny in the chase, at home, and elsewhere. 
 Their explanation of the tides is very naive. 
 The genius of the waters, it seems, wishing to 
 cross the straits dryshod, caused the water that 
 filled them to heap itself up at one side, and 
 then when it had passed over to fall back into 
 its place again, which it did with such momen- 
 tum as to go on oscillating to and fro ever since. 
 They have no lack of priests, and under their 
 direction make various offerings to propitiate 
 the deities, particularly when the season is bad 
 and seals are scarce. 
 
 Their social customs are full of interest and 
 individuality. Their w^ay of eating, for in- 
 stance, is decidedly peculiar. Cutting a long 
 
i < 
 
 
 188 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEIWE. 
 
 strip of gory, greasy ineiit from tho mass before 
 him, the Eskimo gourmand takes one end of it 
 in his mouth, and then pulling at the other 
 until it is strained tiglit, with a quiek slash of 
 the knife past his mouth and nose, he severs a 
 mouthful and swallows it without mastication, 
 repeating tlie operation rapidly until the limit 
 of his storage capacity is reached. A civilized 
 spectator watching an Eskimo family at dinner 
 cannot fail to be struck with the wisdom of 
 Providence in giving these people such short 
 noses, as, were the features any longer, they 
 would infallibly suffer early abbreviation. 
 
 In the matter of amusements the Eskimos are 
 not badly off. They have a form of cup-and- 
 ball; the ball being a block of ivory pierced 
 with holes at different angles, into one of which 
 th6 players strive to insert an ivory peg as the 
 block falls, tlio position of the hole determin- 
 ing the value of the stroke. Another game 
 closely resembles dominoes, and contains pieces 
 running as high as " double-thirties ; " but the 
 sequences are not regularly carried out, the 
 breaks in them seeming to be without system. 
 When they can borrow or purchase a pack of 
 cards, they will play euchre and high-low-jack 
 
 .ll'Tl 
 
THE MEDJTEIUlANEAN OF CANADA. ISO 
 
 witli considerable skill; and they also enjoy 
 draughts, having learned these games from tlio 
 whalers. Tliey have a game exaetly like soli- 
 taire, with the exception that ivory pegs take 
 the place of glass balls. The special amuse- 
 ment of the women is a species of "eat's-cradle," 
 which has been brought to sueh perfection tliat 
 they develop from twenty to thirty different 
 figures in* it. Indeed, they are extremely 
 clever in performing tricks with string, winding 
 and twisting a piece in and out among their 
 fingers, and then disentangling it by a single 
 pull on one end. 
 
 Such are some of the manners and customs of 
 the quaint, harmless, and — despite their dirt — 
 lovable people whose home is among the 
 dreary regions to the north and south of Hud- 
 son's Strait. They have many admirable traits 
 of character. They are wonderfully patient 
 and enduring in times of trial and suffering ; 
 honest and intelligent to an unlooked-for de- 
 gree; perfectly fearless in the chase, yet so 
 peace-loving in their disposition that quarrels 
 are almost unknown ; hospitable, docile, keenly 
 appreciative of kindness, and ready to share 
 their last bite with their white visitors ; willing 
 
 !:i.l 
 
100 
 
 77//'; n().)fAX(:i': of commeik^e. 
 
 to work wlicn opj)()rtiiMity offers, and oontont 
 \\\i\\ siniill icimiiicraliou. So inaiiy good points 
 have tlu'y, indeed, that thi; sad certainty of 
 their giiuhial extermination is rendered all the 
 sadder tliereby. The most careful estimate of 
 their nundiers in the Hudson's Strait region at 
 present is 1,500; hut this, of course, is only an 
 approximation, as tlunr own system of counting, 
 which generally runs "'one, two, three, a great 
 many," renders anything like an accurate census 
 impossible. Each year finds their food-supply 
 diminishing, — thanks mainly to the enterprise 
 of the whalers and sealers. As the nund)er of 
 the seals decrease, the number of the Eskimos 
 must decrease also ; and the end, though it may 
 be long delayed, seems inevitable. 
 
 Although the region inhabited (if that term 
 can be rightly applied to tiny settlements scat- 
 tered at vast intervals over boundless wastes) 
 by the Eskimos is utterly worthless for agri- 
 cultural purposes, the waters it surrounds con- 
 tain sources of wealth, which, strange to say, 
 liave hitherto been monopolized by the Dundee 
 and New Bedford whalers, just as the fur- 
 trade has been monopolized by the English 
 Hudson's Bay Company ; the Canadians, to 
 
77//«; Mi':i)iTi:itiiA\i':.\.\ or cwada. 101 
 
 wlioin tlu; n'f^ion luiloii^rs, (l('iivii:<^ si'.ii'i'{.'ly any 
 lu'iuMit I'lom it whiiUiVLT. Konni'ily the wlialo 
 lisliciius of tliu l);iy wvia (!XtrtMiK'ly viiluiil)lo; 
 but of liilu yt'iiis lliis luviatliiin lias so hir^'cly 
 decreased in numbers as to render his ehaso 
 precariously profitable, and his extinction an 
 early possibility. 
 
 From a table prepared by Dr. lioas, it ap- 
 pears that between 18415 and iHTo inclusive, 
 tlie United States sent 113 vessels to the Hud- 
 son's Bay whale-lislniiL,', and that they obtained 
 1,020 bari'cls of sperm, 50,011) barrels of whale- 
 oil, and nearly a million pounds of whalebone, 
 which, considering that the average size of 
 the ship is only 240 tons, makes it clear tliat 
 there has been a handsome margin of profit. 
 The right whale, which in consequence of high 
 price of whalebone, viz., about i$12,000 a ton, is 
 by far the richest prize a whaler can capture, 
 attains a size of from fifty to eighty feet. It 
 was once readily found in the northern part of 
 the bay, but is now rarely seen, and the pur- 
 suers have to go farther and farther north 
 every year. The wdute whale, on the other 
 hand, still abounds at the York, Nelson, and 
 Churchill rivers. They go up with the tide 
 
 1 
 
■■.'it J 
 
 ■nil i 
 :4\ 
 
 II 
 
 192 
 
 rriE IWMANCK OF COMMERCE. 
 
 every clay in great iiuinbeis, and seem quite 
 tame, bobbing up serenely and blowing witliin 
 twenty feet of the boats. They are caught 
 in nets, aiul also by rows of stakes driven into 
 the mud, and taken to the forts, where, they 
 are flenched, the blubber tried out, the skins 
 cured, the carcass put by for the food of the 
 dogs in winter. As these whales average 
 about forty gallons of oil each, and their skins 
 are valuable, they are worth from twenty to 
 thirty dollars apiece. Tlie narwhal, or uni- 
 corn, and the walrus, still exist in consider- 
 able numbers, and well repay the trouble of 
 hunting them ; Avhile the seal, it need hardly be 
 said, swarms upon the ice in countless num- 
 bers during the greater part of the year, and 
 to a large extent constitutes the Eskimo's com- 
 missariat. Of smaller fishes, the salmon is 
 the only one having commercial value. It is 
 caught in large quantities by the Company, 
 and sent to England fresh in a refrigerator 
 ship specially built for the trade. 
 
 There are not many species of land animals, 
 the polar bear, wolf, wolverine, arctic fox, rein- 
 deer, polar hare, and lemming being the prin- 
 cipal ones. They are all fairly numerous still, 
 
 ^\ 
 
1 (^uite 
 within 
 caught 
 ^en into 
 •e, they 
 e skins 
 of the 
 average 
 iir skins 
 'enty to 
 or uni- 
 3onsider- 
 ouble of 
 uirdly be 
 !ss num- 
 car, and 
 o's com- 
 Imon is 
 le. It is 
 ompany, 
 Irigerator 
 
 animals, 
 [ox, rein- 
 ^he prin- 
 )us still, 
 
 TJIE MKDJTKllllAyEAN OF CANADA. 193 
 
 but tlieir ranks are niidoubtedly thinning, as 
 the demands of tlie fur-trade increase ; and 
 some day or other they will be so scarce as 
 to render the business of catcliing them no 
 longer remunerative. Indeed, as it is now, 
 no matter how hospitable, genial, or talkative 
 an oHicial at one of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany's forts may be, under no circumstance 
 can he be seduced into the admission that his 
 post is run at a profit to the company ; accord- 
 ing to him it is kept up just for the benefit 
 of the Indians and Eskimos; in other words, 
 for philanthropic rather than for commercial 
 purposes. Accordingly, if tliis showing be 
 true, the end of the fur-trade is already within 
 sight. 
 
 But it is not because of its human inhabi- 
 tants, nor of its quarries for the liunter on land 
 or sea, that the Hudson's Bay region has special 
 interest for us to-day. We might be content 
 to leave it to the chill obscurity which has been 
 so long its lot were it not that, as already 
 indicated, the central part of Canada and the 
 north-west of the United States are asking 
 whether it does not aitord a solution of the 
 problem how to secure for their products the 
 
ff 
 
 
 104 
 
 THE noMAyci: of commehce. 
 
 cheapest and most expeditions road to tlie best 
 markets. A glance at the map will be suffi- 
 cient to make clear that the shortest possible 
 route between the regions referred to and 
 Europe lies through Hudson's Bay. Careful 
 calculations have shown that the city of Win- 
 nipeg, for instance, is at least eight hundred 
 miles nearer Liverpool by the Hudson's Bay 
 route than by the St. Lawrence; and the differ- 
 ence in favor of the former increases, of course, 
 the farther you advance north-westward. If, 
 as has been pointed out, you take the central 
 point of the agricultural lands of the Cana- 
 dian North-west, you will find that the distance 
 from it to Winnipeg is about the same as to 
 Churchill, the linCvit harbor of the bay. Now, 
 the distance between Churchill and Liverpool is 
 a little less (about sixty -four miles) than it 
 is between IMontreal and that great entrepot 
 of commerce. The conclusion consequently is, 
 that between the said central point and Liver- 
 pool there is, by the use of the Hudson's Bay, 
 a saving of the whole distance from Winnipeg 
 to Montreal, which means in miles no less than 
 1,291 via Lake Superior and 1,698 via Chicago. 
 Seeing how ardent, energetic, and hopeful 
 
THE MEBITEJiTlANEAN OF CANADA. 195 
 
 the Manitobans have been in this matter, it 
 is not a little disappointing to fuul that such 
 competent authorities as Lieutenant Gordon 
 and Mr. Ashe are by no means sanguine as to 
 the success of the route. The latter has pointed 
 out that apart from the ice question, which is 
 quite serious enough in itself, there are other 
 difficulties which have to be reckoned with; 
 such as the dangers attendant upon a passage 
 along an unknown, unlighted coast-line, with 
 few harbors of refuge, and very little room 
 to ride out a gale ; extreme depths of water, 
 one hundred fathoms being often found right 
 up to the shore, with generally very defective 
 holding-ground where the depths are more mod- 
 erate. In foul weather, no sounding being pos- 
 sible that would be of value, a vessel would 
 receive no warning of her proximity to the 
 coast until it was perhaps too late to save 
 her from destruction. Furthermore, it must 
 not be forgotten that the proximity of the 
 straits to the magnetic pole renders the ordi- 
 nary compass perfectly useless, and even the 
 Thompson compass becomes liable to aberra- 
 tion if there are any disturbing elements on 
 shipboard. 
 
' :l 
 
 i 
 
 pSf 
 
 '.' ■! 
 
 19() 
 
 Tiria JiOMANCE OF C()MMi:iiCK. 
 
 Tlio most serious ol)jectiou of all, liowcver, 
 to the Hudson's Bay route is the ice that fills 
 these waters with its destructive floes and hergs. 
 No ordinary steamer could safely venture into 
 its midst. The bow must be armored, and the 
 whole frame strengthened, to withstand the rude 
 buffeting that is so inevitable. All this, of 
 course, means increased cost and decreased car- 
 rying capacity; and even then the lesson of 
 the three expeditions would seem to be that 
 the period of navigation for such a vessel is 
 from the 15th of July to the 15th of October, 
 with a possibility of navigation fi'om the 1st 
 of July to the 1st of November. Whether a 
 railroad system eight hundred miles in length, 
 and a fleet of steamships of a very costly kind, 
 can be employed with profit where the season 
 for transportation is not more than three or 
 at the most four months in duration, consti- 
 tutes the problem upon the solution of which 
 depends the future of the inland ocean of the 
 north. 
 
 ■'mm': 
 
FROM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 197 
 
 wever, 
 at fills 
 . bergs, 
 re into 
 nd the 
 le rude 
 bis, of 
 >od car- 
 ;sou of 
 t)e tbat 
 essel is 
 October, 
 the 1st 
 ether a 
 length, 
 y kind, 
 season 
 iree or 
 consti- 
 which 
 of the 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FROM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 Among all the materials wherewith men 
 erect unto themselves splendid edifices to dwell 
 in, stately ships to voyage by, or far-s2)reading 
 iron roads to travel upon, none have a fairer, 
 brighter history than tlie wood. Stone is blasted 
 from hideous ddbris-strewn chasms, in and 
 out whose craggy recesses quarrymen labor 
 like ants in some gigantic ant-heap; metal is 
 torn from the bowels of tlie earth, where, 
 steeped in gloom and oppression scarce en- 
 durable, the grimy miners pursue their un- 
 lovely toil ; but wood, from the time the first 
 stroke of the lumberman's fatal axe sends a 
 shiver through all its shapely form as it rears 
 its head aloft amidst the forest, until, when 
 sundered into yellow planks, it awaits the 
 joiner's will, is hardly for an hour away from 
 the glow of sunshine, the ripple of water, or 
 the virgin purity of the snow. As bright and 
 clean as the fresh-sawn boards themselves is the 
 
 * i 
 
.1 I 
 
 198 
 
 THE nOMANCE OF COMMEIiCE. 
 
 record iluit lies l)eluii(l tliem ; iiud in follow- 
 ing llicni from forest to floor, we liavo before 
 us one of the most romantic, fiiscinjitincf, and 
 
 ily occvi})ation 
 
 diich the children of 
 
 man] 
 
 men can onofaofc. 
 
 The chief centre of the Inmbcring interest 
 in Canada is the city of Ottawa, whicli, as it 
 happens, is also the political capital, — a con- 
 jnnction that gave Goldwin Smith a chance 
 for the exercise of his brilliant wit too tempt- 
 ing to be withstood ; and so we liave his 
 clever but cruelly unjust epigram about Ot- 
 tawa being "an arctic lumber-village turned 
 into a political cock-pit ; " to which we trust 
 it may be deemed but a venial offence to add, 
 that, viewed in either light, there certainly 
 would seem to be a considerable amount of 
 " logf-rollinof " done there. 
 
 It will accordingly serve our purpose very 
 well, if, selecting the Canadian capital as our 
 coigne of vantage, we proceed from thence to 
 make as full a survey of the Avhole business 
 of lumbering as may be managed within the 
 limits of a single chapter. 
 
 In the matter of facilities for the carrying 
 on of this important industry, Ottawa would 
 
FliOM FOREST TO FLOOli. 
 
 190 
 
 be un.quo upon tlio continent, weio it not for 
 
 M 
 
 iiineaj 
 
 .ol 
 
 )OllS. 
 
 As it is, slio has in the tro- 
 
 mentlons torrent tliat ponrs Inniultnonsly over 
 the roaring Chandiere, an even mightier power 
 than the falls of St. Anthony ; while as far as 
 comnumicatiou "vvith tlie tiniher-liniils by rail 
 
 (111 
 
 all 
 
 and water is coneer 
 events. Bnt at the falls of tlie Chandiere we 
 reach almost the final stage in the passage of 
 a plank from forest to floor; and so, in order 
 to begin at the beginning, we must betake 
 ourselves, one, two, or even three hundred miles 
 away up into the bosky recesses of the forest 
 primeval, where the mighty trees are whis- 
 pering together in blissful ignorance of the 
 fate awaiting them. 
 
 The first thing to be done by one who pro- 
 poses to engage in the business of lumbering 
 is to secure a " berth," or ^' limit ; " that is, an 
 area of natural standing timber. This he does 
 either directly from the Government, in whom 
 the fee of almost all of the timber-producing 
 districts still remains ; or indirectly from some 
 person who has taken up limits simply for spec- 
 ulative purposes, and without any design of 
 cutting over them himself. Theoretically each 
 
■< ' .i 
 
 200 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 M 
 
 Mi, 
 
 
 i ■ 
 
 i l: 
 
 
 limit is ten miles square; but, owing to the 
 topographical features of the country, they are 
 in reality of all sizes, from twenty-four square 
 miles and upward. It is not often that one 
 wortliy of the name is less than fifty square 
 miles in extent. The amount of territory held 
 under lease by some of the " lumber kings " 
 of the Ottawa district is so immense that an 
 ordinary German principality would sink into 
 insignificance beside these vast landed posses- 
 sions. 
 
 Limits having been secured, the next step is 
 to despatch a party of experienced scouts, 
 often Indians or half-breeds, to examine the 
 country, and seek out the best groves of tim- 
 ber. The skill of these self-taught surveyors 
 is sometimes very remarkable. They will ex- 
 plore the length and breadth of the terra in- 
 cognita, and report upon the kind and value 
 of its timber, the situation and capabilities of 
 its streams for floating out the logs Can all- 
 important point), and the facilities for hauling 
 and transportation. They often sketch the 
 surface of the country, showing the positions 
 of its streams and lakes, its groves of timber, 
 and its mountainous or level appearance, with 
 
FROM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 201 
 
 a skill and accuracy little short of marvel- 
 lous. 
 
 The scene of operations havin-r with the 
 aid of these scouts been finally decided upon, 
 the limit-holder early in the month of Sep- 
 tember sends his gangs of men into the woods, 
 the usual number in a gang being from thirty 
 to forty, including foreman, clerk, carpenter, 
 cook, and chore-boy. This number is about 
 doubled, however, later on, when the teams 
 come in to haul the logs that have been cut, 
 so that sixty to eighty men may sometimes 
 be found at one shanty. The foremen rule 
 the gangs, and are in their turn subordinate 
 to the " bush-superintendents," who drive in 
 all weathers from gang to gang, supervising 
 their work and checking the results. On ar- 
 riving at their destination, the gang proceed 
 immediately to build their shanty. 
 
 Nothing could be more primitive than the 
 architecture, or better adapted to its purpose, 
 than the construction of this edifice, which is 
 placed as nearly as possible in the midst of the 
 "bunch" of timber to be cut, so that no time 
 may be lost in going to and coming from work. 
 With all hands helping, a shanty twenty-eight 
 
202 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 i's ( 
 
 '^^ 
 
 ■'i 
 
 feet hy forty can 1)0 i)iit up in live days, ilie 
 men in the mcantinio livinf^ in tents. TIio 
 method of construction is as follows : Huge 
 logs, cleared only of their brandies, are piled 
 one upon another to the height of eight feet. 
 Great wooden girders are then stretched across, 
 supported in the middle by four massive pil- 
 lars, called " scoop-bearers ; " Jind upon these 
 girders hewn timbers resembling elongated 
 railway ties, hollowed out on one side and 
 designated as *' scoops," are placed with convex 
 and concave sides up alternatel}', and over- 
 lapping each other. Thus arranged, they con- 
 stitute the roof, and afford perfect protection 
 from the lieaviest of fall rains. The floor 
 consists of a single layer of flattened timbers ; 
 and then all that remains is to fill in every 
 chink with moss and mud, and throw up a 
 bank all round the outside, and your shanty 
 is — no, not complete, after all, for lo ! a most 
 important part of it has been overlooked, to 
 wit, the " camboose," or fireplace. This oc- 
 cupies the place of honor in the centre of the 
 room, and is about as simple an affair as could 
 well be. A thick bank of sand and stones is 
 laid upon the floor to hold the fire, while, up 
 
FROM FOJiKST TO FLOOR. 
 
 2oa 
 
 above, a largo square hole is cut iu tlio roof, 
 aud topped witli a rude eliinni(!y, the wliolo 
 arrangenieut affordiug perfect draft aud veuti- 
 latiou, aud a fiue view of the stars at uiglit 
 to the men lyiug ou tlieir buuks, hut (Uiuiaud- 
 iufj the coustaut uiahiteuaiice of a liuire luo 
 iu order to secure couifort. At two eoruers 
 of tlie liearth are fixed strong wooden cranes, 
 which the cook can adjust to any required po- 
 sition for liis vaiious pots and boilers. Along 
 three sides of the room run sloping platforms 
 called "bunks," on which the tired toilers roll 
 in their blankets and rest after the day's exer- 
 tion, with their heads turned to the wall, and 
 feet to the central fire, which is kept well sup- 
 plied with fuel all night. 
 
 This description applies to a shanty of the 
 "good old-fashioned sort." In recent years 
 the march of improvement has reached even 
 the backwoods ; and such luxuries as stoves, 
 windows, tables, etc., have found their way 
 into the lumberman's abode, where, it need 
 liardly be said, they are cordially welcomed. 
 
 Shanties for men, and stables for horses, 
 satisfactorily completed, the campaign against 
 the forest giants begins forthwith. The thirty- 
 
r^^." 
 
 
 :! ■, 
 
 'l!" 
 
 204 
 
 rilK ROMANCE OF COMMKIiCE. 
 
 '^; 
 
 1 1 
 
 !!>'■ 
 
 ')'l' 
 
 five men arc divided up into sets according to 
 the nature of tlieir work. In a gang of tliat 
 size, there will probably be three pairs of chop- 
 pers, and twice as many cutters, who together 
 with the teamsters, sawyers, chainers, and the 
 home-guard of clerk, cook, and so forth, make 
 up the number. The work of tlio road-cutters 
 is to pre2)are a main road from the bunch of 
 timber attacked to the nearest available water, 
 be it lake or stream ; also smaller roads branch- 
 ing out from this according as the choppers 
 extend their operations. Over these roads, 
 which are sometimes made very hard and 
 smooth by the use of a sprinkler, the teamsters 
 transport the logs from the roll ways upon 
 which they have been piled, and drop them 
 beside the borders of the stream upon the icy 
 bosom of the lake, there to await the coming 
 of the spring. 
 
 No part of the work is more interesting than 
 that which devolves upon the choppers. The 
 foreman having gone ahead and marked with a 
 "blaze " the trees ho wishes felled, the choppers 
 set to work in pairs (and occasionally in trios) 
 at opposite sides of the trunk, and, handling 
 their heavy, keen-edged axes as though they 
 
 liHi^ll!. 
 
FliOM F(H:i:sT TO FLOOli. 
 
 20") 
 
 were mci'o trifles, clioj) swiftly into thn lioart 
 of their liel[)less vicliin. Tlie wliite elii[)s fly 
 fast and tliick as tlie axes swin^- steadily to 
 and fro, and presently tlu! inn) be<;ins to 
 tremble; a few more skilful strokes, a warninj^ 
 craek, and then with the suddiMi sweep of an 
 eagle the huge mass eomes erashing down to 
 earth, making a wide swath in the smaller trees 
 standing unsuspectingly around. 
 
 Having felled their tree, the clioppcrs next 
 trim off the branches, and then, with cross-cut 
 saws, divide it into lengths of thirteen and a 
 half or sixteen and a half feet, according to its 
 quality. Two, three, four, or even five logs 
 may be got out of a single tree ; and with such 
 rapidity do experienced choppers work, that on 
 new limits, where the timber is thick and heavy, 
 eighty logs is not an out-of-the-way day's work 
 for a pair; while when "striving" is begun, — 
 that is, one pair pitting themselves against 
 another pair, — it is not an uncommon thing for 
 six hundred logs to be unexpectedly turned in 
 as the handsome result of a single week's Avork, 
 a showing that even so redoubtable a woodsman 
 as the ex-premier of England might well envy. 
 The foreman has no difficulty in checking the 
 
 I ; ,f 
 
;1 
 
 
 mi 
 
 1 1.; « 
 
 i ■ 
 
 ,'i 
 
 ! ! 
 
 I?: 
 
 200 
 
 77//'; i:oMAy('K of ('ommi:v(i:. 
 
 work, jis tlu' lon^s nro dailv piled on rollwavs, 
 "wluMo (lu'v uwail lliuir liini to bo IuiuUhI to the 
 waterside. 
 
 It is a tine, lu^iltliy, lu^arty life, this of the 
 liunbernian. From dawn to dark lie woi'ks in 
 the open air, exercusin^ both hiii^-s and nins- 
 cles to the utmost extent that is good for them. 
 Onee the autumn rains arc over, and the snow 
 lir ; eome, he breathes for four lonir months 
 the elear, eold air of the Canadian winter, 
 made fracrrant with the health-fifivlnsx aroma of 
 the pine and eedar. No matter how bibulous 
 may bo his tendeneies, not one drop ean lie 
 have from the eup that inebriates, although 
 he may, and does, driidc potations long, deep, 
 and unlimited from the cup that cheers. Ilis 
 food is not very \aried in character, nor in the 
 style of its cooking; pork and beans, beef, bread, 
 and tea, being almost the invariable items of his 
 menu^ with a bit of game now and then as a 
 rare treat. But there is plenty of it ; and the 
 bread, baked in pots buried deep in heated sand, 
 cannot be beaten in the whole country, while of 
 that sauce which surpasses the most ci.nning 
 concoction of Lazenby or Lea & Perrins, — to 
 wit (if I may adapt a Falstaffian expression), 
 
FROM FOItKST TO FLOOl!. 
 
 •207 
 
 "a divino liunj^ur," — wlio Ims a iiioic^ uurailiiig 
 supply ll'nii ilu; ( *iiiia(li;iii limihcMinan ? 
 
 Jlis forest lifo is iiol \)y any means all work, 
 cither. With the early dusk of wiiit(!r his toil 
 ceases for the <lay; and after tools are put away, 
 ahlutions ixnforined, and duo justi(;e done to 
 the tea and l)r('ad and hacon, there is a long 
 evening to l)e sjxMit in song and dance and 
 stor}^ wlien, aided ])y a sini[)le but effective 
 orchestra of fiddle, concertina, j(!\v's-harp, and 
 flute, ho can make the low-roofed slianty ring 
 with whole-souled merriment. Then Sunday 
 brings opportunity for rest, and also for mend- 
 ing, darning, patching, or, if this happily be all 
 attended to, for excursions into the farther for- 
 est in search of fortuitous deer, hare, or par- 
 tridge, that may afford a welcome change in the 
 dyspeptic monotony of pork and beans. 
 
 Twenty-five thousand logs will be a good 
 winter's work for such a shanty as the one 
 I have been describing ; and Avhen the warm 
 spring sunshine comes, unlocking the bars and 
 bolts of winter, the labor of the lumberman 
 enters upon its most exciting and perilous 
 stage, that is, the "drive." The winter's cut 
 of logs having be.en piled in heaps beside the 
 
208 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 ■ t 
 
 III I 
 
 river-biuik or lake margin, or liettcr still upon 
 the ice itself, when, in mid-April the Frost 
 King's rigid ^.avisp is linally relaxed, they go 
 tumblin<jf ijcll-mell into the water to beain their 
 
 OX o 
 
 long journey uiill-ward. And now it is the 
 business of our hardy, fearless toilers to follow 
 this great fleet of cumbrous tree-trunks in their 
 devious varied course by brawling mountain tor- 
 rent, s\>ifl-running stream, and placid lake, as 
 they go leaping headlong over roaring water- 
 falls, or shooting like arrows through the slip- 
 pery "slides," dislodging those that fain would 
 tarry by the way, and lifting stranded ones into 
 the current again, u?>ti] the broad bosom of the 
 Ottawa is reached, and the logs, now gathered 
 into " booms," can be towed by powerful 
 steamers to their destination. 
 
 Each "river-driver," as the men are now 
 called, is armed with either a long pike-pole, 
 a "cant-dog," or a handspike; and in flat- 
 bottomed boats, yclept " bonnes," or tramping 
 along shore, they keep the mighty mass in 
 movement^ having constantly before them the 
 danger of a jam ; that is, the logs catching in 
 mid-stream against some projecting rock, and 
 piling one upon another until a barrier is 
 
FROM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 209 
 
 formed that puts a veto upon all farther prog- 
 ress. Then comes the most thrilling experi- 
 ence in all the lumberman's career. The jam 
 must be broken at all hazards, and witliout a 
 moment's delay ; for the longer it is left, the 
 worse it becomes. To accomplisli this, the 
 "key-piece," the log which was the first to 
 stick and has caused all the tT-ouble, must be 
 found and disengaged — if ne oessary, chopped 
 to pieces. 
 
 The precision with which an experienced 
 river-driver will ascertain the key-piece of a 
 jam is only less remarkable than the skill with 
 which he will escape the rush of the suddenly 
 liberated logs. Maintaining his balance almost 
 miraculously upon some slippery cylinder, he 
 will with strenuous strokes chop the oftending 
 log in two, or drive it back into deep water, 
 and then, as the whole mass thus set free 
 charges madly down upon him, he will leap 
 from log to log with the sure-footedness of a 
 chamois, until safe out of harm's reach, or per- 
 haps dive headlong into mid-stream, and thus 
 avoid the danger. Dexterous as these men 
 are, however, not a season passes that lives 
 are not lost in these perilous ventures ; and 
 

 ;!-■ ■ 
 
 210 
 
 THE JIOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 " 'ill 
 
 lit 
 
 I;* 
 
 :! 
 
 
 [ -i '■■ ■ "■ 
 
 f 
 
 
 J '8 H 
 
 i -I 
 
 Ii 
 
 there is hardly any announcement more un- 
 welcome to the lumberman's ears than that 
 one of the dreaded jams is forming. 
 
 Once the logs are fairly afloat in the deep 
 waters of the Grand River, as the lumberman 
 loves to call the Ottawa, the river-driver's work 
 is at an end; and he either finds employment 
 at the mills, or idles away his time at home 
 until the approach of fall again bids him make 
 ready for the winter's work. 
 
 Having been gathered together at the booms, 
 and sorted according to the mark^ of owner- 
 ship they bear, the logs are now sent forward 
 to the mills in tow of strong paddle-wheel 
 steamers built for the purpose ; and, following 
 in their wake, we come in due time to the 
 immense lumber-mills, which have the spring of 
 their most profitable existence in the exhaust- 
 less floods that fling themselves in unappeas- 
 able fury over the chasm of the Chaudidre. 
 
 One of the first impressions made upon the 
 visitor is that of wonder at the way in which 
 the rushing, roaring river has been tamed and 
 trained by many a deep device in solid stone 
 and massive timber, until it cheerfully submits 
 to do man's bidding, and patiently revolves 
 
FROM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 211 
 
 the huge machinery whereby a whilom forest 
 monarch is rapidly reduced to yellow planks. 
 A man named Philemon Wright, who hailed 
 from New England, was tlie first to make the 
 Chaudiere his slave ; and compatriots of his 
 still hold the lead there, the establishment of 
 works by them upon a large scale dating from 
 1853. 
 
 The most interesting time at which to visit 
 these mills, which run day and night all summer 
 long, is after dark, when they are illuminated 
 by the electric light that invests the scene with 
 a weird picturesqueness not unworthy the pen- 
 cil of a Dor^. The swift, swirling torrent of 
 the mill-race ; the dark, mysterious pools, where, 
 all unconscious of their coming fate, the rough 
 red logs huddle close together; the pulsating 
 roar of ponderous machinery, broken every mo- 
 ment by the startling shriek of the circular saw ; 
 or the strange cries of brawny toilers, all bathed 
 in whitest glow or plunged in darkest gloom, 
 — combine to form a picture that photographs 
 itself forever upon the memory. 
 
 Another writer has so graphically described 
 the operation of log-sawing, that I cannot im- 
 prove upon his description, and will therefore 
 
 : i 
 
 : I 
 
',; 
 
 
 ,i ■ - 
 
 , y 
 
 t' 
 
 ' i 
 
 J': 
 
 ! 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ' ! 
 
 
 212 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 
 If! ; ■JTStt' 
 
 ii.:: 
 
 ;;, i 
 
 
 :1 :'.! 
 
 I •' 
 
 ;; 'i ! 
 
 borrow it : " Sot tliirty or more in a row, the 
 tremendous saws form what is called a * gate ; ' 
 and toward this uncompromising combination 
 the logs, having first been drawn up out of the 
 water on an inclined plane, and deftly handled 
 and coaxed into position, are irresistibly im- 
 pelled, one succeeding the other, day and night. 
 For a moment the glistening steel dances be- 
 fore the forest innocent — a veritable ' dance of 
 death ; ' then, with a crash and a hiss, the 
 ugly-looking teeth make the first bite, and for 
 five or six minutes eat their way steadily 
 through the tough fibre, till that which enters 
 the machine's mighty jaws a mere log, emerges 
 as sawn planks, and, after a few more rapid 
 operations, becomes well-trimmed lumber, ready 
 for the markets of the world." 
 
 While, of course, the sawirg of deals and 
 planks constitutes the chief business at the 
 mills, there are also large quantities of box- 
 shooks, laths, railroad ties, pickets, etc., turned 
 out there. The process of lath-making is very 
 interesting to watch, especially as it is entirely 
 in the hands of boys. Odds and ends of planks 
 are first cut out by the circulars into the length 
 of a lath, and then passed through a machine 
 
FliOM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 213 
 
 where a set of tiny circiiliirs slices Ihem into 
 latlis with amazing rapidity. Into one siclo goes 
 the strip, out at the other come the hiths, to he 
 caught up by a quick-fmgerecl hid, and sorted 
 with a speed almost bewildering, tlie defective 
 ones disappearing into a hole at liis feet, the 
 perfect ones being laid in a kind of cradle 
 beside him, where they accumulate until there 
 are enough to make the regulation bundle, 
 when another boy whisks them off to be tied 
 up for market. 
 
 For SIX days of every week, between the 
 coming down of the logs in the spring and 
 the freezing of the river in the late autumn, the 
 buzz and whirr and shriek of wheel and pulley 
 and saw cease not day nor night. The work- 
 men are divided into day-shifts and night-shifts, 
 each putting in eleven hours' steady work. 
 The wages paid are good ; the highest being 
 one hundred dollars a month to the mill fore- 
 man, the sawyers getting from forty to sixty 
 dollars, edgers and trimmers from thirty to 
 forty dollars, and the general help about thirty 
 dollars a month. A more cheerful, contented, 
 or active lot of workers could hardly be found 
 anywhere. 'T is true, the fme old days have 
 
 h 
 
i 1*1 
 
 u <^ 
 
 nm 
 
 ^f 
 
 214 
 
 TffE ROMANCE OF COMMEliCE. 
 
 somewhat gone l)y when the "lumber-kings," 
 as the great mill-owners were called, exercised 
 an authority over their mills and tributary ter- 
 ritory that was so regal in many of its aspects 
 as to give good ground for their grandiose title. 
 Yet much of the old semi-paternal, semi-despotic 
 influence lingers ; and it may with pride be 
 recorded tliat, so far at least, those hateful, 
 harmful things called "strikes" and "lock- 
 outs " are almost unknown to the twelve thou- 
 sand hewers and fashioners of wood in this 
 Ottawa district. 
 
 An important and indispensable adjunct to 
 the mill is the piling-ground. Having been 
 in the water for months before they are sawed, 
 the logs are, of course, thoroughly "water- 
 logged ; " and after they have been converted 
 into lumber it is necessary to get them thor- 
 oughly dry again. This is accomplished by 
 piling them up in huge stacks, constructed in 
 such a way that the air has free play all around 
 each plank ; and thus disposed they remain from 
 three months to a year, until sometimes the 
 outer ones, instead of being a golden yellow, 
 become a dirty gray, or even black. Looking 
 out from the cliff behind the Parliament Build- 
 
 :i i 
 
FROM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 215 
 
 ings one sees miles upon miles of these lumber 
 piles extending far up and down the river- 
 banks, and constituting a very prominent though 
 not picturesque feature of the landscape. 
 
 While, as a rule, the pick of the logs is 
 cut into deals for the English market, yet a 
 very large proportion is sawn into ten, twelve, 
 and fourteen inch boards, which are exported 
 to the United States. Part of the latter go 
 by rail, but the majority by canal barge ; and 
 every summer the Ottawa River is crowded 
 with fleets of these cumbrous craft. They are 
 usually owned by the captain, and he often 
 takes his whole family on board with him ; so 
 that it is a common thing to see a bunch of 
 these boats moored in one of the coves aw^aiting 
 a cargo, and in the meantime festooned with 
 the family washing, and swarming with troops 
 of dirty, but happy and evidently well-fed 
 youngsters. The barges are towed by steamer 
 down the Ottawa to the St. Lawrence, and 
 along that mighty stream to Sorel, whence they 
 proceed up the Kiciiclieu River, and across Lake 
 Champlain to Whitehall, then down the Hud- 
 son to Albany or New York. 
 
 I have left for treatment by itself a branch 
 
V 
 
 III 
 
 m 
 
 216 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEIiCE. 
 
 
 li 
 
 of the lumber business which, although much 
 smaller in its proportion than the production 
 of sawn lumber, and, indeed, steadily decreas- 
 ing, is still of too great importance to be passed 
 by unnoticed. I refer to what is called the 
 " square-timber trade." 
 
 By square timber is meant whole tree-trunks 
 roughly squared with broadaxes, and sawed 
 into lengths that vary according to the qual- 
 ity of the tree, but, as a rule, fall within forty 
 feet. These great, unwieldy timbers are made 
 up into " cribs ; " a crib being about twenty-four 
 feet wide b}' thirty to forty feet long, and con- 
 taining some twenty-five pieces held together 
 by cross-pieces called " traverses," strongly 
 pinned on, four of the largest timbers being 
 then laid upon the traverses and fixed firmly. 
 The cribs are in their turn combined into rafts, 
 some of which are of such immense size (com- 
 prising perhaps over one hundred cribs) as to 
 constitute regular floating islands. 
 
 Were the course of the Ottawa smooth and 
 regular, these great rafts, with their little cabins, 
 which look like magnified dog-kennels, for the 
 crew to sleep in, and fireplaces to cook their 
 meals at, might pursue their solemn, stately 
 
FROM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 217 
 
 course by the aid of sail and oar and current 
 down to the St. Lawrence intact. But broken 
 as the river is into frequent falls and riotous 
 rapids, this is quite out of the question. So at 
 each of tlie falls the*'e are "slides" prepared, 
 whereby the perils of the watery precipice may 
 be avoided. These slides are very elaborate 
 and expensive affairs, and are in most cases 
 maintained by the Government, a toll being 
 exacted from the rafts that use tliem. Tliey 
 are simply artificial channels constructed in 
 close proximity to the falls ; the walls and 
 bottom being lined with smooth, strong tim- 
 ber-work, and ballasted with mighty stones. 
 In order to go through the slides, the great 
 rafts must, of course, be resolved into their 
 component cribs, and then made up again after 
 the swift descent is accomplished. The longest 
 and steepest slides are those at the ChaudiC're 
 Falls ; and " shooting the slides " is an expe- 
 rience of thrilling novelty, which no tourist 
 visiting the Canadian capital should think of 
 neglecting. It may not inaptly be likened to 
 tobogganing on water. Lot me try to convey 
 some idea of what it is like. 
 
 Ascending to the slide's summit, you jump 
 
11 
 
 218 
 
 THE liOMANCE OF COMMEltCE. 
 
 \ s 
 
 III 
 
 M 
 
 ; J 
 
 aboard a passing crib before it is fairly under- 
 way. Soon you arc conscious of gutlicring 
 speed; tlie slide slants sliaiply downwanl, the 
 water begins to ripple and splash beside you ; 
 in another moment, with a sudden shock, your 
 unwieldy bark, having taken its plunge, is 
 gliding down the smooth descent at a pace 
 that makes you hold your breath and tightly 
 hug the biggest beam. Now you have reached 
 the bi'idge ; and as you shoot beneath, you just 
 have time to see what is before, and you feel 
 your heart leap to your mouth, as, with a 
 shudder and a groan, the great crib, poising 
 for an awful moment on the watery verge, 
 dives headlong into the dark, foam-flecked 
 whirlpool. The timbers strain and spread 
 apart, the waves burst up fiercely between your 
 feet, the spray springs high and falls in drench- 
 ing showers. For one harrowing second you 
 bitterly repent your rashness in making the 
 venture ; then with quick buoyancy the crib 
 rises again, shakes off its aqueous burden, and 
 hurries onward, dipping and rising, until with 
 one last dive the perilous passage is over, and 
 you are floating quietly out on the placid 
 river. 
 
 I 
 
FliOM FOREST TO FLOOR. 
 
 211) 
 
 Many distiiif^uislied visitors, from tlic Prinro 
 of Wales and Princess Louise downward 
 tlu'ough the social strata, liave enjoyed the 
 experience of sliooting the slides. Cribs put 
 togetlicr with more than usual care, and 
 planked so as to prevent wetting, are used on 
 such special occasions. And this is very neces- 
 sary, because there is a certain amount of 
 actual danger to bo reckoned with in taking 
 one's chances upon the first crib that hap[)ens 
 along. You may get to the bottom with noth- 
 ing worse than a soaked coat, or you may have 
 to "jump for your life." When the writer went 
 down, the crib immotl lately in advance of him, 
 and the cril) behind him, broke up completely, 
 liappily without injury to anybody, although 
 the one he had selected preserved its integrity 
 to th3 finish. 
 
 AVith a leisureliness that irresistibly reminds 
 an on-looker of one of those glaciers which 
 j\Iark Twain proposed to utilize for the pur- 
 poses of "slow freight," the rafts creep on 
 down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence to Quebec, 
 where they are stowed away stick by stick 
 in the gaping holds of waiting ships, and car- 
 ried off across the ocean to Great Britain. 
 
220 
 
 TUF ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 CHAPTER •XIII. 
 
 I:' M 
 
 N' :] 
 
 ( 
 
 f.f ; 
 
 ! 
 
 f , i 
 
 4 ;::i 
 
 n 
 
 
 AN OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 It is little more than a mere dot of dry land 
 in an immensity of ocean space, the restless- 
 ness of whose hissing surges is so incessant 
 that here might Jeremiah have stood when he 
 said, " There is sorrow on the sea ; it cam -)i be 
 quiet." Sorrow there i^, too, right often, and 
 sorrow there has been ever since S.^ble Island 
 rirst figured in human history. No other island 
 on this globe can sho ,v so appalling a record of 
 shipv/reck and disaster. 
 
 Now parched beneath the burning rays of an 
 unshaded summer sun, now swathed in chilling 
 robes of mist or snow, ofttimes deluged with 
 torrents of rain, and at all seasons blown uj on 
 by the tireless winds. Sable Island, remarkable 
 as regards its position, its shape, its structure, 
 and still more as regards its history, has some- 
 how strangely escaped the notice of those who 
 travel, and remains to this day shrouded in an 
 obscurity no less remarkable. It does not, how- 
 
 Hi i 
 
SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. 
 
^.V OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 221 
 
 ever, lack for mention in history ; and we might 
 well linger a while over the references made to 
 it by varions writers during the past three cen- 
 turies and a half. 
 
 For the very first appearance of Sable Island 
 in history, we must go back througli many cen- 
 turies to that misty mediaival period when the 
 hardy Danes delighted to voj'age forth upon 
 daring quests whose Iliad is the Icelandic saga. 
 According to this trustworthy chroncicle, where- 
 in such adventures by field and flood find record, 
 one Biorn Heriulfsen, in the year 986, purpos- 
 ing no more ambitious adventure than a slant 
 across from Greenland to Iceland, was taken 
 possession of by adverse winds, and driven far 
 to the south and west, tliereby unwillingly 
 and unwittingly becoming the first European to 
 set eyes upon the New World. Having passed 
 Ilelluland (now Newfoundland) and Markland 
 (Nova Scotia), he came in sight of a barren, 
 sandy region, which, from the account he gives 
 of it, could liave been no other than Sable 
 Island. Unfortunately for his future fame, he 
 either lacked the courage, or could not spare 
 tlie time, to proceed a little farther westward ; 
 for had lie done so, to him, and not to Chris- 
 
222 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE, 
 
 II , 
 
 ffiii 
 
 Mi 
 
 ' i 
 
 M:'' 
 
 11 
 
 fl 
 
 <4 
 
 topher Columbus, would have fallen the im- 
 perishable glory of discovering America. Even 
 as it is, Professor Rafn has shown — and his 
 conclusions are generally accepted — that what 
 is nov/ called Massachusetts and Rhode Island 
 was settled by the Scandinavians late in the 
 tenth century ; so that the opportunity Heriulf- 
 sen thus neglected must have been improved 
 not many years later by some kinsman of 
 hardier spirit. 
 
 Between Bjorn Herjulfsen and the next re- 
 corded visitor, there is a long hiatus, during 
 which the island probably slumbered in undis- 
 turbed solitude, until the early part of the 
 sixteenth century, when the Portuguese, who 
 were then vigorously pursuing the Newfound- 
 land fisheries, which had been discovered for 
 them by John Cabot, must have found it out 
 anew; as on a chart prepared by Pedro Reinal, 
 dated 1505, the island is laid down as "Santa 
 Cruz." They were shrewd fellows, those Por- 
 tuguese ; for observing the abundance of coarse, 
 succulent grass flourishing throughout the cen- 
 tre of the island, and the plenitude of water 
 supplied by the lake, they conceived the admir- 
 able plan of stocking the place with cattle, 
 
 if! 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-TARD. 
 
 oog 
 
 and thus providing a fresh-meat market con- 
 veniently near their fishing-grounds. The 
 scheme succeeded to perfection ; and, ere long, 
 herds of cattle and droves of swine gave life 
 and noise to tliis hitherto dead and silent 
 region. These laudable efforts, moreover, were 
 involuntarily supplemented some years later 
 by the Baron de Lery, w^ho, being fired with 
 enterprise by the accounts which reached tlie 
 French court of the Eldorado beyond the 
 Western Ocean, exhausted his entire resources 
 in the equipment of an expedition designed to 
 plant a colony there that should be the germ 
 of a new nation. Accordingly, in 1538 he 
 fitted out a fleet of small vessels, loaded them 
 deep with men, cattle, grain, and other essen- 
 tials, and set sail for America. But the fates 
 were not propitious. One storm followed 
 closely upon another, and the expedition was 
 thereby so delayed that it did not reach its 
 destination until late in the autumn. There 
 was no time to prepare for the winter, and no 
 other alternative than to return. But before 
 so doing, the baron lightened his vessel by de- 
 positing the cattle upon Sable Island. Among 
 them no doubt were several horses, from which 
 
•jl 
 
 OOJ. 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 it ■ 
 
 ifi 
 
 
 '1 
 
 If 
 
 1 
 
 $ 
 
 1 
 
 ' 1 
 
 ii 
 
 
 «i 
 
 
 J'l 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 Ib^ 
 
 have sprung the lierds of shaggy, sharp-boned 
 ponies which still scamper wild over the sand- 
 dunes, and whose origin is otherwise inexplic- 
 able. 
 
 The next recorded event opens out for us 
 the ever-lengthening roll of maritime disaster, 
 whose dread total can never be ascertained 
 until the sea gives up her dead. Hundreds of 
 ships and thousands of lives are known to have 
 found an untimely grave at Sable Island. But 
 how shall be reckoned up the number of those 
 
 who, — 
 
 "Unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown," 
 
 have here passed into oblivion ? 
 
 In the year 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 
 "the pious and accomplished gallant" of good 
 Queen Bess, and half-brother to Sir Walter 
 Raleigh, who founded Virginia, and introduced 
 the art of smoking into England, went out 
 upon a voyage of exploration with five ships 
 equipped in the best manner of those days, and 
 guided by experienced pilots. Associated with 
 him in this enterprise were a savant of high 
 renown, name unknown, but stated to have 
 been "a Saxon refiner and discoverer of ines- 
 timable riches;" a Hungarian poet, Stephanus 
 
AN OCEAN G HAVE-YARD. 
 
 225 
 
 Parmenius, who " for piety and zeal for good 
 attempts adventured in this action, minding to 
 record in the Latin tongue tlio things worthy 
 of remembr.ance to the honor of our nation, 
 tlie same being adorned with the eh)queut style 
 of this orator and rare poet of our time ; " and 
 also Captain Richard Brown, one of the most 
 renowned mariners of the time, "a virtuous, 
 honest, and discreet gentleman, and never un- 
 prepared for death, as by his last act of this 
 tragedy appeared," for, refusing to leave his 
 ship, "he mounted upon the hig!iest deck, where 
 he attended imminent danger and unavoidable, 
 how l^ng I leave to God, who withdraweth 
 not His comfort from his servants at such 
 times." 
 
 Sir Humphrey had a prosperous voyage to 
 Newfoundland, of which country he took pos- 
 session in the name of his queen ; and, having 
 remained there some time, bethought himself of 
 visiting Sable Island, and restocking his de- 
 pleted larder before taking up the long voyage 
 back across the Atlantic. The story of what 
 followed was told by Edward Hays, captain of 
 the sole surviving vessel; and I cannot do better 
 than transcribe it as it has been preserved for 
 
22G 
 
 77/ a; nOMANCE OF (OMMKlif'E. 
 
 -I 
 
 •^ 
 
 h: ! 
 
 ! ■ ) 
 
 1 ' ' 
 
 m 
 
 i" ! 
 
 m 
 
 us by Hakluyt in liis Voyan-cs, my quotations, 
 Avith those alrejuh' given, being taken from a 
 bewildering blaek-letter edition bearing date in 
 1583 : — 
 
 *" Sabla lieth to the seaward of Cape Breton, 
 about fort3'-five degrees, wliither we were deter- 
 mined to go upon intelligence we had of a 
 Portingall during our abode in St. Johns, who 
 was also himself present when the Portingalls 
 about tliirty years past did put into the same 
 Island both neat and swine to breed, wliich 
 were since exceedingly nuiltiplied. The dis- 
 tance between Ca^ie Race and Capo Breton is 
 one hundred leagues, in wnich navigation we 
 spent eight days. Having the wind many 
 times indifferent good, but could never obtain 
 sight of aTiy hind all that time, seeing we were 
 liindered b}' the current. At last we fell into 
 such flats and dangers that hardly any of us 
 escaped. Where nevertheless we lost our Ad- 
 miral (the name of one of the ships), with all 
 the men and provisions. 
 
 " Contrary to the mind of e:.pert Master 
 Cox on Wednesday, 27th August we bore up 
 toward the land, those in the doomed ship con- 
 tinually sounding trumpets and guns, w4ile 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 227 
 
 strange voicos fioiii the deep scared the helms- 
 man from his post on board tlie Frigate. 
 
 "Thursday the 28lh the wind arose and blew 
 vehemently from liie South and East, bringing 
 withal rain and thick mist that we could not 
 see a cable lengtli before us. And betimes we 
 were run and foulded amongst flats and sands, 
 amongst which we found Hats and deeps every 
 three or four ships lengths. Immediately to- 
 kens were given to the Admiral to cast about 
 to seaward which being the greater ship was 
 performost upon the beach. Keeping so ill a 
 watcli they knew not the danger before they 
 felt the same t«.o late to recover, for presently 
 the Admiral struck aground, and had soon her 
 stern and hinder parts beaten in pieces. The 
 remaining two vessels escaped by casting about 
 E. S- E. bearing to the South for their lives, 
 even in tlie wind's eye. Sounding one while 
 seven fathoms, then five, then four fathoms and 
 less, again deeper, then immediately four, then 
 three fathoms, the sea going mightily and 
 high ; " as accurate a description of beating 
 over the north-east bar as if it had been writ- 
 ten only yesterday. 
 
 Thus the disaster-darkened record begins 
 

 
 22H 
 
 Till': lioMAM'i': or commehck. 
 
 iiji 
 
 wiili ;i liolociiust of OIK! lniiidrcd nion, with 
 wlioiu wtMit down tin; nuiii of scicnco, iho iiuiii 
 of U'ttcis jiiul most nirc })ni't of our tinio, jiiid 
 the iiian of honor, diiiiui; di'iUli iiitlicr lliiiii 
 (U'sert his post; Jiiid nil told, as Dr. IJcriiard 
 (Jilpin ii'ina^ks in lii.s cntortainiiij.^ little paiii- 
 phh't, ill that racy stylo only au eye-witness 
 eoiild use, and with an unaiYeeted strain of old- 
 fashioned piety that eonies baek to us over the 
 wide interval of years like the flavor of some 
 rare old wine. 
 
 As for Sir Humphrey himself he did but 
 cseape one danger to fall straightway into an- 
 other ; for a few days after he was caught in 
 II fearful gale on the Grand Banks, and his sole 
 .V iiaining consort carried home the sorrowful 
 news that the heroic admiral hailed them dur- 
 ing the raging storm, " that Heaven was as 
 near by sea as by land," and shortly after 
 standin.g at the helm, sorel}' wounded in his 
 foot, and Bible in hand, went down beneath 
 the relentless waves. 
 
 Fifteen years elapse in barrenness of inci- 
 dent, and then comes one of those stories which, 
 though sober fact, surpass in strangeness the 
 wildest flights of the romance. Champlain, 
 
y1 .V (X ' /;. I .V a II A V K- YA U I). 
 
 
 , with 
 le nuin 
 0, unci 
 r than 
 
 pillU- 
 
 wilnt'ss 
 
 of oUl- 
 
 ivor tbo 
 
 jf some 
 
 [lid but 
 into an- 
 iight in 
 lis sole 
 iTowful 
 em dur- 
 was as 
 y after 
 in his 
 beneath 
 
 of inci- 
 is which, 
 ness the 
 amplahi, 
 
 Lcscarbot, Lc IN'^io Lo Clcn;, and Cliarlovoix 
 have each |)r(;s('rvL'd an indcjxjndiMit account 
 of tho matt(;r; and tlicy tally so clost'ly as 
 to leave not the narrowest erainiy into w]ii(!h 
 "destructive criticism" may fasten its insidi- 
 ous tendrils. In January, 1598, Henry IV. of 
 France, by letters patent, granted to tlu; iMar- 
 (juis de la Koche almost absolnte [)owcr over 
 "the islands and countries of Canada, Sa])lo 
 Island, Newfoundland, and tho adjacent re- 
 gions," to the end that tho })oor benighted sav- 
 ages inhabiting those lands might be Ijrought 
 to a knowledge of tho true (iod, all selfish ideas 
 of national aggrandizement being, of course, 
 piously absent from the royal mind. This Mar- 
 quis de la Roche was no ordinary personage. 
 He had been governor of Morlaix, and president 
 of the Nantes States, and in his youth had 
 served as page before Catherine do' Medici. 
 Yet this expedition was so modest, not to say 
 cheap, in its pro2Jortion and equipment as to 
 seem quite unworthy its ambitious mission or 
 the viceregal rank of its commander. One 
 vessel constituted the fleet, and it so small 
 that, according to a contemporary chronicle, you 
 could wash your hands in the water without 
 
230 
 
 77/7? JIOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 \ 
 
 leaving the deck, while forty out of the sixty 
 men comprising tlie marquis's army of occupa- 
 tion and evangelization were convicts from the 
 royal i)risons. It is just around this quarantine 
 of convicts that the whole interest gathers ; for 
 as the little vessel drew near the New World, 
 the marquis, foreseeing diinger in landing his 
 flock of jail-birds without first having made 
 some 2>J'ovision for their safe keeping, be- 
 thought himself of leaving them upon Sjible 
 Island until he had selected the site of his col- 
 ony, and brought things somewhat into shape. 
 Accordingly, to quote Lescarbot, " ayant la d^- 
 chary^ ses yens et hay ay e.,^^ he proceeded com- 
 posedly on his way. But alas for the vanity of 
 human planning! The gray hunmiocks of Les 
 Sablons had scarce sunk below tlie horizon ere 
 a tempest burst uj)on his ship, which rested not 
 until it had blown the marquis clear back to 
 France again ; and no sooner had he landed 
 than €an enraged creditor cast him into prison, 
 where he languished in utter inability to do 
 anything for the men he had so undesignedly 
 deserted. 
 
 And how fared it with them during the five 
 long years they were left to themselves upon 
 
 llf 
 
 tLijk. 
 
AN OCEAN GliAVE-rARD. 
 
 231 
 
 e sixty 
 occupa- 
 •om tbe 
 irantino 
 lii's ; for 
 World, 
 
 ling his 
 g made 
 ing, be- 
 )n Sable 
 t his col- 
 ^o shape. 
 mt la til- 
 led corn- 
 vanity of 
 vs of Les 
 )rizon ere 
 ested not 
 back to 
 e landed 
 o prison, 
 ty to do 
 esignedly 
 
 the five 
 Ives upon 
 
 this islo of desolation? At first it would seem 
 as if, on being thus released from all restraint, 
 they fonght witli one another like entrapped 
 rats ; for Lescarbot tells that " eea yens ae mutl' 
 nerent^ et se couperent la (jonje Vun et Vautre,^^ 
 Tlien, as the horror of their situation fully 
 dawned upon tliem, they realized that only by 
 harmonious co-operation could any life be pre- 
 served ; better counsels prevailed, and systematic 
 efforts were put forth to secure a maintenance. 
 From the wreck of a Spanish sliip they built 
 themselves huts ; the ocean furnished them with 
 firewood ; the wild cattle with meat ; the seals 
 with clothing ; and with some seeds and farm- 
 ing implements happily included among tlie 
 " bagage " mentioned by Lescarbot, they car- 
 ried on agricultural operations in a sheltered 
 valley by the lakeside, whose tradition remains 
 to this day by the locality being known as the 
 " French Gardens." Moreover, the chase of 
 the black fox, which then abounded, and of 
 the great morse or walrus, enabled them to lay 
 up goodly stores of precious pelts and ivory 
 against the ever-hoped-for day of their redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 Despite these alleviations in the rigor of 
 
am 
 
 f:' 
 
 r 
 
 Ml 
 
 W 
 
 
 ll:^i 
 
 tl ^ 
 
 i f 
 
 "^ I 
 
 232 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 their fate, however, the utter absence of the 
 most necessary comforts and their own evil 
 deeds so reduced their numbers, that when in 
 1603 the king sent a vessel to bring them 
 back, only eleven out of the original forty were 
 found alive. Clad in their self-made sealskin 
 garments, broken, haggard, and unkempt, they 
 were presented before Henry IV.; and their 
 harrowing tale so touched the royal heart that 
 they each received a full pardon for their 
 crimes, and a solatium of fifty golden crowns. 
 The strangest part of the story remains yet to 
 be told. Undeterred by an experience that was 
 surely sufficient to appall the stoutest heart, 
 these Rip Van Winkles of the sea, whose 
 names may still be found on record in the 
 Registres d'Audience du Parliament de Rouen, 
 returned to their place of exile, and drove a 
 thriving trade in furs and ivory with their 
 mother country for many years, until one by 
 one they passed away. 
 
 About a twelvemonth after the convicts' res- 
 cue, the expedition of the Sieur de Monts, 
 which had in view the founding of Port Royal 
 (now Annapolis, Nova Scotia), narrowly es- 
 caped a disastrous ending among the sands of 
 
 i: 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 233 
 
 Sable Island ; and we read in riianiplain's ''Voy- 
 ages " that on the first of May th(iy liad knowl- 
 edffe of " rile de Sable," and ran fjreat risk 
 of being cast ashore there. Tliat, liowever, 
 was only a might-have-been. Wortliy Master 
 John Rose, of Boston, whose ex[)crienee may 
 be found recorded in Winthroj)'' a Journal^ did 
 not fare by any means so well thirty years 
 later, inasmuch as he had knowledge of Sable 
 Island at the cost of his good ship, the Mary 
 Ann Jane. He did not remain long in exile ; 
 for, being a handy man with tools, he built 
 himself a pinnace out of the dSbria of his ves- 
 sel, and thereby succeeded in making liis es- 
 cape. On his return to Boston he gave such 
 glowing accounts of the island's animal wealth, 
 special emphasis being laid upon " more than 
 eight hundred wild cattle, and a great many 
 foxes, many of which were black," that public 
 enterprise was stimulated to the extent of a 
 company being formed to put his discovery to 
 good account. Tliis company went to work so 
 energetically that the Acadian autliorities, to 
 whom the island now belonged, had to issue a 
 proclamation against any more cattle being 
 killed. But the proclamation, being unaccom- 
 
 fi 
 
nl 
 
 234 
 
 THE nOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 I 
 
 panied ])y any show of force, proved no more 
 effectual tluin e.stiina])le Dame Partiiiotoii's en- 
 deavors 1,0 })ush back the Atlantic Ocean ; and 
 not long after its issuance the cattle totally 
 disappeared, leaving the wild horses in undis- 
 puted ])Ossession of the pastures. 
 
 To Winthrop, whose Journal has been al- 
 ready quoted, we are indebted for anotlier item 
 of the island's liistory not elsewhere recorded. 
 He has an entry to the effect that in 1635 
 the English, having returned thither to pursue 
 the chase of the walrus and fox, were much 
 surprised, and no less chagrined, to fuid al- 
 ready in possession some sixteeu Frenchmen, 
 who had evidently been tliere all winter, and 
 had built a little fort. These men were prob- 
 ably employees of the de Kazilly brothers, to 
 whom Sable Island had been granted in that 
 off-liand maimer which distincfuished the French 
 monarchs of that time ; and they had made good 
 use of their opportunities, as their accumula- 
 tions of hides and pelts betokened. On the 
 death of Commander de Razilly, wliich took 
 place in 1G37, the French must have aban- 
 doned the place ; for Winthrop further notes 
 that the New Englanders liad the field all to 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 235 
 
 themselves from 1G39 to 1642; and we may 
 form some idea of the value of this monopoly 
 from liis statement that their last expedition 
 yielded over one thousand five hundred pounds, 
 or more tlian seven thousand dollars. 
 
 From tliat time until the hefrinnincf of the 
 nineteentli century very little is known con- 
 cerninjT Sable Island, save tliat each vear added 
 a darker tinge to its sombre reputation as a 
 naval cemetery. ^More dreadful, however, than 
 the unconscious fury of the storm was the delil> 
 erate wickedness of the demons in human form 
 who now made this peculiarly favorable spot 
 their haunt and hunting-grouiHl. Wreckers, 
 pirates, and vagabonds of like infamous stamp, 
 were attracted thither by the unceasing succes- 
 sion of wrecks, and the absence of all restraint ; 
 and they plied their infernal trade so vigor- 
 ously that the terror of their name spread far 
 and wide. The discretion of dead men to tell 
 no tales can always be trusted ; and so when 
 some rich wreck rejoiced the hearts of these 
 wretches, they made it their care to despatcli 
 all those ill-starred castawavs whom even the 
 raging surf had s[)ared. For a time all went 
 merrily with them, and many an adventurer 
 
.f. ?'' 
 
 ■U'MI- IIII 
 
 ■Mwmn 
 
 II 
 
 23G 
 
 TJIK ROMANCE OF COMMEIiCL, 
 
 if 
 
 Hi 
 
 i! t 
 
 who left his home " under sealed orders " re- 
 turned in a suspiciously short time with well- 
 lined pockets. Rare jewels, costly silks, and 
 other articles of what Magwitch would pro- 
 fessionally designate as " portable propert}-," 
 not guiltless of a sinister connection with Sable 
 Island, found their way surreptitiously into 
 the shops of Halifax and Boston, while blood- 
 chilling tales of horrid deeds done where there 
 was no heart to pity, and no hand to save, 
 became current on the mainland. 
 
 But the most successful of scoundrels event- 
 ually reacli the end of their tether, l\owever 
 supinely their atrocities may be endured for a 
 season. The Nova Scotian Government, too 
 long culpably indifferent, Avas at length goaded 
 into action by the loss of the transport Princess 
 Amelia and the gun-brig Harriet in quick 
 succession. At the suggestion of Sir John 
 Wentworth, an appropriation was made in 1803 
 for the settlement of guardians upon the island. 
 Then a proclamation was issued that all per- 
 sons found residing there without a govern- 
 ment license would be removed, and punished 
 with at least six years' imprisonment; and this 
 proclamation, unlike the one about the cattle. 
 
 % I 
 
 m 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 287 
 
 ?» 
 
 ?-rs " rc- 
 th well- 
 ks, and 
 lid pro- 
 opert}', 
 th Sable 
 sly into 
 c blood- 
 3re there 
 to save, 
 
 ils event- 
 l\owever 
 red for a 
 nent, too 
 I goaded 
 Princess 
 n quick 
 ir Jolm 
 in 1803 
 lie island, 
 all per- 
 govern- 
 punished 
 and this 
 10 cattle, 
 
 being backed up by a show of force, the wreck- 
 ers deemed it expedient to remove tliemselves 
 without standing upon the order of their go- 
 ing. 
 
 With their departure the romance of Sable 
 Island's history ends. From the year 1803, 
 the Imperial and Nova Scotian authorities have 
 maintained a settlement there called the Hu- 
 mane Establishment; and i;-ider its reylme the 
 only breaks in the peaceful monotony of insular 
 existence have been the never-failing wrecks. 
 
 A visit to Sable Island can be made only 
 under certain conditions, and these conditions 
 so infrequently occur that it is no unusual 
 thing for the passage there to be taken in vain. 
 It lies due east from Nova Scotia, at a distance 
 of about eighty-five miles, between the forty- 
 third and forty-fourth degrees of north lati- 
 tude, and the fifty-ninth of west longitude. 
 To one approaching froai the north, the island 
 appears to be a succession of low sand-hills, 
 thinly patched with struggling vegetation, hav- 
 ing at the west end an elevation of some 
 twenty feet, then gradually rising as you go 
 eastward until they attain the height of eighty 
 feet near the East End light, beyond which 
 
li 
 
 238 
 
 THE llOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 li ': 
 
 • i 
 
 [.; 
 
 they slope away again until they merge into 
 the north-east bar. Its general shape is that 
 of a long., narrow crescent, measuring twenty- 
 two miles from tip to tip, and one mile in 
 breadth at its best. The time was, as will be 
 presently shown, when these measurements 
 might easily have been doubled ; but now each 
 succeeding year finds them surely, steadily 
 decreasing. 
 
 Perplexing as are the currents, and bewilder- 
 ing the fogs, that beset the island, they are 
 not by any means its worst feature. Far more 
 fruitful of harm are the entangling shallows, 
 which spread out so widely that for many a 
 mile beyond the point where sea and sand 
 meet and mingle there is not water enough 
 to float a small schooner. Thus at the north- 
 east end on a windy day, there may be seen 
 some nine miles of roaring breakers before a 
 depth of six fathoms is reached, and then four 
 miles more of heavy cross-seas leading out to 
 a depth of from ten to thirteen fathoms. At 
 the north-west end the bar extends seaward 
 nearly seventeen miles after the same fashion, 
 before the water is really deep. So that tak- 
 ing the length of the island and its bars to- 
 
 ^i; i 
 
 M-,. r:' I 
 
AN OCEAN aiiAVK-VAIil). 
 
 230 
 
 getlier, the scene presented in stormy weather 
 is magiiilicent and awe-inspiring beyond all 
 possible power of description, when in continu- 
 ons line for over lifty miles tlie raging waves 
 of the sea, rolling in unchecked from vast 
 ocean spaces, foam out their fury upon the 
 sand-banks, which seem to quake and quiver 
 beneath their overwhelming onset. 
 
 The conditions which have been hinted at as 
 prerequisite to effecting a landing upon Sable 
 Island are that the day be line and the wind 
 securely settled in the south. The only good 
 landing-place is on the north side; and even 
 there the government steamer, which forms the 
 sole connecting link between the island and the 
 outside world, can come no closer than a mile, 
 and must keep a vigilant lookout, so that, on 
 the first sign of a change in the wind, she may 
 weigh anchor and make an offing without delay. 
 
 Let us suppose that the halcyon days of July 
 have come, and that we have obtained permis- 
 sion to accompany the Newfield upon one of 
 her regular supply tri^^s. The midsummer 
 night passes quickly. Our ninety miles of 
 open sea are soon accomplished ; and, as the 
 morning sun climbs grandly upward from his 
 

 'i 
 
 240 
 
 THE nOMANCE OF COMMEliCE. 
 
 Ms 
 
 W< • 
 
 U 
 
 ■h 
 
 bed among the eastern waves, his ricli rvA rays 
 crimson the creamy froth that fringes all tlie 
 shore. We are in lunk to-day ; for old ocean is 
 at peace with himself, and the south wind 
 blows softly. How rare this is may be im- 
 agined f'o n to liiLiP,, in the supe:intendent's 
 journal, — o^ie to U effect that there liad not 
 been five fine days in ; "ir months; the other, 
 that the steamer was eight days in trying to 
 effect a landing. Fine though the day be, how- 
 ever, to get safely ashore is no easy matter ; for 
 the long ocean rollers are tumbling in upon 
 the beach with tireless energy, and no ordinary 
 boat may run their gantlet with impunity. But 
 there is due provision uvuXq for this. Hardly 
 has the steamer come to anchor when the beach 
 is dotted with men and horses ; one of the broad- 
 beamed, high-stemmed surf-boats peculiar to the 
 island is rapidly drawn on its wide-wheeled cart 
 to the water's edge, and after gallantly breast- 
 ing the breakers, comes swiftly toward us. 
 S-,on it is alongside, and the crew grasp eager- 
 ly at the mail-bags, whose contents will tell 
 them what their friends and the rest of the 
 world have been doing since the steamer's last 
 visit. 
 
 ih' 
 
AN O^EAN aUAVE-YAIin. 
 
 241 
 
 We arc to n;tuni wHli ilium: and it will bo a 
 wise precaution to don onr \vater[)i()of.s and wear 
 our closest-litting c.ips, for there arc some 
 marine gymnni;ucs before us, whicli may not 
 iniT) )baoiy result in our undergoing an invol- 
 untary l)ai)tism that would content tlie most 
 rigid immersionist ere reaching the land. 
 Seated in the stern sheets, we look forwa* to 
 the nearing surf with an anxiety whicli cv .i 
 the encouragement given by sleek, shinir. •; . ealij 
 bobbing up serenely all about our boat, .is :■; in 
 cheery welcome, does not altogether all* ;. The 
 crew bend lustily to their oars, and the helms- 
 man, standing high in the pointed stern, with 
 loud command and brawny arm keeps the 
 great boat true in her proper course, let the 
 billows buffet her never so roughly, until, rid- 
 ing triumphantly upon the back of a huge 
 comber, she is carried far up the beach, and 
 stranded amid a mass of seething waters. To 
 spring from their seats and hold hard the boat, 
 lest it be swept back by the receding wave, is 
 the work of a moment for the dripping oarsmen ; 
 and then another foaming breaker, supple- 
 mented by a vigorous shove from their stalwart 
 arms, sends their unwieldy craft up high and 
 
m 
 I 
 
 ■' nth 
 ■I* 
 
 242 
 
 THE nOMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 1 
 
 Hi' 
 
 I? 
 
 !| 
 
 ii 
 
 ■i 
 
 :r| 
 
 
 .t ■- 
 
 
 i;, 
 
 ■| 
 
 fid- 
 
 dly, and tliG spray -SI laslietl passengers can step 
 out upon terra firina. 
 
 The yielding sands do not make easy walk- 
 ing; and we plod slowly up the slight ascent 
 until, going through a short passage between 
 two hummocks, wo suddenly emerge upon a 
 scene so utterly different from whfit has hitherto 
 met our gaze that we are fain to wonder for a 
 moment if it may not possibly be a mirage or 
 ocular delusion of some sort. Before us lies a 
 broad valley, completely shut in from the sea 
 by hills, which rise to right and left, and wave 
 with a wealth of vegetation that is inexpres- 
 sibly refreshing to eyes already wearied with 
 the monotony of sand and sea. Ranged in an 
 irregular square stand the buildings of the 
 main station, — the superintendent's spacious 
 dwelling, where a warm welcome always awaits 
 the newcomer, be he casual visitor or cast- 
 away, flanked by quarters of the staff, boat- 
 houses, stores, and other out-buildings, while 
 well-filled barns and well-stocked barnyards 
 lend an air of substantial comfort to the 
 whole picture. 
 
 After exchanging greetings with the super- 
 intendent and his staff, who, delighted with 
 
 
^iV OCEAN anAVK-VAIlD. 
 
 243 
 
 this pleasant break in the monotony of their 
 lives, crowd about us, eager for the latest news, 
 our first thought is to clunb the big flag-staff, 
 and view the landscape from tlic crow's-nest 
 perched perilously on high. The ascent accom- 
 plished, a wonderful panorama lies outspread 
 before us, which has been already so well de- 
 scribed by Dr. Gilpin that I will adopt his 
 picturesque paragraphs. From beneath our 
 feet the narrow island stretches east and west 
 its bow-like form, holding a shallow lagoon, 
 some eight miles long, in its centre, and pre- 
 senting many an effective contrast of sandy 
 upland and grassy meadow, bare, bleak beach 
 and richly flowered nook, where fairies might 
 hold their midnight revels. From the fore- 
 ground, with its group of buildings, the eye 
 roams over to the West End lighthouse, whence 
 the men are now hurrying, pony-back, at the 
 summons of the flag announcing the steamer's 
 arrival. Every sandy peak or verdurous knoll 
 bears some sad tradition. Baker's Hill, Trot's 
 Cove, Scotchman's Head, French Gardens — so 
 many silent records of human suffering. Then 
 turning eastward, we see the little burying- 
 ground nestling in the deep, rich grass, and 
 
'W 
 
 m^ 
 
 III 
 
 'jiff' 
 
 ,.i 
 
 •I.I 
 
 244 
 
 rilK nOMASCE OF L'OMMintiJK. 
 
 consocratt'd to tlie last sleep of many a victim 
 to the ocean's wrath. Nine miles farther down 
 a telescope makes plain the llug-staff at the 
 foot of the lake ; and five miles beyon .1 that 
 the East End light, with its attendan" build- 
 ings. Herds of wild ponies, jealously guarded 
 by shaggy stallions, graze upon the hillsides, 
 black duck and sheldrake in tempting flocks 
 paddle about the innumerable ponds, while 
 sea-birds fill the air with their harsh clatter; 
 and whole regiments of seals bask in snug 
 content along the sunny beach. Here and 
 there the bleaching ribs of naval skeletons 
 protrude half-buried from the sand ; and the 
 whole picture is set in a silver-frosted frame 
 of seething surf. 
 
 It does not take many hours to exhaust the 
 sights of Sable Island ; but many long nights 
 might be spent around the superintendent's 
 fireside, ere the stories and legends he and liis 
 men delight in telling would be one-half ex- 
 hausted. For every foot of the island is 
 haunted ground; and the station-dwellings are 
 rich in relics, each one having its own connec- 
 tion with a shadowy and sorrowful past. The 
 supernatural, of course, plays a leading part 
 
AN OCEAN aUAVE-YAHl). 
 
 24r) 
 
 iclini 
 
 down 
 
 it tlio 
 
 [ tluit 
 
 builtl- 
 
 lartlecl 
 
 Isitlcs, 
 
 flocks 
 
 ^vhilo 
 latter ; 
 \ siuig 
 re and 
 eletons 
 ,nd tlio 
 
 frame 
 
 ist the 
 niglits 
 ndent's 
 md his 
 lalf ex- 
 land is 
 igs are 
 jonnec- 
 The 
 ig part 
 
 in these rohitions ; and if one; be hut creduh)ns 
 enougli, tliey may liave their faith in gliosts 
 revisiting the glimpses of the moon greatly 
 strengthened hy the legends of I)e Lery's heroic 
 friar or King Charles's remorseful regicide, of 
 the Pale Lady with the liloody Finger, and a 
 score of others which cast an eerie halo round 
 this weird spot. 
 
 Since the founding of the Humane Estab- 
 lishment, in 1802, a wreck register has been 
 carefully kept; and on its pages may be read 
 to-divy the names of nearly two hundred vessels 
 that have come to their undoing on these fatal 
 sands. Once entangled amid the shallows, 
 once stranded upon the bars, and it is all 
 over with the hapless craft, whether she be 
 stately frigate, speedy steamer, clipper ship, 
 or humble fisher's boat. ^Ir. Simon D. Mac- 
 donald, F.G.S., of Halifax, N.S., sometime ago 
 prepared with great skill and care a most in- 
 teresting chart of Sable Island, indicating so 
 far as possible the exact locality and date of 
 each disastei . as well as the character of the 
 vessel wrecked ; and, looking at this chart, the 
 island is seen to be completely encircled by 
 these grim proofs of its destructive powers. 
 
( 
 
 I 
 
 , -I 
 
 i I 
 
 '' ) 
 
 m 
 
 '' 
 
 J' 
 
 1 
 
 'i^- 
 
 "jh 
 
 
 24G 
 
 TIIK nOMANCi: OF COMMEIiCE. 
 
 A liiisty glance at sonic of tlie more recent 
 wrecks will lend emphasis to the stor}^ told hy 
 the chart. In the year 1863 the fine steamer 
 Georgia ended her career on the western bar, 
 fortunately, however, without loss of life; and 
 tliree years later the steamship Ephesus met 
 with a like experience near the same spot, 
 there being little or no salvage in either case. 
 At tlie wreck of the schooner Ocean Traveller, 
 in 1870, all the nine men composing lier crew 
 were lost. So was it with the Zephyr in 1873 ; 
 and when the Portuguese Farto went to pieces, 
 in 1875, the captain and two sailors perished. 
 Then, in 187G, the American schooner Reeves 
 found a grave, not only for herself, but for 
 every one on board ; and in 1879 nine passengers 
 were carried away by the billows at the strand- 
 ing of the State of Virginia. The year 1882 
 was marked by the destruction of two Norwe- 
 gian barkd, with a loss of life in each case; 1883 
 by the wreck of the bark Britannia, and the loss 
 of thirteen lives ; and 1884 by that of the splen- 
 did steamship Amsterdam, when three of tlie 
 passengers paid the forfeit. This last disaster 
 attracted a good deal of attention throughout 
 the United States because of some grossly ex- 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 247 
 
 aggerated reports which were put in circulation 
 as to the brutal treatment alleged to have been 
 received by the unfortunate castaways at the 
 hands of the staff; the simple truth being that 
 a couple of the boat's crew got intoxicated with 
 wine wliich had been saved from the wreck, 
 and conducted themselves in such a manner 
 as to frighten some of the women and children, 
 for which offence they were severely punished 
 by the superintendent. 
 
 It need hardly be said that even the tremen- 
 dous total of recorded wrecks falls short of 
 representing the whole truth. On the con- 
 trary, for every wreck tliat is recorded, at least 
 one other never to be known may be safely 
 added. After many a storm do the waves cast 
 up at the patrolman's feet the evidence of some 
 fresh disaster, — a shattered spar, an empty hen- 
 coop, a fragment of cabin furniture, or per- 
 chance a bruised and battered corpse. And 
 then, alas! there nuist be added tlie dread work 
 done by tlie distant bars, from wliicli not even 
 sucli pathetic tokens as these find tlieir way 
 ashore. The foUowing brief account of a disas- 
 ter that occurred in December, 1884, will servo 
 to convey some idea of wliat it means to bo 
 wrecked on Sable Island : — 
 
248 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 The A. S. IT. was a French biigantine en 
 route from St. Pierre to Boston with a cargo 
 of fish. Toward evening of Dec. 19 she was 
 caught in a violent snowstorm, and liurled 
 upon the west-end bar, beginning to })reak up 
 ahnost immediately. Slie liad a crew of seven 
 men on board. The thermometer stood at 
 twelve degrees below zero, and the sufferings of 
 the uidi[ippy men were so tei'rible that death 
 assumed the gui.>e of a welcome relief. Three 
 were washed overboard when the ship struck; 
 and althouoh the water was strewn with float- 
 ing dehrls^ they made no effort to prolong their 
 lives. I'he stewaid, frenzied with friglit and 
 ])ain, ran to his berth, seized a razor, cut his 
 throat from ear to ear, and then leaped into 
 the boiling surf. Tlie captain, the mate, and 
 the remaining sailor succeeded in reaching 
 the shore on a spar; ])ut they only escaped the 
 terrors of the deep to encounter the still more 
 fearful terror of the frost-king. They could 
 just discern through the blinding snow a faint 
 Ldimmer from the lic]fhthouse, three loner miles 
 away, and they set out toward it. The sand 
 was beinir driven with tremendous force before 
 the gale, and the grains dashed against the 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-YARD. 
 
 249 
 
 ine en 
 . cargo 
 lie was 
 hurled 
 cak up 
 [ seveu 
 :oocl at 
 lings of 
 t death 
 
 Three 
 struck ; 
 til float- 
 iior their 
 rht and 
 cut his 
 l)ed into 
 ite, and 
 
 caching 
 Lped the 
 ill ni(M-e 
 
 y 
 
 cou 
 
 1,1 
 
 Iff ui 
 
 faint 
 iles 
 
 Ihe sand 
 he fore 
 
 n 
 
 st tl 
 
 le 
 
 faces of the half-frozen men like tiny hail- 
 stones. At length the captain could liold out 
 no longer, and lying down, was speedily frozen 
 to death. A little farther on tl<o sailor, too, 
 succunihed. Left alone in the struggle with 
 death, the mate, fortunately a man of unusual 
 strength, pushed desperately forward. Becom- 
 ing too weak to stand upright, he took to his 
 hands and knees, and in this fashion, after six 
 liours of suffering such as human heings rarely 
 endure, reached the lighthouse at two o'clock 
 in the morning, so hruised, bleeding, and frost- 
 bitten that for a time liis life hung trembling 
 in the ])alance. 
 
 Another and much earlier wreck deserves at- 
 tention because of its ])earing upon a problem 
 now dee[)ly interesting to seafarers tlie world 
 over. It liappened in IHl*), und Superinten- 
 dent I)arl)y is our authority. A wild gale had 
 suddenly spiuiig up, and lie and his men were 
 patrolliiig the Ix-ach, when they descried a large 
 schooner runniii'jf riudit down before the s(orm, 
 dead onto tlie lee shore. 'J'he sea was break- 
 ing everywhere as far as the eye (!o\dd n-aeh, 
 and it seemed impossible for any vessel to live 
 in it for a moment; yet on the schooner (;amo» 
 

 i 
 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 ( 
 ( 
 
 H ^ 
 
 \> ^ 
 N 
 
 250 
 
 T/r^ nOMANCK OF COMMERCE. 
 
 j)assiiig l)ro{il\or aftor hroalcor niiinjun'd, ilio 
 cxtraonliiiarv tliinjr luMijjr tlmt, mIiIioujt^Ii tlio 
 liUL'"*' wavos raised ilicir cuiUmI licads almost 
 to tlu5 t(>[>s of luM* masts, and tlic fall of any 
 of tliom upon lior dock woulil liavo crushod licr 
 likt; an (^^ti^slicll, not one scuMncd pcM'mittcd to 
 touch her. On tl»c t'ontrary, {is if by miracle, 
 the sea became smooth ere it reached her, and 
 she left a shininu; (rack behind. After some 
 minutes of thrilliiiijf suspense she was hurled 
 high and dry U[)on the beach, and every one 
 of her crew rescued, uninjured. 
 
 Then came the exj)lanation of the strange 
 plienomenon which had so mystified Superin- 
 tendent Oarby. Two large casks filled with 
 llsh-oil ha(^. been lashed in the fore-rigging, and, 
 securely lashed beside them, two of the strong- 
 est sailors in the crew, with long wooden la- 
 dles in haiul, had been throwing the oil liigh up 
 in the air, where it was caught by the wind, and 
 carried far to leeward in advance of the vessel, 
 spreading over the sea witli such effect that, 
 while it was raging, pitching, and breaking all 
 about her, not a drop of w'ater fell u})on the 
 Arno's deck. I believe this may with safety be 
 chiim ■<! as one of the earliest recorded instances 
 
A N OCKA N a liAV K- YA li IK 
 
 251 
 
 ul, tlio 
 
 Ijrll tllC 
 
 ulniost 
 of any 
 hod licr 
 ittcd lo 
 miracle, 
 lier, and 
 Br sonio 
 Inirled 
 cry ono 
 
 stranj^e 
 SuiuM-in- 
 ed with 
 ncf, and, 
 strong- 
 odon la- 
 liigh up 
 ind, and 
 e vessel, 
 ct that, 
 king all 
 pon the 
 iifety be 
 nstances 
 
 nf tlie practical appli(!ati()n of oil to the troubled 
 waters. 
 
 Ill order to give succor to tluj shipwrecked, 
 and sav(! such of their ])roperty as might not be 
 (hislroycd, as w(!ll as to pr(!vcnt, so far as pos- 
 sil)lc, the occnrrcncc of losses, the (Canadian 
 (lovernuicnt maintains two fine lighthouse's and 
 a fully equipjxMl life-saving station at Sable Is- 
 land. The iirst st(;p in this direction was taken 
 by the Province of Nova Scotia, as far back as 
 1802, voting two thousand dollars a year for 
 tlte purpose. Little, of course, could be done 
 upon so small a sum ; but in 1827 the Imperial 
 government came to its aid with a like annual 
 anu)unt, which is regularly paid to the present 
 day. Upon the eonfederiition of the Provinces 
 in 18(j7, the care of the island fell into the 
 hands of the Federal government, and since 
 then Imndreds of thousands of dollars ive 
 been spent upon it. A staff of from eig cen 
 to twenty men is steadily maintained then ; two 
 life-boats built after the most approved i ishion 
 of the Royal National Life-boat Institut ■;, and 
 a largo despatch-boat, have been lately added; 
 the men are drilled regularly in the ni.'inage- 
 ment of the life-boats and of the rocket 
 
2r)2 Till': liOMASCK OF i'OMMKIiiJh:. 
 
 MpHMialus: ;ni(l coinpldt* Iclcphoiu* ronn(vti<>ii 
 hctwiMMi lln» li^lilliouscs aiul \\n\ dilYcrnil, sta- 
 tions lias luMMJ «'stal)lisluMl, wliiK; a trU'Ljrapli- 
 rahlf to tlio luainlaiid is coiitdiiplatod in tluv 
 in'ar future, — so tliat. Sal)l(5 Island is now a, 
 lil\>-savi!ii;C station, wlioso iMpiipnuMils and capa- 
 l)ilitirs cannot, 1)0 oxccUcd along tlie onliro At- 
 lantic coast. 
 
 Iflil 
 
 A very rrninrlsablc feature of Sable Island, 
 and one ulucli surpasses all others in interest 
 an.l iinpttrtance in the eyes of naviirators, yet 
 awaits imiice; to wit. ti>e startlinjjf and sitjnili- 
 cant liiar.ges \\ ich haye taken plac(» in its si/e 
 and position since tiist it became the subject 
 
 o 
 
 f su 
 
 I'yeys ant 
 
 I of 
 
 d 
 
 n'trular observjit ions. 
 
 Ml 
 
 Macdonald, to whoso wreck chart I haye al- 
 ready referred, has made a very thoroui^h study 
 of this subject; and I am indebted to him for 
 many of the followinir facts. On the earliest 
 charts of the island, ^yhich \yore compiled from 
 French sources, it was laid down as beiuir forty 
 miles in liMicfth and two and one-fourth in 
 breadth. In ITTt) a special survey ^vas made 
 under Admiralty instructions, and the len«^th 
 found to be only thirty-one miles and the 
 
AN OCEAN aUAVE-YAUJ). 
 
 or.o 
 
 tion 
 
 sta- 
 111 )1«- 
 1 the 
 )\v a 
 capa- 
 Ai- 
 
 rland, 
 to rest 
 s, yoV 
 
 [8 size 
 ubji'ot 
 INlr. 
 vo al- 
 stiuly 
 im f»>v 
 arliest 
 (I from 
 
 \r foltV 
 
 itb in 
 
 leiitrtli 
 ul tbo 
 
 bicadlli two iiiiloH, wliiln llic wost v\n\ was 
 placiMl twoiity-two luihis lartlicr oast. lM>rty- 
 Iwo y«>ai"s \\iivv :i srcdiid survrv was iiiiuh; by 
 liicutciiaiit ntirlon ; and )iis n^port took a iiiilu 
 away IVojii tiai l(!ii^th, and Kft i\n' brradth tlio 
 sanir. Anollicr intcjival of f(uly-tw») y(!ai"s 
 passcil, and tlio Admiralty antlioiitios, liavinj^ 
 liad tlioir attention (Mllcd lo tin; rvidcnt inaccu- 
 rat;y of their charts, had anotlier survey iiia«h;, 
 wliieli ix'sult mI ill a still furtlua* rtMluction of 
 the island's un-a, while the west end was placed 
 two miles more to the (jastwaid. Little more 
 than thirty y«;ars havo elapse(l sir; ;; then ; and 
 yet acuiordin^ to the last Admirjiiiy survey, 
 executed some years at^o, the tot;il lenj^th i.s 
 as we have alrtsady seen, only twenty-two miles 
 at hest, while the breadth has shrunk into a 
 sini^le mile. 
 
 Surj>risin^, in fa(;t almost incredil)le, sus these 
 
 (tlianj^es may apjuNir, tliey an 
 
 ir, th 
 
 fully I 
 
 )roven h) 
 
 the evidoneo of those whose; ri^dit to speak is 
 based upon personal observation. VVHien seek- 
 inip a site for the main station in 1802, a 
 well-shelter(;(l position was chosen amon<( the 
 sand-hills live miles distant from the west end. 
 Yet in 1S14 the su[)erintendcnt was compelled 
 
254 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEliCK. 
 
 m 
 
 i>i 
 
 11:! 
 
 8 :Si'!| 
 
 ij .1 
 
 to move three miles farther east, as witliin the 
 four preceding years no less than four miles 
 have gone entirely from the west end, wliile 
 on the north side an area equal to forty feet 
 wide and three miles long had been earried 
 away during a single gale. In 1820 another 
 y^ove, this time four more miles eastward, was 
 necessitated. Still the sea steadily advanced, 
 as if determined not to be balked of its prey. 
 The two following winters brought with them 
 frequent storms, which wrought fearful liavoc 
 along the western shore, toppling great sand- 
 hills into the surf, as well as altering the sur- 
 face in the interior, thousands of tons of sand 
 being carried from the beach and strewn over 
 the inland valleys, smothering vegetation, so 
 that hundreds of ponies died for want of food. 
 In 18.^3 ihe old stations were abandoned, and 
 new buildings erected on the broadest and most 
 sheltered i)ortion of the island, where they 
 still stand in comparative safety.. 
 
 The old dwelling of the superintendent was 
 then earried yet another four miles towards the 
 east, and subsequently two miles more, where, 
 strange to say, it escaped the insatiable maw 
 of the sea only to fall a victim to the sand. 
 
 N. 
 
AN OCEAN GRAVE-YAliD. 
 
 
 Gnuhially tho piles stole away the hummocks 
 
 ill seemiiiLT safety- 
 
 iindi 
 
 er wliost; lee it nes 
 
 Uled 
 
 Left to the rake of the winds, sand-laden 
 eddies swirled wit^kedly a))<»ut it. Slowly yet 
 
 d 
 
 fi 
 
 til 
 
 surely a inouFid arose, ereepniL,^ up liom tlir(.'sn- 
 old to lintel, from lloor to peak, uiilil at lemj^th 
 the house wholly disappeariMl, and tlu; surfaee 
 levelled out innocinitly ahove it, leaviiij^^ no 
 mark to indi(;ate tlui spot of its sepulture. 
 
 For some years Sahle Island enjoyed com- 
 jjarative repose, and then tlie work of destruc- 
 tion he'ofan anew, with a vi-j'or that soon made 
 auuMids for the h)st time. 'JMie winter of l(SSt 
 did tremendous <lamaL;;e. In addition to tlie 
 j^radual work of erosion, qreat areas wen; le- 
 moved at once. I)urin<^^ one ^^'lle seventy fecit 
 by one-fourth of a mile departe<l hodily. A 
 month later thirty feet of the whole breadth of 
 tlie island at the west vanishe(l in a few hours. 
 The winter of 1882 was even woise, and was 
 distiufjuished by tlu; destruction w roULrht amono" 
 the buildings, includiiiL^ tlie West Knd liLij-ht- 
 house, a splendid structure nearly out; hun- 
 dred feet hig-h, originally erected a whole mile 
 within the grass hills, on wliat was thought a 
 })erfectly secure site. There was scarcely tiiiu! 
 
If 
 
 ■I! 
 
 250 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMEIiCE, 
 
 '[? fl 
 
 ! • .i 
 
 ( : 
 
 to take it ImrritMlly to piuccs cro tlio fouiwlatioii 
 iil)on whicli it stood, hopclussly iiiuluiiniiiod, 
 toppled over into tlio sea. 
 
 The liistory of the lake, wliicli lias lu-tMi 
 mentioned as oeeupyin^^ a part of tlio centre 
 of the island, fnrnislu.'s ecpially strikinLj evi- 
 deneo of the vicnssitndes this nineli-enduiinj' 
 spot has nndeigoni!. When (hst known, tliis 
 lake had an opeiiln^^ on the north side, wldeh 
 was afterwards closed. A few years later, 
 during a terrifit; storm, the se:i forced a channel 
 throuj^di the lake's niari^in, rendering it a con- 
 venicMit harl)or for small vessels. JUit in IHJJI) 
 a similar tempest (dosed it again, at the same 
 time im[)iisoniMg two American schooners that 
 had run in ihvAv for shelter. (iradnally it 
 l)ecame very shoal fi-om tlie washing down 
 of the surrounding cliffs. Then, during the 
 winter of 1881, a gah.' opened a gulch toward 
 the east end, whitdi so drained the lake that 
 it shrank to some eight miles in length, where 
 it remains. The lake margin forming the 
 south shore was at one time half a mile hroad 
 and fifty feet higli. To-day it is merely a 
 narrow ridge forming a precarious sea-wall, 
 over which the waves break in stormy weather. 
 
A .V (K'K. 1 y ci:. I VE- YA i:i). 
 
 '2iu 
 
 luliition 
 
 XS 1)0011 
 
 I eeiitro 
 iti«^ i;vi- 
 ii(luiiiig 
 vii, tliis 
 3, >vliii;h 
 s liiter, 
 chiiiiiit'l 
 it II con- 
 ill 1830 
 ho same 
 IS tliat 
 ually it 
 c^ lUnvii 
 ng the 
 to\vai<l 
 ike that 
 , where 
 ng the 
 e hioad 
 oielv a 
 i;ji-\vall, 
 .veather. 
 
 Shonhl tliis hairirr 1k> rcniovod, tlie demolition 
 of the island will jnoeeiMl with such inereast.'d 
 ii4>idity that the «ud may he approximately 
 predicted. 
 
 During storms, in addition to the action of 
 
 ^\ 
 
 aves and currents, the winds ravacre tl 
 
 10 
 
 island's siirfaco on their own account. Finding 
 a raw spot, that is, where there is no protecting 
 skin of sod, the eddying swirls scoop out tlio 
 loose sand and carry it olT with them; so that 
 around the stations tlie utmost vigilance is 
 ever exercised to discover tlie first hri^ak in 
 the sod, and patch it ciirefully hefore headway 
 lias hecn Ljaiiud, otherwise the suhstantial 
 i)uildings wouhl soon go tottering from their 
 foundations. 
 
 To sum up the whole matter in a sentence, 
 Sahle Island is heing submerged, and is trav- 
 elling eastward at such a rate that any chart of 
 it, to be accurate, would need to be corrected 
 every few years. It is safc^ to say that the latest 
 chart ol)tainal)l(! by mariners is some miles at 
 least out of tlie wav. Since the beixiniiiiifr of 
 the present century the island has decreased in 
 length from forty miles to twenty-two ; in 
 breadth from two and one-fourth to something 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-S) 
 
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 ^^-^ 4^,< 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 150 
 
 Hi 12.2 
 
 us 
 
 1.1 l.-^isa 
 
 1.8 
 
 
 111.25 
 
 1.4 
 
 J4 
 
 
 1* 6" — 
 
 
 » 
 
 V] 
 
 v^ 
 
 
 
 >*^/ 
 
 # 
 
 °>;> 
 
 /^ 
 
 y 
 
 Hiotogr^hic 
 
 Sdaices 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
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 ,.<i' 
 
 'A^ 
 
 <*■ 4 
 
 ^Se ^^fc* 
 
 
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258 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF COMMERCE. 
 
 IMl 
 
 less than one ; in height from two hundred feet 
 to eighty ; wliile tliere has been a variation in 
 the position of tlie west ejid of not less tlian 
 twenty-five miles. With such startling figures 
 as these before us, it is not difficult to forecast 
 its future. Slowly perhaps, yet none the less 
 surely, and defying all attempts or devices of 
 feeble man to stay its advance, the time is com- 
 ing when the victorious waves will fling their 
 triunn)hant spray high over the last vestige of 
 dry land, and the lights of Sable Island will no 
 longer send tlieir warning gleams across the 
 fatal sands, tiiat will then far more than ever 
 merit the sorrow-laden title of '* An Ocean 
 Graveyard." 
 
 I' ' ! 
 
 ; ' I 
 
 m 
 
 i I 
 
 1 ■ I! 
 
CE. 
 
 mdred feet 
 ariation in 
 t less than 
 iiig figures 
 to forecast 
 le the less 
 devices of 
 me is coin- 
 fling their 
 vestige of 
 md will no 
 across the 
 than ever 
 A.n Ocean