were always drawn up with the strictest regard to details, and show not only how thoroughly he had mastered the subject before him, but also how much importance he attached to the conscientious fulfillment of a well-digested plan of operations.  He recognized no such thing as luck.  Every thing with him was the result of a deliberate plan based upon knowledge.  In this respect his career affords one of the best models to be found in our history.

[Illustration:  Astor’s first trip for furs.]

Astor’s employer was not insensible to his merits, and soon promoted him to a better place.  In a little while the latter intrusted him with the buying of the furs from the men who brought them to the store, and he gave such satisfaction to his employer that he was rewarded with a still more confidential post.  Montreal was at that time the chief fur depot of the country, and it was the custom of Mr. Bowne to make an annual journey to that city for the purpose of replenishing his stock.  The journey was long and fatiguing, and as soon as the old gentleman found that he could intrust the mission to his clerk, he sent him in his place.  Ascending the Hudson to Albany, Astor, with a pack on his back, struck out across the country, which was then almost unsettled, to Lake George, up which he passed into Lake Champlain.  Sailing to the head of the lake, he made his way to Montreal.  Then returning in the same way, he employed Indians to transport his furs from Lake George to Albany, and dropped down the Hudson in the way he had come.  Mr. Bowne was delighted with the success of his clerk, who proved more than a match for the shrewd Indians in his bargains.  It was doubtless here that Mr. Astor obtained that facility in “driving a hard bargain” for which he was afterwards noted.

As soon as Mr. Astor felt himself master of his business, he left the employ of Mr. Bowne, and began life on his own account.  The field upon which he purposed entering was extensive, but it was one of which he had made a careful survey.  Previous to the peace of 1763, the French and English divided the control of the fur-bearing regions of America.  The British possessions, extending from Canada to the unexplored regions of the North, had been granted by a charter of Charles II. to Prince Rupert, and were, by virtue of that instrument, under the exclusive control of the Hudson Bay Company.  Large quantities of furs were obtained in this region, and collected at the principal settlement, York Factory, from which they were shipped to England.

South of this region was Canada, then possessed by the French, who carried on an extensive trade with the Indians, who brought their furs down to Montreal in their birch canoes.  The French finally settled in the country of the savages, and married among the natives, thenceforward entirely devoting themselves to the life of the trapper and hunter.  These marriages produced a race of half-breeds who were especially successful in securing furs.  The cession of Canada to England was a severe blow to the French traders, as it opened the country to the enterprise of the English, a few of whom were quick to avail themselves of its advantages.  The French and Indians at first regarded them with hostility, but gradually became reconciled to their presence.