CHAPTER I.

THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY AND TERRITORIES.

That part of British North America known by the name of the Hudson’s Bay territory extends from the eastern coast in about 60 deg.  W. long. to the Russian boundary in 142 deg.  W.; and from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, along the Ottawa River and the northern shores of Lakes Huron and Superior, and thence to the boundary line of the United States; extending in latitude thence to the northern limit of America; being in length about 2,600 miles, and in breadth about 1,400 miles.  This extensive space may be divided into three portions, each differing most materially in aspect and surface.  The first and most extensive is that which is on the east, from the Labrador coast, round Hudson’s Bay, northward to the Arctic region, and westward to the Rocky Mountains.  This is entirely a wooded district, affording that plentiful supply of timber which forms so large a branch of the Canadian export trade.  These interminable forests are principally composed of pines of large size, but which towards the northern boundary are of a very stinted growth.  Another portion is the prairie country, reaching from Canada westward to the Rocky Mountains, and intersected by the boundary line of the United States.  In general, the soil is rich alluvial, which being covered with luxuriant herbage, affords pasturage for the vast herds of wild buffaloes which roam over these extensive plains.  The western part is that which lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, including the Oregon territory, which was likely to have led to a serious misunderstanding between Great Britain and the United States.

These extensive portions are divided by the Hudson’s Bay Company into four departments, and these departments are again subdivided into districts.  At the head of each department and district a chief factor or chief trader generally presides, to whom all the officers within their respective jurisdictions are amenable.  Those in charge of posts, whatever may be their rank, are subject to the authority of the person at the head of the district; and that person receives his instructions from the superintendent of the department.  The whole affairs of the country at large are regulated by the Governor and Council, and their decisions again are referred, for final adjustment, to the Governor and Committee in London.

The Montreal department comprehends all the districts and posts along the Gulf and River St. Lawrence; also the different posts along the banks of the Ottawa and the interior country.  The depot of the department is at Lachine, where all the returns are collected, and the outfits prepared.

The southern department has its depot at Moose Factory, in James’s Bay; it includes the districts of Albany, Rupert’s House, Temiscamingue, Lake Huron, and Lake Superior, together with several isolated posts along the shores of the Bay.