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Page 36
This autumn, I had the satisfaction of seeing all my opponents quit
the field, some of whom had maintained a long and obstinate struggle;
yet, although I had reason to congratulate myself on their departure,
as it promised me relief from the painfully toilsome life I had led, I
must do one of the parties, at least, the justice to say, that, in
different circumstances, I should have beheld their departure with
regret. Dey and McGillivray carried on the contest longer than the
others, and did so without showing any of that rancorous feeling which
the other petty traders manifested towards the Company. MacGillivray
and myself, when travelling together, often shared the same blanket,
and the same kettle; and found, that while this friendly feeling was
mutually advantageous to ourselves, it did not in any way compromise
the interests of our employers. I parted from him, wishing him every
success in _any other_ line of business he might engage in.
After the removal of my competitors, I found the time to hang heavily
on my hands; and the ease I had so often sighed for, I now could
scarcely endure; but I was not allowed long time to sigh for a change.
On the 5th of April an Iroquois came up from Montreal with a packet
conveying orders to me to proceed forthwith to Lachine, whence I
should embark by the opening of the navigation for the northern
department. I was alone at the post when these unexpected orders came
to hand, all the men being absent at the outpost; and as it behoved me
to use the utmost diligence in order to get away ere winter travelling
should break up, leaving an old squaw in charge, I set out for the
outpost in quest of Mr. Cameron, who was appointed my successor; and
on the 7th of April took my departure.
On arriving at the Grand River, I found travelling on the ice to be
attended with great danger, and several accidents had already
happened; but I had the good fortune to reach Grenville at the head of
the Long Sault in safety; here, however, my farther progress was
arrested for a fortnight, the roads being impassable. I arrived at
Lachine in the end of April, and after handing in the documents
relative to my late charge, Mr. K----me I was at liberty to spend the
intervening time until the embarkation, where and how I pleased.
Gratified by this indulgence, I was about to frame a speech expressive
of my gratitude, when he continued,--"for, Sir, you are to understand
we do not keep a boarding-house here." This stopped my mouth, and I
reserved my thanks for a future occasion; for I could not but feel,
that being an officer of the Company, it was robbing me of a part of
my pay under the pretext of an indulgence. Availing myself, however,
of this ungenerous grant of freedom, I spent some halcyon days in the
company of relatives most dear to me, and expected no interruption to
my enjoyment until the time appointed for the embarkation: but a few
days after I had joined my relatives in the vicinity of Montreal, I
received a letter, commanding me, in the most peremptory manner, to
repair to Lachine,--"circumstances not foreseen at my arrival from the
interior required my departure without further delay." I accompanied
the bearer of Mr. K----'s letter, and found, on arriving at Lachine,
that I had been appointed to conduct some of Captain Back's party, who
proved rather troublesome to him at Montreal, to the Chats, and there
to await my passage to the north by the Brigade.
I had now served the Hudson's Bay Company faithfully and zealously for
a period of twelve years, leading a life of hardship and toil, of
which no idea can be formed except by those whose hard lot it may be
to know it by experience. How enthusiastically I had laboured for
them, may be better gathered from the foregoing narrative than from
any statement I could here make. And what was my reward? I had no
sooner succeeded in freeing my district from opposition, than I was
ordered to resign my situation to another, who would enjoy the fruits
of my labour:--when I arrived at the Company's head-quarters to take
my departure for a remote district, I was ordered to provide for
myself until I embarked; and when enjoying myself in the bosom of my
family, to suit the convenience of one of their correspondents, I was
torn away from them prematurely, and without warning,--treatment,
which caused one of them so severe a shock as nearly to prove fatal!
Before I take leave of the Montreal department, it may be well to
allude more particularly to the manners and customs of the natives.
The mode of life the Algonquins lead, while at their village, has been
already touched upon; within these few years a great change has taken
place, not in their morals, but in their circumstances. The southern
and western parts of their hunting-grounds are now nearly all
possessed by the white man, whose encroachments extend farther and
farther every year. Beaver meadows are now to be found in place of
beaver dams; and rivers are crossed on bridges formed by the hand of
man, where the labours of the beaver afforded a passage for the roving
Indian and hunter only a few years before.
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