Hudson's Bay

“ It is easy enough to pass from Davis Straits into Hudson's Bay, but to get out of Hudson's Bay in the direction of the Arctic Ocean is like getting out of a very cleverly arranged maze. There are innumerable false exits, which have disappointed one Arctic explorer after another. When they had discovered that Hudson's Bay to the south was only like a great bottle, and had no outlet, they explored its northern waters; and when they found Chesterfield Inlet on the north-west, which leads into Baker Lake, they thought perhaps here was the passage through into the Arctic Sea. ”

“ These waterways in later days when The Honourable the Hudson's Bay Company ruled the West, formed the great highways of barter. By these teeming lakes and sleughs and marshes hunted and trapped Indians and half-breeds. Down these streams and rivers floated the great fur brigades in canoe and Hudson's Bay pointer with priceless bales of pelts to the Bay in the north or the Lakes in the south, on their way to that centre of the world's trade, old London. ”

“ The strong room contains the same rows of minutes, the same dusty piles of documents, and the journals of bygone years, but the business of a vast region is still managed there, and the old gentlemen who control the Hudson's Bay Company affairs pass their dividends as comfortably as in years gone by, with, in an occasional year, some restless spirit stirring up the echoes, to be promptly repressed and the current of events to go on as before. ”

“ Leading posts like York Factory on Hudson Bay, Fort Garry in the Red River settlement, Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River, and Fort Victoria on the Pacific Coast, were not only business centres, but kept alive a Hudson's Bay Company sentiment which those who have not met it can hardly understand. ”

“ On reaching the gate, the sublimity of the spectacle that met our gaze can scarcely be imagined. The noble river, here nearly two miles broad, was entirely covered with huge blocks and jagged lumps of ice, rolling and dashing against each other in chaotic confusion, as the swelling floods heaved them up and swept them with irresistible force towards Hudson Bay. ”

“ The Hudson's Bay Company at once undertook a journey by land in quest of the unfortunate navigator. Dr. Richardson, who had gone on Franklin's first expedition, along with a well-known Hudson's Bay Company officer, Dr. Rae, scoured the coast of the Arctic Sea, from the mouth of the Mackenzie to that of the Coppermine River. For two years more, Dr. Rae continued the search, and in the fourth year (1851) this facile traveller, by a long sledge journey in spring and boat voyage in summer, examined the shores of Wollaston and Victoria Land. ”

“ As there is generally a glut of ice floating about the centre of Hudson’s Bay, a ship, on leaving Mansfield Island, and having a northerly wind, ought to steer for Cape Churchill, until they reach within sixty leagues of the land, when they may alter the course, and steer for York direct. ”

“ In the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, London, are literally shelf loads of such directions. That modern enterprise will ultimately surmount all difficulties of navigation in the straits cannot be doubted. What man sets himself to do—he does; but the difficulties are not child’s play, nor imaginary ones created by politicians who oppose a Hudson Bay route to Europe. One has only to read the record of three hundred years’ sailing by the fur traders to realize that the straits are—to put it mildly—a trap for ocean goers. ”

“ Though the adventurers to Hudson Bay turned to fur trading and won wealth, and discovered an empire while pursuing the little beaver across a continent, the beginning of all this was not the beaver, but a myth—the North-West Passage—a short way round the world to bring back the spices and silks and teas of India and Japan. It was this quest, not the lure of the beaver, that first brought men into the heart of New World wilds by way of Hudson Bay. ”

“ They are found on the Labrador Coast, on Coppermine River, on the shore of the Arctic Sea, and on the Alaskan peninsula. Dressed in sealskin clothing and dwelling in huts of snow, hastening from place to place in their sledges drawn by wolf-like dogs called "Eskies" or "Huskies," these people have found themselves comparatively independent of Hudson's Bay Company assistance. Living largely on the products of the sea, they have shown great ingenuity in manufacturing articles and implements for themselves. ”

“ This was the long slow dip of white voyageurs, not the quick choppy stroke of the Indian; and before Sargeant could rub the amazement out of his eyes, three white men, with a blanket for sail, came swirling down the current, beached their canoe, and, doffing caps in a debonair manner, presented themselves before the Hudson's Bay man dourly sitting on a cannon in the gateway. The nonchalant gentleman who intro [Pg 77] duced the others was Jean Péré, dressed as a wood-runner, voyaging and hunting in this back-of-beyond for pleasure. ”

“ At any rate he continued to steer south in spite of the old mate's mutterings. Men in unwilling service at a few shillings a month do not court death for the sake of glory. The shore line of rocks and pine turned westward. So did Hudson, sounding the ship's line as he crept forward one sail up, the others rattling against the bare masts in the autumn wind—doleful music to the thoughts of the coward crew. The shore line at the south end of Hudson Bay, as the world now knows, is cut sharply by a [Pg 12] ridge of swampy land that shoals to muddy flats in what is known as Hannah Bay. ”

“ After the usual struggle with the ice in Hudson Strait, as it was impossible to explore southward during the first season, the Dobbs galley and the California sailed for Port Nelson, intending to winter there. They arrived on August 26th. Ellis states that they were badly received by the Hudson's Bay officers at the first. They, however, laid up their ships in Hayes River, and built an erection of logs on the shore for the staff. The officers' winter quarters were called "Montague House," named after the Duke of Montague, patron of the expedition. ”

“ The Cree Indians inhabiting Hudson’s Bay, and indeed the European traders there, maintain, that, in the serene stillness of their severe winters, a soft rushing noise constantly accompanies these coruscations, like that which is occasioned by the quick waving of a fan, or of a winnow. ”

“ The Hudson’s Bay Company had required a fearless and staunch man to establish a post at Chesterfield Inlet, and after some correspondence with his chief—Roy was then second in charge at York Factory—Thursby had been chosen. ”

“ In June the ship sailed out of the Bay and, as we have seen, had docked at Gravesend on the Thames while the Wavero with Radisson was coming back.
The adventurers lost no time. That winter they applied for a charter, and in May 1670 the charter was granted by King Charles to 'The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay.' The ostensible object was to find the North-West Passage; and to defray the cost of that finding a monopoly in trade for all time was given. ”

“ At the very bottom or southernmost part of Hudson’s Bay, which is styled James’s Bay, we arrive at Moose Factory; standing, like all the rest, on a river, bearing the same name. This place has a good anchorage, and the climate is 152 milder than in any of the other factories. It is annually visited by a ship from England; as at Moose the furs are collected together from the lesser mart-houses of Albany, East Main, and Richmond, for the purpose of being shipped off to Europe. ”

“ The western coast of Hudson bay is low and flat. It rises very slowly inland from swampy shores, while the water deepens slowly, and there are numerous shoals and bars that extend for a considerable distance from the shore-line and render coastwise navigation dangerous. This character of coast extends from the southern end of James bay to beyond the mouth of Churchill harbour. ”

“ Then again, with a bold dash of his pen, the Abbé peoples the whole of Hudson’s Bay with Esquimaux: whereas, in fact, they occupy but a very small proportion of it, when compared with the vast extent of territory inhabited by the different tribes of Hunting Indians, the inveterate enemies of the Esquimaux. The northern and unexplored parts of the Bay, and the western shore of Labrador, from Cape Diggs to the southward, are alone inhabited by the latter; whilst the whole of the western and southern shores are peopled by the former. ”

“ No living person possesses a tithe of his information respecting the Hudson's Bay countries, which from 1783 to 1813 he was constantly traversing. Never mind his Bunyon-like face and cropped hair; he has a powerful mind and a singular faculty of picture-making. ”

“ The weary week is just lying down to ruminate in these solemn shades. A few scattering sounds, the finishing strokes of the axe and hammer, and the low wail of the surf beyond the coast-ridge break the rest of the cool, bracing air. The upper end of the lake, as I call the bay or fiord, is hidden behind a headland, reminding me of our Hudson Butter Hill. Nothing would be pleasanter than a small voyage of discovery by twilight. Below the stern of the schooner, which swings near the beach, are the timbers of a ship peeping above water, and full of story, no doubt, as so many old salts. ”

“ The skin and teeth are the most valuable parts to the natives; for the fat is hard and grisly, and the flesh coarse, black, and tough.
Those animals are seldom found on the continent which borders on Hudson's Bay, or far up, in bays, rivers, or inlets, but usually frequent small islands, and sea-girt {391} shoals, at some distance from the main land; but as those places are frozen over for many miles during Winter, it is natural to think they keep at the edge of the water among the driving ice during that season. ”

“ Since that time, with the approval and co-operation in many ways of the Company, the various missionary societies have grappled with the problem. The Indians about Hudson Bay, on Lake Winnipeg, in the Mackenzie River, throughout British Columbia, and on the great prairies of Assiniboia, are to-day largely Christianized and receiving education. ”