Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Hudson's Bay Fur Company

"Mr. Captain?" "Mrs Barnett." "What do you think of your Lieutenant Jasper Hobson?" "I think he's a promising officer." "What do you mean great promise? You mean he'll cross the eightieth parallel?" Captain Claventi could not help laughing at Paulina Barnett's question.She chatted with him by the fire while the other guests passed between the food and drink tables. "Ma'am," replied the captain, "what a man can do, Jasper Hobson can do. The company has entrusted him with surveying the northern lands to which he belongs, and establishing an outpost as close as possible to the American continent." Agency House, he will build it."

"Lieutenant Hobson has a heavy responsibility!" said the traveler. "Yes, ma'am. But Jasper Hobson never flinched from the task to be done, however difficult it might be." "I trust you, Captain," replied Lady Paulina Barnett, "the Lieutenant, and we shall see him do his work and carry out his goals. But what interests have prompted the company to build a fort at the end of the Arctic Ocean?" " "The benefits are great, ma'am," the captain replied, "I'd even say double benefits. I'm afraid in the not-too-distant future. Once transferred, the company's trade in the Pacific will be very difficult, unless Mike Luell finds out The North-West Passage becomes a feasible way. This is what the new attempt will demonstrate, because the Admiralty will send a ship of war. Its mission is to trace the Bering Strait from the coast of America to the Kuronamon Bay. Here is the eastern limit. A new fort should be built here. If this is successful, this point will become an important foreign agency and here will concentrate all the fur trade in the North. The transportation of furs through Indian territory takes a lot of time and expense. And in this way, it only takes a few days for a steamer to enter the Pacific Ocean from New Fort."

"Indeed," replied Paulina Barnett, "if the North-West Passage works, the results will be astonishing. But it seems to me that you speak of a double interest!" "Another interest, ma'am," continued the captain, "is that, so to speak, it is a matter of life and death for the company, and I ask you to allow me to recall it in a few words. Then you will be able to understand the former prosperity of the company." Why is even the source of the product under threat now." Indeed, Captain Claventi recalled in a few words the history of this famous company.

Humans have been taking animal skins or furs for covering since a long time ago, so the fur business can be traced back to ancient times.The luxury of clothing even reached such heights that some governments issued restrictions on luxury laws to curb the fashion for mainly fur clothing.The ban on squirrel and chinchilla furs was in the middle of the 12th century. In 1553, Russia established several trading houses on its northern steppes, and the British company immediately followed suit.At that time, the trade of mink fur, sable fur, ermine fur, beaver fur, etc. was carried out through the brokerage.But during Queen Elizabeth's reign, the use of luxurious furs was strangely restricted by the wishes of the royal family, and for several years the fur trade was paralyzed.

On May 2, 1670, the Hudson's Bay Fur Company was granted permission to establish.There are a certain number of noble shareholders in this company, including the Duke of York, the Duke of Abbeymar, the Earl of Saversbury, and so on.At that time the company's capital was only £8,420.His chief competitors were a few particular companies; among them the French agency established in Canada, which invested in highly profitable expedition travel.Known as the "Canadian Voyagers," these daring hunters competed so hard for the nascent company that its survival was severely compromised.

But the British conquest of Canada changed this initial situation.Three years after the conquest of Quebec, in 1766, the fur trade flourished again.The English merchants were well aware of the difficulties of this business; they learned the local customs, the habits of the Indians, the barter methods they used, and yet the profits of the company remained nil.Also, around 1784, Montreal merchants joined forces in the fur business and established the mighty Northwest Company, which soon took over all of this trade. In 1798, the new company's cargo had reached 120,000 pounds, and the survival of the Hudson's Bay Fur Company was threatened.

It should be pointed out here that when it comes to its own interests, Northwest Company does not hesitate to take any immoral actions.Exploiting their own employees, playing on the poverty of the Indians, getting them drunk, mistreating them, robbing them, and ignoring the Congressional ban on the sale of liquor on Indian lands, the agents of the North West Company made huge profits. Profits, ignoring competition from American and Russian companies.Among them is the "American Fur Company" founded in 1809 with a capital of 1 million US dollars. The business scope of this company is the western area of ​​Rose Mountain.

Of all these companies, the Hudson's Bay Company was the most threatened, but in 1821, after a long rivalry, it annexed its former rival, the Northwest Company, and took the name: Hudson's Bay Fur Company. Today, the only competitor of this large company is the St. Louis Fur Company of America.It has numerous dealerships spread over a territory of 3.7 million square miles.Its main agency houses are located in James Bay, the mouth of the Severn River, in the southern and border areas of Upper Canada, in Lake Atakoscu, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Superior, Lake Medie, Lake Buffalo, and On the Columbia River, on the Mackenzie River, on the Saskatchewan River, on the Assiniboire River, and so on.Fort York, overlooking a tributary of the Nelson River that empties into the Hudson Bay, was the company's headquarters and its largest fur warehouse was built here.In addition, in 1842, it obtained Russia's North American trading station with an annual lease of 200,000 francs.In this way, it operates for the benefit of the company a vast area from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.It seems to have sent brave explorers in all directions. Hearne set off through the Arctic Ocean in 1770 and went to Coppello; After that, it reached the coast of the Pacific Ocean at 52 degrees 24 minutes north latitude. Between 1833 and 1834 the company shipped to Europe the following quantities of furs and skins, which give an accurate indication of the state of its trade:

Beaver………………………1074 items Big and small beavers………………92288 pieces Muskrat……………………694092 items Badger………………………1069 pieces Bear……………………… 7451 pieces Ferret………………………491 pieces Polecat……………………5296 items Fox……………………… 9937 items Lynx………………………14255 items Mink………………………… 64490 pieces Weasel…………………… 25100 pieces Otter……………………… 22303 items Raccoon……………………… 713 items Swan………………………7918 items Wolf………………………… 8484 pieces Wolverine……………………… 1574 items Such production should have ensured huge profits for the Hudson's Bay Fur Company, but unfortunately, this amount could not be maintained and production has been declining for about 20 years.

What was the cause of this decline, Captain Claventi was explaining to Paulina Barnett. "Until 1837, ma'am," said he, "the company was certainly doing well, and up to that year the export of fur goods was as high as 2,358,000 thousand pieces. But since then the amount has declined, and is now at least halved. " "What, then, has caused the great decline in the export of furs?" asked Mrs Paulina Barnett. "The extinction of animals due to hunting, and I would add the negligence of the hunters, is the cause. People round up and kill. There is no distinction. Young animals, pregnant female animals are not spared. From this The scarcity of fur animals is inevitable. The king otter has almost disappeared, and can only be found around the North Pacific island. The beaver has been hiding in small groups on the banks of the far river. The hunters fled before the invasion. The traps that were once full were now empty. The price of furs went up precisely because there were fewer and fewer of them. As a result, the hunters lost interest and the most daring and least ignorant remained. Weary ones, they will go straight to the frontiers of the American continent."

"Now I see," said Mrs. Paulina Barnett, "that it is of interest to the company to have an agency on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, since the animals are kept beyond the Arctic Circle." "Yes, ma'am," replied the captain. "Additionally, the company had to make a decision to extend the center of its trading activities northwards, because two years ago the British Parliament took a decision that strangely narrowed the company's area of ​​operation." "What caused this reduction?" asked the traveler. "It is an extremely important economic reason, ma'am, which should have made a very deep impression on the national leaders of Great Britain. Indeed, the company's task is not to cultivate. On the contrary, for its own benefit, the company should keep a large part of its territory In the pristine state of the desert. Any attempt at land reclamation that would drive away fur animals is ruthlessly stopped. Hence, its own monopoly curbs any activity to develop agriculture. So issues that have nothing to do with its business are ruthlessly overturned by the board of directors Yes. It was this absolute approach, which in some respects seemed unreasonable, that led Parliament to take steps in 1857, and a committee appointed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies decided to incorporate into Canada all land that could be cultivated, e.g., The Red River and Saskatchewan Territories, leaving only lands of no value for reclamation in the territories. The following year the Company lost the western slopes of Mount Rossz, which belonged directly to the Colonial Department, thus freeing it of the Hudson's Bay agent jurisdiction, therefore, ma'am, before abandoning the fur trade, the company will try to exploit the little-known northern region, and find a way of linking it to the Pacific through the Northwest Passage." Lady Paulina Barnet is now fully aware of the future plans of the famous firm.She will see for herself a new fortress built on the edge of the Arctic Ocean.Captain Clavendy kept her informed of the situation, but perhaps—for he liked to talk—he would have gone on to detail something new, if one event hadn't interrupted him. Indeed, Corporal Jolliffe had just announced loudly that he was going to make punch with the help of Madame Jolliffe.The news was warmly welcomed.There were several cheers in the hall.A bowl—or rather a basin—was filled with fine wine, and contained no less than ten ounces of schnapps.There were lumps of sugar at the bottom of the bowl, which Madame Jolliffe measured out by hand.There are a few slices of lemon floating on the face.It was only necessary to ignite the lake of wine, and the corporal lit the cloth, waiting for the captain's order, as if to light dynamite. "Go ahead, Jolive!" said Captain Claventi, then. The flame touched the drink, the punch burst into flames, and all the guests applauded. Ten minutes later, the full glasses were passed around the crowd and everyone had a drink. "Ulla! Ulla! Ulla! Lady Polina Barnett! Ulla! Captain!" Just as the happy huh echoed in the hall, shouts came from outside.All the guests fell silent. "Sergeant Long," said the captain, "go and see what's going on!" Hearing the leader's order, the sergeant left the drinking glass and left the hall.

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