nients. I t is, indeed, very creditable to them as fervanfcs, that though
they are fometimes affembled tb the number of twelve hundred men, indulging
themfelves in thé free ufe of liquor, and quarrelling with each
other, they always (hew the greateft refpe& to their employëhi %ho
are comparatively but few in number, and beyond the aid of any legal
power to enforce due obedience. In (hort, a degree of fubordihation
can only be maintained by the good opinion thefe men entertain of theit
employers, which has been uniformly the Cafe, fince the trade has been
formed and conducted on a regular fyftem. ;
The people being difpatched to their refpeétive winter quarters,
the agents from Montreal, affifted by their clerks, prepare to return
there, by getting the furs acrofis the portage, and^re-making them
into packages of. one hundred pounds weight each, to fend them to
Montreal j where they commonly arrive about the month of September.
The mode of living at the Grande Portage, is as follows: The proprietors,
clerks, guides, and interpreters, mefs together^ to the number
o f fometimes an hundred, at feveral tables, in one large hall, the pro-
vifion confiding of bread, fait pork, beef, hams, fifla, and yenifon, butter,
peas, Indian corn, potatoes, tea, fpi-rits, wine, &c. and plenty of
milk, for which purpofe feveral milch cows are conftantly kept. The
mechanics have rations of fuch provifion, but the canoe-men, both from
the North and Montreal, have no other allowance here, or in the voyage,
than Indian com and melted fat. The corn for this purpofe is prepared
pared before it leaves Retr-pit, by hpilfog it rftrqng alkali, which
takes off thejouiser iiq lK ;: ijt ;is foen well wafeefo *apd ,c$?eforUy -drfed upop
ftagespwhen it is fitior jojfe. T)fte q^ar't :^ithi?;is -b0ile^ for twb;h,ours,.pver
a moderate fiate, in -tp whicfc, wtan-fitfogc boileda
fmall time, ahe added OUtP.Qes qf m^ltedfeet.; -this caufes :fop -com
to;fplit, and infoe fonepneruioned makes a pretty thick pudding. I f to
this is added a little fait, (but not befereyit is ttpilpd, as i t wo^fe interrupt
the operation.), it makes an w.hofefpjrpe, palatable food, .and ,eafy of
fogeftion. This quantify is fu^ly fuffiefent Tor, a man’s fubfiftence
doting .twenty^four MmM -.though it is not fuffipiently .hyeajctesnfog-to
foftainfoe .flwengfc’h nee^fary .-for a Hatte of aftive labour. The Americans
call this »difh hominee*.
The tradefrom foe Grande Portage, is, in feme particulars, carried on
f e ‘different-!manner with .that from Moj^fe^eaf., The canqes ufed in
the latter tranfpo# are now too large for foe fpr<m§r, and feme of abpujt
half foe-fize a^e procured frqm foe inatij/e.s,, .and ,are nayigated ;by feui>
foyg^pr'fix men, according to the diftance which fopy have tpgo. They
carry .a lading of about thirty-hyp 4paokag^s,-on an average,; qf foefe
twenty-three.!aj5e for .foe pu-uppfe ofo-trade, .anjdfoe reft are employed for
proyifions, ftpres, and b a g g ie . In, jeaqh q f thefe canoes are a foreman
and-ftepfma«n(5^; tk© one -to be .alwayspn^efeok put., and fofo&foe
.paffage of the veffel, and-the >Qtber -to .attend foe heLm. Tjhey alfo carry.
•her, whenever that office is-. »ecehasy. The foreman has the command,
* C$rji is the Gheapeil ,prp\fifion that can-be, procured, though from the expence o f transport,
the bufhel eofts about^wen.t^i! fliillirigs iterling, at the tirande . Portage. A man’s daily allowance
d©es net exceed ten-perrce.
and