_The H.B.C. motor tug_ "Nechemus," left McMurray for the north on May 12th, laden with horses and wagons together with the season's first shipment of freight for FitzGerald. _The H.B.S.S. "Fort McMurray"_ sailed on May 13th on her second trip, bound for FitzGerald with a hundred and twenty tons of supplies for the northern posts. Passengers on the steamer included: J. G. M. Christie and wife, who are going to McPherson and back. Mr. Christie is a retired employee of the Company and is looking forward to renewing old acquaintances with H.B.C. men along the Mackenzie. Mrs. C. C. Sinclair, with Miss Sinclair, are going down to McPherson, and will join Mr. Sinclair, Manager of Athabasca-Mackenzie District. Bishop Lucas, of the Anglican diocese of Mackenzie, was on his way to the land of the Midnight Sun. The bishop spent the winter in the old country, and is bound for his headquarters at Chipewyan. H.B.C. Fur Trade Post on San Francisco Bay, 1824 _Company Did Not Own Million Acres of California Land, as Reported, but Had Two Fur Posts and Farms, Closed in 1832-49._ By C. H. FRENCH _NOTE.--In a leading Western Canadian newspaper we read: "It is not commonly known that at one time the Hudson's Bay Company owned a million acres of land in California surrounding the present site of the City of San Francisco. The importance of the great harbour now known as the Golden Gate was not recognized and the area was sold for one dollar an acre."_ When in 1824, shortly after the amalgamation of H.B.C. with the Northwest Company, the fur brigades under Sir George Simpson swept to the verge of the Pacific, north, west and southwest, the flag of H.B.C. was carried far down the California coast. One new fur trading establishment was planted by the Company at the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay; another was erected at Umpqua, not many miles to the northward. Up to 1820 the only fur post on the Pacific coast between Sitka, Alaska, and southern California was Fort George. This post had been first opened by Astor of New York, but was taken over by H.B.C. at the time of the amalgamation with the Nor'westers. Meanwhile it had been re-christened "Fort George" by Captain Black of H.M.S. "Raccoon" in 1813. From Fort William at the head of the Great Lakes came Dr. John McLaughlin, James Douglas and John Work, ordered by the Company to Fort George to take charge of the newly created Western Department of the H.B.C. fur trade. Dr. McLaughlin was in charge, James Douglas was accountant and John Work was what might be termed an explorer. Dr. McLaughlin was a versatile man, but leaned towards the development of farming and stockraising, while John Work's only interest was in fur trading. In 1824 they arrived at Fort George and at once mapped out plans for development of their department.