The upshot of the frequent meetings and increasing dividends was—the Company resolved on a desperate effort to recapture the lost forts. The English now held—Nelson, the great fur emporium of the North; New Severn to the South, which had been built by refugees from Albany, burnt twice to escape bush-raiders and as promptly rebuilt when the French withdrew; and Albany, itself, which Mike Grimmington had captured back. The French held Moose and Rupert on the south of the bay. [Illustration: Terms of surrender between Le Moyne d’Iberville and Governor Walsh at York Fort. These terms, the Hudson’s Bay Company averred in petitions, were grossly violated by the French. Original in the H. B. C. Memorial Books transferred to Public Records. ] James Knight, who had acted variously as apprentice, trader and captain from the beginning of the Company—was now appointed commander of the south end of the bay, with headquarters at Albany, at a salary of £400 a year. Here, he was to resist the French and keep them from advancing north to Nelson. New Severn, next north, was still to serve as a refuge in case of attack. At Nelson, in addition to Walsh, Bailey—a new man—Geyer, a captain, and Kelsey were to have command as officers. Three frigates—_The Dering_, _The Hudson’s Bay_ and _The Hampshire_ are commissioned to the bay with letters of marque to war on all enemies, and three merchantmen—_The Prosperous_, _The Owner’s Love_ and _The Perry_ are also to go to the bay. Mutinous of voyages to the bay, seamen are paid in advance, and two hundred and twenty gallons of brandy are divided among the ships to warm up courage as occasion may require. * * * * * But Iberville was not the man to let his winnings slip through his fingers. It had now become more than a guerrilla warfare between gamesters of the wilderness. It was a fight for ascendency on the continent. It was a struggle to determine which nation was to command the rivers leading inland to the unknown West. If the French raiders were to hold the forts at the bottom of the bay, they must capture the great stronghold of the English—Nelson.