The account of the siege of Richmond by the Eskimos is taken from Pott’s report to the Company. A copy of this the _Winnipeg Free Press_ recently published as a letter. The description of Richmond is from Captain Coates’ account. Strange that this Richmond should have gone back to the state of desolation in which Coates found it. It was Coates who named all the places of this region. * * * * * Nearly every great mineral discovery of America was preceded by the predictions of the fur trader. It will be interesting to watch if Hearne’s copper mine is ever re-discovered. * * * * * The story of Ross and Tomson and Farrant, I found first in the minutes of H. B. C. House and then in Umfreville’s account of life at York. * * * * * I have throughout referred to Prince of Wales Fort as Churchill, as the constant changing of names confuses the reader. * * * * * From the records it is impossible to tell whether the post Whale River was Little Whale, or Great Whale. Judging from the fact that the journey was performed by dog-sled in a night, to Richmond, it must have been the nearer post. * * * * * I have not referred to the mistake in latitude made by Hearne in his journey North, for which so many critics censure him. It would be interesting to know how many men would have been in a condition to take any observation at all after a week’s sleepless marching and the horrors of the massacre. * * * * * Hearne’s picture will be found in “Pathfinders of the West.” CHAPTER XX 1760-1810 “THE COMING OF THE PEDLARS”—A NEW RACE OF WOOD-ROVERS THRONGS TO THE NORTHWEST—BANDITS OF THE WILDS WAR AMONG THEMSELVES—TALES OF BORDER WARFARE, WASSAIL AND GRANDEUR—THE NEW NORTHWEST COMPANY CHALLENGES THE AUTHORITY AND FEUDALISM OF THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY