Now the only rival of this important association is the American St Louis Fur Company. The Hudson’s Bay Company has numerous establishments scattered over a domain extending over 3,700,000 square miles. Its principal factories are situated on James Bay, at the mouth of the Severn, in the south, and towards the frontiers of Upper Canada, on Lakes Athapeskow, Winnipeg, Superior, Methye, Buffalo, and near the Colombia, Mackenzie, Saskatchewan, and Assiniboin rivers, &c. Fort York, commanding the course of the river Nelson, is the headquarters of the Company, and contains its principal fur depôt. Moreover, in 1842 it took a lease of all the Russian establishments in North America at an annual rent of £40,000, so that it is now working on its own account the vast tracts of country between the Mississippi and the Pacific Ocean. It has sent out intrepid explorers in every direction: Hearne, towards the Polar Sea, in 1770, to the discovery of the Coppermine River; Franklin, in 1819 to 1822, along 5550 miles of the American coast; Mackenzie, who, after having discovered the river to which he gave his name, reached the shores of the Pacific at 52° 24’ N. Lat. The following is a list of the quantities of skins and furs despatched to Europe by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1833-34, which will give an exact idea of the extent of its trade:— Beavers . . . . . . . . . . . 1,074 Skins and young Beavers,. . 92,288 Musk Rats,. . . . . . . . . 694,092 Badgers,. . . . . . . . . . 1,069 Bears,. . . . . . . . . . . 7,451 Ermines,. . . . . . . . . . 491 Foxes, . . . . . . . . . . . 9,937 Lynxes, . . . . . . . . . . 14,255 Sables, . . . . . . . . . . 64,490 Polecats, . . . . . . . . . 25,100 Otters, . . . . . . . . . . 22,303 Racoons,. . . . . . . . . . 713 Swans, . . . . . . . . . . 7,918 Wolves, . . . . . . . . . . 8,484 Wolverines, . . . . . . . . 1,571 Such figures ought to bring in a large profit to the Hudson’s Bay Company, but unfortunately they have not been maintained, and for the last twenty years have been decreasing. The cause of this decline was the subject of Captain Craventy’s explanation to Mrs Paulina Barnett. “Until 1839, madam,” said he, “the Company was in a flourishing condition. In that year the number of furs exported was 2,350,000, but since then the trade has gradually declined, and this number is now reduced by one-half at least.” “But what do you suppose is the cause of this extraordinary decrease in the exportation of furs?” inquired Mrs Barnett.