Each of these boats could carry three or four tons of freight, and was manned by nine men, one of them being steersman, the remainder, men for the oar. Four to eight of these craft made up a brigade, and the skill and rapidity with which these boats could be loaded or unloaded, carried past a portage or décharge, guided through rapids or over considerable stretches of the lakes, was the pride of their Indian or half-breed tripsmen, as they were called, or the admiration of the officers dashing past them in their speedy canoes. The route from York Factory to Fort Garry being a long and continuous waterway, was a favourite course for the York boat brigade. Many of the settlers of the Red River settlement became well-to-do by commanding brigades of boats and carrying freight for the Company. In the earlier days of Governor Simpson the great part of the furs from the interior were carried to Fort Garry or the Grand Portage, at the mouth of the Saskatchewan, and thence past Norway House to Hudson Bay. From York Factory a load of general merchandise was brought back, which had been cargo in the Company's ship from the Thames to York. Lake Winnipeg is generally clear of ice early in June, and the first brigade would then start with its seven or eight boats laden to the gunwales with furs; a week after, the second brigade was under way, and thus, at intervals to keep clear of each other in crossing the portages, the catch of the past season was carried out. The return with full supplies for the settlers was earnestly looked for, and the voyage both ways, including stoppages, took some nine weeks. Far up into the interior the goods in bales were taken. One of the best known routes was that of what was called, "The Portage Brigade." This ran from Lake Winnipeg up the Saskatchewan northward, past Cumberland House and Ile à la Crosse to Methy Portage, otherwise known as Portage la Loche, where the waters part, on one side going to Hudson's Bay, on the other flowing to the Arctic Sea. The trip made from Fort Garry to Portage la Loche and return occupied about four months. At Portage la Loche the brigade from the Mackenzie River arrived in time to meet that from the south, and was itself soon in motion, carrying its year's supply of trading articles for the Far North, not even leaving out Peel's River and the Yukon. The frequent transhipments required in these long and dangerous routes led to the secure packing of bales, of about one hundred pounds each, each of them being called an "inland piece." Seventy-five made up the cargo of a York boat. The skill with which these boats could be laden was surprising. A good half-breed crew of nine men was able to load a boat and pack the pieces securely in five minutes.