The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Including that of the French Traders of North-Western Canada and of the North-West, XY, and Astor Fur CompaniesBryce, George
History
The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company: Including that of the French Traders of North-Western Canada and of the North-West, XY, and Astor Fur Companies
Bryce, George
Fur trade -- Northwest, Canadian; Hudson's Bay Company; North West Company; Northwest, Canadian -- History; XY Company
Repulse Bay, which well deserves the name it bears, was no less
accurately laid down by Captain Middleton, and of the Frozen Strait,
Sir Edward Parry remarks, "Above all, the accuracy of Captain Middleton
is manifest upon the point most strenuously urged against him, for our
subsequent experience has not left the smallest doubt of Repulse Bay and
the northern part of Welcome Bay being filled by a rapid tide, flowing
into it from the eastward through the Frozen Strait."
Dobbs, by a high order of logic chopping, succeeded in turning the
case, for the time being, against Captain Middleton. Seldom has greater
skill been used to win a cause. He quotes with considerable effect a
letter by Sir Bibye Lake, addressed to the Governor of the Prince of
Wales Fort, Churchill River, reading: "Notwithstanding an order to you,
if Captain Middleton (who is sent ahead in the Government's service to
discover a passage north-west) should by inevitable necessity be brought
into real distress and danger of his life and loss of his ship, in such
case you are then to give him the best assistance and relief you can."
Dobbs' whole effort seems to be to show that Middleton was hiding the
truth, and this, under the influence of his old masters, the Hudson's
Bay Company. A copy of Dobbs' Criticisms, laid before the Lords of the
Admiralty, was furnished Captain Middleton, and his answer is found in
"Vindication of the Conduct," published in 1743.
"An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson Bay" by Arthur Dobbs,
Esq., is a book published in the year after, and is really a book
of note. A quarto, consisting of upwards of 200 pages, it showed a
marvellous knowledge of colonization in America, of the interior of the
continent at that time, and incidentally deals with Captain Middleton's
journal. Its account of the journey of "Joseph La France, a French
Canadese Indian," from Lake Superior by way of Lake Winnipeg to Hudson
Bay, is the first detailed account on record of that voyage being made.
Evidently Arthur Dobbs had caught the ear of the English people, and the
Company was compelled to put itself in a thorough attitude of defence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account