and its equipment of boats and canoes.
From most of the stations the furs and peltries were brought to Chicago
on pack-horses, and the goods necessary for the trade were transported
in return by the same method.

The vessels which came in the spring and fall (seldom more than two or
three annually), to bring the supplies and goods for the trade, took the
furs that were already collected to Mackinac, the depot of the Southwest
and American Fur Companies. At other seasons they were sent to that
place in boats, coasting around the lake.

* * * * *

Of the Canadian voyageurs or engages, a race that has now so nearly
passed away, some notice may very properly here be given.

They were unlike any other class of men. Like the poet, they seemed born
to their vocation. Sturdy, enduring, ingenious, and light-hearted, they
possessed a spirit capable of adapting itself to any emergency. No
difficulties baffled, no hardships discouraged them; while their
affectionate nature led them to form attachments of the warmest
character to their "bourgeois," or master, as well as to the native
inhabitants, among whom their engagements carried them.

Montreal, or, according to their own pronunciation, _Marrialle_, was
their depot. It was at that place that the agents commissioned to make
up the quota for the different companies and traders found the material
for their selections.

The terms of engagement were usually from four to six hundred livres
(ancient Quebec currency) per annum as wages, with rations of one quart
of lyed corn, and two ounces of tallow per diem, or "its equivalent in
whatever sort of food is to be found in the Indian country." Instances
have been known of their submitting cheerfully to fare upon fresh fish
and maple-sugar for a whole winter, when cut off from other supplies.

It was a common saying, "Keep an engage to his corn and tallow, he will
serve you well--give him pork and bread, and he soon gets beyond your
management." They regard the terms of their engagement as binding to the
letter. An old trader, M. Berthelet, engaged a crew at Montreal. The
terms of agreement were, that they should eat when their bourgeois did,
and what he did. It was a piece of fun on the part of the old gentleman,
but the simple Canadians believed it to be a signal instance of good
luck that had provided them such luxurious prospects. The bourgeois
stuffed his pockets with crackers, and, when sure of b