Henry’s Account of Montreal Trade, Travels and Adventures in Canada

Henry, Alexander

[One of the first independent traders to take part in the new trade was Alexander Henry. By as early as 1763 he was at Michilimackinac and in 1775 was part of the partnership that eventually produced the North West Company. Here Henry describes the route and the methods that the Montreal traders used.]

The inland navigation, from Montreal to Michilimackinac, may be performed, either by the way of Lakes Ontario and Erie, or by the river Des Outaouais, Lake Nipisingue and the river Des Francais, for, as well by one as the other of these routes, we are carried to Lake Huron. The second is the shortest, and that which is usually pursued by the canoes, employed in the Indian trade.

The canoes, which I provided for my undertaking, were, as is usual, five fathom and a half in length, and four feet and half in their extreme breadth, and formed of birch-tree bark, a quarter of an inch in thickness. The bark is lined with small splints of cedarwood; and the vessel is further strengthened with ribs of the same wood, of which the two ends are fastened to the gunwales; several bars, rather than seats, are also laid across the canoe, from gunwale to gunwale. The small roots of the spruce-tree afford the wattap, with which the bark is sewed; and the gum of the pine-tree supplies the place of tar and oakum. Bark, some spare wattap and gum, are always carried in each canoe, for the repairs which frequently become necessary.

The canoes are worked, not with oars, but with paddles; and, occasionally, with a sail. To each canoe there are eight men; and to every three or four canoes, which constitute a brigade, there is a guide or conductor. Skilful men, at double the wages of the rest, are placed in the head and stern. They engage to go from Montreal to Michilimackinac, and back to Montreal again, the middlemen at one hundred and fifty livres and the end-men at three hundred livres each. The guide has the command of his brigade, and is answerable for all pillage and loss; and, in return, every man’s wages is answerable to him. This regulation was established under the French government.

The freight of a canoe, of the substance and dimensions which I have detailed, consist of sixty pieces, or packages, of merchandize of the weight of from ninety to a hundred pounds each; and provisions to the amount of one thousand weight. To this is to be added, the weight of eight men, and of eight bags, weighing forty pounds each, one of which every man is privileged to put on board. The whole weight must therefore exceed eight thousand pounds; or may perhaps be averaged at four tons . . . .

The maize, or Indian corn, with which the canoes are vitualled, is prepared for use, by boiling it in a strong lie, after which the husk may be easily removed; and it is next mashed and dried. In this state, it is soft and friable, like rice. The allowance, for each man, on the voyage, is a quart a day; and a bushel, with two pounds of prepared fat, is reckoned to be a month’s subsistence. No other allowance is made, of any kind; not even of salt; and bread is never thought of. The men, nevertheless, are healthy, and capable of performing their heavy labour. This mode of victualling is essential to the trade, which being pursued at great distances, and in vessels so small as canoes, will not admit of the use of other food. If the men were to be supplied with bread and pork, the canoes could not carry a sufficiency for six months; and the ordinary duration of the voyage is not less than fourteen.