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M A M M A L S O F N O R T H E R N C A N A D A 257
for that year, I doubt i f both returns of beaver would much
exceed the total of 175,170 skins, given i n the London fur
sale statement for 1871. From 1858 to 1884 the District
of Athabasca contributed 445,014, or an average of 17,116
a year to the Company's London sales. The average for the
self- same posts for the five outfits ( 1885 to 1889) is about
8,000; and with the " opposition " trade added from 1890
to the spring of 1903, both w i l l undoubtedly exhibit a further
decline. From 1863 to 1883 Mackenzie R i v e r District
exported a total of 183,216 beaver, giving an average of
11,822 a year. For the three years ( 1886, 1887, 1889) of
which I hold data, i t had fallen to 6,852, and is, I fear, very
much lower at the present time. These are but samples of
the general decrease i n beaver receipts experienced at every
trade competing point from Quebec to the N o r t h Pacific and
from the international boundary to Hudson Bay and the
north- western l i m i t of its range i n A r c t i c America.
I t is now weU known that for some years prior to the
coalition i n 1821, the annual catch of beaver was rapidly
dwindling, and that i n several sections i t had been exterminated
by reckless slaughter; another decade or two of similar
trade competition would doubtless have led to its extinction,
except for a time i n retreats remote and difficult of access.
We have had ample proof, however, by obtained results, of
the beneficial operation of the wise and far- reaching policy
adopted by Governor S i r George Simpson and the able and
experienced fur- trade counsellors of the then united companies,
for the due preservation of this valuable animal. F or
some years before and after the transfer of the country to
Canada i n 1870, the entire Peace River, together with many
other streams and small ponds throughout the Territories,
B r i t i s h Columbia, the Yukon, and the east, were swarming
w i t h ' beaver; but this, unfortunately, is not the case to- day.
F r om 1853 to 1877, inclusive, the average number of skins
sold by the Hudson's B a y Company i n London was 118,615,
as against their total catalogue sales of about 50,000 for
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| Title | Page 281 |
| OCR | M A M M A L S O F N O R T H E R N C A N A D A 257 for that year, I doubt i f both returns of beaver would much exceed the total of 175,170 skins, given i n the London fur sale statement for 1871. From 1858 to 1884 the District of Athabasca contributed 445,014, or an average of 17,116 a year to the Company's London sales. The average for the self- same posts for the five outfits ( 1885 to 1889) is about 8,000; and with the " opposition " trade added from 1890 to the spring of 1903, both w i l l undoubtedly exhibit a further decline. From 1863 to 1883 Mackenzie R i v e r District exported a total of 183,216 beaver, giving an average of 11,822 a year. For the three years ( 1886, 1887, 1889) of which I hold data, i t had fallen to 6,852, and is, I fear, very much lower at the present time. These are but samples of the general decrease i n beaver receipts experienced at every trade competing point from Quebec to the N o r t h Pacific and from the international boundary to Hudson Bay and the north- western l i m i t of its range i n A r c t i c America. I t is now weU known that for some years prior to the coalition i n 1821, the annual catch of beaver was rapidly dwindling, and that i n several sections i t had been exterminated by reckless slaughter; another decade or two of similar trade competition would doubtless have led to its extinction, except for a time i n retreats remote and difficult of access. We have had ample proof, however, by obtained results, of the beneficial operation of the wise and far- reaching policy adopted by Governor S i r George Simpson and the able and experienced fur- trade counsellors of the then united companies, for the due preservation of this valuable animal. F or some years before and after the transfer of the country to Canada i n 1870, the entire Peace River, together with many other streams and small ponds throughout the Territories, B r i t i s h Columbia, the Yukon, and the east, were swarming w i t h ' beaver; but this, unfortunately, is not the case to- day. F r om 1853 to 1877, inclusive, the average number of skins sold by the Hudson's B a y Company i n London was 118,615, as against their total catalogue sales of about 50,000 for |
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