SECTION VIANIMALS
Oneof the resources to which I have not yet referred is the native wild animals that find a home in the wilderness. Among them are, the moose, the caribou, the bear, the wood buffalo, and the musk ox, and the experiments recently made in Alaska and on the Labrador Coast by the introduction of the Lapland reindeer indicate that the semi-barren lands may yet furnish meat for export.
To these must be added the fur-bearing animals for which the country is already famous. The beaker, martin, fox and mink are only a few of the varieties with which the country abounds. It is unnecessary to say that but for the fur that these produce it is probable that the country would never have been visited except by a few adventurous explorers and missionaries. Attracted, however, by the value of these furs, the North-West Company and “The Honourable TheHudson’s Bay Company,” were early in the field, and to-day in addition to the latter there are a large number of independent traders whose agents traverse practically the whole of the country, and if records of their journeyings were collected, very interesting information of great value would be obtained. I might remark that at certain of the Hudson’s Bay posts diaries written by the agents may be seen which record the most interesting events that have come under their notice almost from the establishment of these stations. Some of them convey graphic descriptions of every day life in those regions. Here is a virgin field for any adventurous author who wishes to gather details at first hand.
A MOOSE AND INDIAN TEPEE
A MOOSE AND INDIAN TEPEE
As one observes on a winter’s day in our cities and towns the great quantity of furs that are worn practically by all classes of our population, most of which come from this north country, he cannot but be impressed by the fact that we owe a debt of gratitude to that country and to those who endure its rigours for our comfort. Whether this supply will diminish in the future is a question of very great importance to us. Though Ihave already stated that certain parts of this region will probably in time be settled, there is yet a vast proportion of it that will remain probably for all time uninhabited, and there seems no reason why in those parts the productiveness of the valuable furs may not only be maintained but greatly increased if judicious supervision is established and proper methods adopted. The forest reserves should be utilised as game preserves and it can be scarcely doubted, considering the rapidly increasing value of the fur product, that they could be made to yield a splendid profit.