The Adventurers of England on Hudson Bay

Dog teams laden with furs enter Fort Garry, while summer canoe brigades race through the Saskatchewan's rapids. Agnes C. Laut begins her history of the northern fur trade with the work of drivers, paddlers and guides, describing how snow, shifting channels and dangerous currents shaped the movement of goods. These scenes give a practical sense of the routes and skills behind the Hudson's Bay Company's business.

The account also turns to the struggle between French and English trading interests. Radisson returns to Hudson Bay in Company service and offers Jean Chouart and his companions wages under the English. A council aboard the Happy Return becomes a forced departure for England, and Chouart's letters reveal his anger over the arrangement. Readers interested in Canadian history will find commerce, exploration and personal disputes brought together in a narrative that follows both river travel and decisions made by distant officials.