found in unison with such a character. He was not practically
experienced in the Indian trade; that is to say, he had never made any
expeditions of traffic into the heart of the wilderness, but he had
been engaged in commerce at St. Louis, then a frontier settlement on
the Mississippi, where the chief branch of his business had consisted in
furnishing Indian traders with goods and equipments. In this way, he had
acquired much knowledge of the trade at second hand, and of the various
tribes, and the interior country over which it extended.

Another of the partners, Mr. Donald M'Kenzie, was associated with Mr.
Hunt in the expedition, and excelled on those points in which the other
was deficient; for he had been ten years in the interior, in the
service of the Northwest Company, and valued himself on his knowledge of
"woodcraft," and the strategy of Indian trade and Indian warfare. He had
a frame seasoned to toils and hardships; a spirit not to be intimidated,
and was reputed to be a "remarkable shot;" which of itself was
sufficient to give him renown upon the frontier.

Mr. Hunt and his coadjutor repaired, about the latter part of July,
1810, to Montreal, the ancient emporium of the fur trade where
everything requisite for the expedition could be procured. One of the
first objects was to recruit a complement of Canadian voyageurs from the
disbanded herd usually to be found loitering about the place. A degree
of jockeyship, however, is required for this service, for a Canadian
voyageur is as full of latent tricks and vice as a horse; and when he
makes the greatest external promise, is prone to prove the greatest
"take in." Besides, the Northwest Company, who maintained a long
established control at Montreal, and knew the qualities of every
voyageur, secretly interdicted the prime hands from engaging in this
new service; so that, although liberal terms were offered, few presented
themselves but such as were not worth having.

From these Mr. Hunt engaged a number sufficient, as he supposed,
for present purposes; and, having laid in a supply of ammunition,
provisions, and Indian goods, embarked all on board one of those great
canoes at that time universally used by the fur traders for navigating
the intricate and often-obstructed rivers. The canoe was between thirty
and forty feet long, and several feet in width; constructed of birch
bark, sewed with fibres of the roots of the spruce tree, and daubed with
resin of the pine,