Hearne chose for his station of "Cumberland House" a site at
the entrance to Pine Island Lake on the lower Saskatchewan River.
In 1775 he became Governor of his old starting-point on Hudson
Bay--Fort Prince of Wales. During the American war with France, the
French admiral, La Perouse, made a daring excursion into Hudson Bay
(1782), and summoned Hearne to surrender his fort. This he felt
obliged to do, not deeming his small garrison strong enough to resist
the French force.
Samuel Hearne returned to England in 1787, and died (probably in
London) in 1792.
CHAPTER XI
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys
It has been already mentioned that the conquest of Canada by the
British led to a great increase in travel for the development of the
fur trade. Previously, under the French, permission was only granted
to a few persons to penetrate into the interior to trade with the
natives, commerce being regarded as a special privilege or monopoly to
be sold or granted by the Crown. But after the British had completely
assumed control, nothing was done to bar access to the interior. So
long as the Catholic missionaries had been practically placed in
charge of the Amerindians, and had served as buffers between them and
unscrupulous traders, they--the Amerindians--had been saved from two
scourges, smallpox and strong drink.
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