The records of the Hudson's Bay Company do not
corroborate this report. Bayly in the heat of his wrath sent home
accusations with the returning ship. The ship that came out in 1674
requested Radisson to go to England and report. This he did, and so
completely refuted the charges of disloyalty that in 1675 the company
voted him 100 pounds a year; but Radisson would not sit quietly in
England on a pension. Owing to hostility toward him among the English
employees of the company, he could not go back to the bay. Meantime he
had wife and family and servants to maintain on 100 pounds a year. If
England had no more need of him, France realized the fact that she had.
Debts were accumulating. Restless as a caged tiger, Radisson found
himself baffled until a message came from the great Colbert of France,
offering to pay all his debts and give him a position in the French
navy. His pardon was signed and proclaimed. In 1676, France granted
him fishing privileges on the island of Anticosti; but the lodestar of
the fur trade still drew him, for that year he was called to Quebec to
meet a company of traders conferring on the price of beaver.[15] In
that meeting assembled, among others, Jolliet, La Salle, Groseillers,
and Radisson--men whose names were to become immortal.
It was plain that the two adventurers could not long rest.[16]
[1] Chailly-Bert.
[2] The Jesuit expeditions of Dablon and Dreuillettes in 1661 had
failed to reach the bay overland.
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