At their rate of reproduction it is not so easy to
restock a whale pasture as a salmon stream. Cutting down a whale which
has taken ten centuries to grow is like cutting down an oak-tree with a
thousand concentric rings. You cannot in one or two or twenty scant
generations of man grow another one to take its place.
CHAPTER XVII
SOUTH FROM THE ARCTIC TO CHIPEWYAN
"The old lost stars wheel back, dear lass,
That blaze in the velvet blue.
They're God's own guides on the Long Trail--
The trail that is always new."
--_Kipling_.
A tax on tea caused the revolt of the thirteen Colonies, a taunting load
of tennis-balls lost France to the Dauphin. Eighty years ago on this
Arctic edge, white beads, or the lack of them, lost a lucrative
fur-trade, alienated the Loucheux and caused the death of whites.
"Trifles make the sum of human things."
The old records tell the story. John Bell from Fort Good Hope, under
date of August 14th, 1827, writes to the Factor at Fort Simpson:
"The beads sent in for the Loucheux trade are not sufficiently large to
please them. I request you will endeavour to send in the largest size
for the trade of the ensuing year.
Pages:
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361