mand of Mr. Laframboise and cleared 477 pounds, but the conduct of the men was so bad that under no consideration would Mr. Laframboise return. He had only promised to go for one trip. "I am," said Mr. Laframboise, “through the Mercy of God come back safe because I gave way to my men; if I had assumed the tone of a master I would have been murdered by them. I will not venture again."
Lined up against the Hudson's Bay Company brigades in California were Sutter, Marsh, the American trappers and settlers, Mexican and Spanish residents, and their old adversaries, the Indians. The situation at San Francisco headquarters was not more encouraging.
Dr. McLoughlin proceeds with his letter:
In your 15th paragraph you write to the Governor and Committee that by opening a store at St. Francisco having a vessel of 150 tons on the coast selling at first to retail dealers only and being contented with small profits a good business might be done. On this subject I shall only repeat my conviction that the sooner the unfortunate business which was badly planned, prematurely and irregularly prosecuted, be wound up the better for the interests of the Honourable Company. I am certain people reading this would suppose that I am the originator of this business. I beg distinctly to state that when it was first suggested to me in 1835 till you proposed it to me in London in 1839, though I had always a good opinion of the business I op- posed it merely because I felt we would not be allowed the necessary latitude to carry on the business in the manner it ought to be conducted, but in 1839 when you mentioned to me that we ought to enter in that business I agreed and made out a requisition by your direction, and in compliance with your instructions sent the outfit in charge of Mr. Rae whom you appointed to it in 1841. It is true I ordered a house to be purchased at St. Francisco because we could not get one to rent and it would have cost more to build a house than we paid for the one we bought and you will see by the current accounts of the outfit it has cleared £1848.5.7 after paying (for) the house and the duties on the inventory for both of which it takes no credit and deducting 40% from the outstanding debts which is much better than I expected considering the position in which Mr. Rae was placed and proves the business is much better than you supposed.
A glimpse of the profits of the great Hudson's Bay Company is afforded us by this letter. The post at Yerba Buena in 1843 cleared something over $8,758, but this was deemed too small by the governor.
In the valley the situation was even worse. Dr. McLoughlin sets forth in continuation:
The following is a comparative statement of the accounts for Outfits 1842-1843 for the districts along the coast-
