In June, 1754, Anthony Hendry, a young man in the service of the
Company, left York factory on Hudson Bay to find out what the
French were doing. We have a slight but carefully written diary
of Hendry's journey. He does not fail to note that in the summer
weather life was made almost intolerable by the "musketoos."
Traveling by canoe he reached the Saskatchewan River and tells
how, on the 22d of July, he came to "a French house." It was Fort
Paskoya. When Hendry paddled up to the river bank two Frenchmen
met him and "in a very genteel manner" invited him into their
house. With all courtesy they asked him, he says, if he had any
letter from his master and where and on what design he was going
inland. His answer was that he had been sent "to view the
Country" and that he intended to return to Hudson Bay in the
spring. The Frenchmen were sorry that their own master, who was
apparently the well-known Canadian leader, St. Luc de la Corne,
the successor of Saint-Pierre, had gone to Montreal with furs,
and added their regrets that they must detain Hendry until this
leader's return.
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