HUDSON'S BAY TERRITORIES AND VANCOUVER'S ISLAND, WITH AN EXPOSITION OF THE CHARTERED RIGHTS, CONDUCT, AND POLICY OF THE HONBLE HUDSON'S BAY CORPORATION. BY R. M. MARTIN, Esq. AUTHOR OF THE "HISTORY OF THE BRITISH COLONIES," &c. LONDON: T. AND W. BOONE, N° 29, NEW BOND STREET. MDCCCXLIX. PREFATORY ADDRESS. ΤΟ THE RIGHT HONBLE EARL GREY, H.M. Secretary of State for the Colonies. MY LORD, The avowed ignorance of the nation generally concerning the Hudson's Bay Company, and the natural desire to know more of the territories and proceedings of an association to whom is now being confided the Colonization of Vancouver's Island, have induced me to examine various official and public documents on the subject, in the hope that the result of my inquiry might be useful to many who wish to be better acquainted with the facts of the case, and not unacceptable even to those with whose opinions I generally concur, although in this matter at variance with the conclusions at which I have myself arrived. |