Report on the Dominion Government Expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Islands on board the D.G.S. Neptune, 1903-1904

by A. P. Low

The Launch.

CHAPTER XI.
NAVIGATION OF HUDSON BAY.

The question of the navigation of Hudson bay and Hudson strait has been before the Canadian public for a period extending back almost to the time of Confederation. An answer to this question has become more and more pressing, as the latent wealth of the grain-fields of the Northwest has been proved, and as the present means of transport of this great volume of grain to the eastward become yearly less capable of handling it expeditiously and cheaply.

Within the past few years the yield of Northwest grain has increased enormously, and a second line of rails is being laid across the continent to aid in the rapid transport of this wealth to the seaboard. If the increase in the area of land opened annually to cultivation continues as at present, a few years will show such a volume of grain to be transported that the new outlets will be unable to give free exit to it, and a new lane by which it can be taken to the European markets must be found.

The route by rail to the port of Churchill, on the western side of Hudson bay, and from thence to Europe in ships, is the shortest, and is likely to prove the best, of all those outside the present routes by rail to the headwaters of the St. Lawrence navigation.

Ships go wherever cargoes can be obtained, and all that is needed to open Hudson bay for ordinary commercial navigation is a line of rails to carry freight to one of its ports. At present the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Revillon Fur Company have ships going annually to the bay, and a greater amount of freight would attract more steamers.

As stated in the historical summary, the London merchants opened communication with northern Russia by ships trading in the White sea in the days of Queen Elizabeth. Spurred on by the success attending this adventure to the northeast, a few years later they sent vessels to the northwest, in the hopes of opening up a similar trade, and of discovering a short and safe passage to the rich markets of China and India.

Hudson’s voyage in 1610 resulted in the discovery of Hudson bay, and in the knowledge that no great opportunities existed there for extensive commerce, owing to the lack of civilized natives. James and Fox completed the exploration of the bay, without coming in contact with any of the natives residing on its shores.

The formation of the Hudson’s Bay Company was due to the knowledge of the French fur traders, that a profitable trade might be carried on with the natives frequenting the shores of the bay. This trade from its nature never required a large fleet of ships in its carrying trade, but since 1668 the company have sent annually one or more ships to supply its posts, and to bring back the valuable furs obtained from the inhabitants; and it is remarkable that with the imperfect charts of its waters so few ships have been lost in the last two hundred and fifty years; of these only a small number have met with disaster from contact with the ice in the bay or strait. From the time of the Treaty of Utrecht to the transfer of the lands of the Hudson’s Bay Company to the Dominion, the bay and strait were a closed sea belonging exclusively to the Company, and other ships entered these waters unlawfully, and navigation by outsiders was practically prohibited there. The American whalers visited the northern portions of the bay as early as 1860, and within a few years their number had increased to fourteen ships wintering in its northern waters. As these vessels did not directly interfere with the fur trade they were left undisturbed, and are only mentioned here to show that other ships besides those of the Hudson’s Bay Company have for a considerable period been navigating the bay, but being intent upon a paying enterprise did not herald their achievements to the public.

The Dominion Government, in 1885-86, sent out steamers under Commander Gordon to test the period of navigation of Hudson strait, and at the same time established observation stations along the length of the strait, where the action of the ice was studied during these two years. Commander Gordon reported that the strait was open for three or four months for navigation by specially constructed ships. In 1897 a second expedition was sent out under the charge of Commander Wakeham, who was accompanied by Mr. Fisher, a representative of the Manitoba government. Both reported on the navigation of the strait and bay, and practically upheld all the statements of Commander Gordon.