Page:The Columbia river , or, Scenes and adventures during a residence of six years on the western side of the Rocky Mountains among various tribes of Indians hitherto unknown (Volume 1).djvu/13

 chiefly younger branches of respectable Scottish families, who entered the service as apprentices for seven years; for which period they were allowed one hundred pounds, and suitable clothing. At the expiration of their apprenticeship they were placed on yearly salaries, varying from eighty to one hundred and sixty pounds, and according to their talents were ultimately provided for as partners; some, perhaps, in a year or two after the termination of their engagements; while others remained ten, twelve, or sixteen years in a state of probation.

This system, by creating an identity of interest, produced a spirit of emulation among the clerks admirably calculated to promote the general good; for, as each individual was led to expect that the period for his election to the proprietory depended on his own exertions, every nerve was strained to attain the long-desired object of his wishes.

Courage was an indispensable qualification, not merely for the casual encounters with the Indians, but to intimidate any competitor in trade with whom he might happen to come in collision.