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2/6 - The Company that Built a Country

Ladies, I give you Ray Mears, the perfect man. This is someone who can mend a canoe using only natural resin and bear fat; who can construct a dainty yet astonishingly effective outdoor cooker from a handful of twigs (for those romantic meals on mountainsides, of course); and who whittles intricately carved spoons from wood, just for fun. Come on, who needs Daniel Craig? In the second part of Mears's captivating journey through Canada's gorgeous boreal forest, he takes to the French River to examine the genesis of the once-mighty Hudson's Bay Company, set up by Royal Charter in 1670 to exploit the forest's beaver population. Their fur, which was turned into fabulous hats for the fashion-conscious, was much desired in Britain. This was big business, but it was a tough life for hunters, who dragged canoes inland for miles before setting up camp, often living in the open for years. Mears obviously loves canoes, as does everyone he speaks to. According to one Canadian forest guide, this deceptively delicate-looking but astonishingly tough little craft should supplant the maple leaf as the country's emblem.