•80 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. V. 



lake (which is commonly known by the name of the River) at the 

 distance of fifty leagues from its N.W. termination. It was gone over 

 last summer and found to be more practicable than the road from Grand 

 Portage now in use." 



"The upper country trade in general," he remarked, "as now carried 

 on from this place (Montreal) is extended as far south as the mouth of 

 the Ohio ; to the westward as far as the rivers falling from that side of 



the Mississippi will carry canoes, including from the river of 



(Arkansas?) in latitude 33° S. to the sources of the Mississippi ; and to 

 the north-west as far as Lake Arabaska, including the whole north side 

 of Lakes Huron and Superior. The value of the whole I esteem at 

 iJ^i 80,000 currency for sake of statement, and I believe I am not ;^20,0Oo 

 on either side of the realty — i^ 100,000 value, I think, is brought from 

 the country now within the American line as fixed by the late treaty of 

 peace ; the other ;;^8o,ooo I consider as being within our own line." 



He strongly urged that the merchants should be permitted to build 

 small decked vessels for the navigation of the lakes instead of being 

 forced to depend upon the " King's ships " to transport their property. 

 " With them," he said, " they can be morally certain of having their 

 goods at market in June or July, and their goods may be imported the 

 same year from England, which will save them from leakage, embezzle- 

 ment, and waste of their property, besides interest of money, which, you 

 know, is a dreadful moth if once allowed to get to any head." 



This reasonable request was backed by a petition from twenty-ont 

 ■merchants of Detroit, and by another from the North-west Companj', 

 which had the year before built the sloop Beaver, intending to take her 

 up the rapids into Lake Superior, but finding that impracticable, now 

 asked permission to employ this vessel in the navigation of Lakes Erie 

 and Huron. The Detroit merchants asserted that " last year owing to 

 the late arrival of such goods as did reach this post, about one thousand 

 packs of furs and peltry which used annually to be remitted to Detroit 

 have this year, from our inability to supply the traders in time, been sent 

 to New Orleans, and that upwards of fifty of the pettyaugers which left 

 this place last fall loaded with goods proper for the Indian trade, were 

 from their late departure frozen up before they reached the places of 

 destination, and that many traders after a fruitless attendance returned 

 unsupplied." In short, "trade in general and this branch in particular 

 had been much circumscribed and of late nearly ruined." 



On the other hand, Dease, the Deputy Superintendent of the Indian 

 Department at Niagara, complained bitterly of the lawless and unprin- 

 cipled conduct of some of the traders. 



