LIFE OF MOSES HENRY ??liLEY. 35 



Majesty to M. H. Perley, Chief Sjicliem of the Milicites, and 

 Wunjeet Saganiovv of the Micmac Nation." Shortly after he re- 

 ceived his commission as ''Wunjeet Sachem" of the whole Mic- 

 mac Nation, dated Sept. 7th, 1841, and a similar one acknowledg- 

 ing him Chief Sachem of the Malicite trihe. They were no 

 empty honours, hut involved many responsihilities, among which 

 l>eing that of intermediary between the government and all the 

 Indians of the i)roYince, whose husiness relations were many 

 and often troublesome, growing out of the transfer of lands, the 

 allotment of reservations, compensation for lost privileges, and 

 complaints of encroachments of settlers. Chief Perley attended 

 the tribal assemblies convoked to discuss Indian matters, and. 

 clad in the picturesque native dress of a sachem, })resided. The 

 unbounded confidence of the red men in their '"White Chief, 

 his moderation, and extensive knowledge of their habits, temper, 

 and the nature of their grievances enabled him to guide them to 

 a conclusion by which nuitters could always be amicably adjust- 

 ed. Indeed Indian afl'airs were at the time so in)portant, that 

 a government oflice was created to adnjinister them, and "Chief 

 Perley" was, in 1841, a[ipointe^l "Special Ct)mmissioner for 

 Indian Afl'airs," by Sir William Colebrook, Lt. Governor of 

 the province. 



Perley's extensive knowledge of the [)rovince and its resour- 

 ces, and his untiring efforts to promote its settlement and the 

 development of its natural wealth, marked him out as the man 

 best (luaiitied to assume the direction of immigration, and in 

 1844 he was appointed Agent at the Port of St. John. Two years 

 after he was selected by the governor of New Brunswick t<j make 

 a s[)ecial examination of the greater part of the province, with 

 regard to its natural wealth and siiitability for settlement. In 

 1847 he made his report, wiiich is divided into two, the tirst deal- 

 ing with the "trade, agriculture, risheries, resources and capabili- 

 ties;" the second, the "Forest Trees of New Brunswick." 



Two years after and at the request of the government he 

 submitted his "Re[)ort on the Sea and River Fisheries of New 

 lirunswick. within the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Bay duChaleur;" 



