84 
1771. 
ee) 
March. 
A JOURNEY TO THE 
trade, three times the quantity of furrs which 
they bring. For this reafon, it is much more for 
the intereft of the Company that the annual tra- 
ders fhould buy up all thofe fmall quantities of 
furrs, and bring them in their own name, than 
that a parcel of beggars fhouid be encouraged to 
come to the Factory with fearcely as many furrs 
as will pay for the victuals they eat while they are _ 
on the plantation. 
I have often heard it obferved, that the Indians 
who attend the deer-pounds might, in the courfe 
of a winter, collect a vaft number of pelts, which 
would well deferve the attention of thofe who are 
called carriers or traders; but it is a truth, 
though unknown to thofe fpeculators, that the 
deer fkins at that feafon are not only as thin as a 
_ bladder, but are alfo full of warbles, which ren- 
der them of littleor no value. Indeed, were they 
a more marketable commodity than they really 
are, the remote fituation of thofe pounds from the 
Company’s Factories, muft for ever be an unfur- 
mountable barrier to the Indians bringing any of 
thofe fkins to trade. The fame obfervation may 
be made of all the other Northern Indians, whofe 
chief fupport, the whole year-round, is venifon ; 
but the want of heavy draught in Winter, and 
water-carriage in fummer, will not permit them 
to bring many deer fkins to market, not even 
thofe that are in feafon, and for which there has 
always been great encouragement given. | 
We ftopped only one night in company with the 
| Indians | 
