259 



tageous in regard to trade; The fiver Hud- 

 Jon, which flows clofe by if, is from twelve 

 to twenty feet deep. There is not yet any 

 quay made for the better lading of the 

 yachts, becaufe the people feared it would 

 fuffer greatly* or be entirely carried away in 

 fpring by the ice, which then comes down- 

 the river ; the veilels Which are in ufe here* 

 may come pretty near the fhore in order to 

 be laden, and heavy goods are brought to 

 them upon canoes tied together. Albany 

 carries on a confiderable commerce with 

 New York, chiefly in furs, boards, wheat, 

 flour, peafe, feveral kinds of timber, &c. 

 There is not a place in all the Briti/h colo- 

 nies, the Hudfon's Bay fettlements excepted, 

 where fuch quantities of furs and fkins are 

 bought of the Indians, as at Albany. Moft 

 of the merchants in this town fend a clerk 

 or agent to OJwego, an Eng/t/b trading town, 

 upon the lake Ontario, to which the Indians 

 refort with their furs. I intend to give a 

 more minute account of this place in my 

 Journal for the year 1750. The merchants 

 from Albany fpend the whole fummer at 

 OfwegOy and trade with many tribes of In- 

 dians who come to them with their goods. 

 Many people have affured me, that the ///- 

 dians are frequently cheated in difpoiing of 

 their goods, elpecially when they aie in 

 R 2 liquor, 



