260 CANADIAN WILDS. 



suit of black cloth clothes, boots, hat, etc., and 

 to his wife a bright tartan wool dress piece, and 

 a tartan shawl of contrasting pattern. 



Our currency, or medium of trade, was 

 called "Made Beaver," equivalent in most arti- 

 cles to a dollar. The value of each skin was 

 computed in "Made Beaver." For every hun- 

 dred of "Made Beaver" of skins that the Indian 

 brought in we allowed him as a gratuity 

 "Called Ruin," ten "Made Beaver," he was at 

 liberty, after paying his debt, to trade whatever 

 he fancied out of the shop to the extent of his 

 "Rum." But unless he paid his debt in full the 

 "Rum" he was entitled to went towards his ac- 

 count. This, however, seldom happened, be- 

 cause one that did not pay his debt in full was 

 looked down upon by his friends, and his sup- 

 plies for the next year were reduced in propor- 

 tion to his deficiency. 



What a change has taken place in the past 

 quarter of a century. I hear from the person 

 now in charge of that post (it is kept up prin- 

 cipally now to protect our further interior post) 

 that all those Indians are dead and gone. Their 

 descendants number scarcely one-third of the 

 original band. They are thieves, drunkards 

 and liars as a rule ; the white man's diseases and 

 fire-water have left their trail. White trappers 

 have penetrated their country in all directions 



