74 THE MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. 



pence the same as a shilling of twenty cents, and fifteen and eight- 

 teen-pence twenty-five and thirty pence : thus our quarter is in Lab- 

 rador fifteen pence (not counting the discount which is usually 

 five cents), our twenty cent piece nine-pence (with a discount also 

 of five cents), our ten cents six-pence (discount of only one cent) ; 

 our five cent pieces are often taken for their full value. The three 

 cent piece is not used or recognized, and the fifty cent piece has a 

 discount of from five to ten cents according to location. The 

 Newfoundland Bank note of one pound, or four dollars, is always 

 looked at twice before it is taken, sometimes with and sometimes 

 without discount. It takes six large coppers to be worth a five 

 cent piece. 



In trading, it is customary to employ the usual productions of the 

 country as a medium of exchange. Although it would be as im- 

 possible to make out a table of exchange as a full table of money 

 equivalents for the coast, a few of the more important may be 

 stated. Codfish at thirteen to eighteen shillings a quintal, herring 

 seven six-pence to ten shillings a barrel, cod oil two to two and six- 

 pence a gallon ; seal skins dressed seven and six-pence to fifteen 

 shillings according to the species of seal, undressed five to seven 

 and six-pence, rarely ten shillings apiece ; seal oil two shillings a 

 gallon. Besides this, people living near rivers sell wood for twen- 

 ty-five cents a load of ten long sticks, about forty feet long and 

 eight inches through at the butts. Old iron picked up from wrecks 

 is worth half a cent a pound, and everything useful has its price. 

 Nearly all the trading on the coast is done on the credit system, 

 and it is usually expected beforehand that half the people would not 

 pay their bills if they could, and many of them never intend to, 

 while still another portion are dependent entirely upon the catch of 

 the next season, having, by former delinquencies, overrun their 

 accounts, so that they are obliged to get credit in advance of the 

 season upon that season's catch. No wonder the majority are poor, 

 and kept so not by the power of the richer class, but rather by 

 their own indolence in not profiting when an opportunity offers to 



