266 "BARTER TRADE." 



the Indians both as to the quality of their furs, and that of the ar- 

 ticles which they offer in exchange for them ; the majority, however, 

 ask only a fair price in exchange for cash, and the charges seem ex- 

 orbitant only as the proposed credit is large or doubtful. Flour 

 is generally $7.00 to ^9.00 a barrel; lard, 20 cents, butter, 30 to 40 

 cents, and ship biscuits, 10 cents per pound; pork a barrel, ^25.00 

 to ^28.00; cotton, 25 to 40 cents per yard; molasses, 60 to 80 

 cents a gallon. In exchange, beaver skin is worth ^1.50 to ^2.50 

 a pound, martins ^1.50 to ^3.00 a piece, lynx, ^1.50 to $2,00, 

 bear, $5.00 to ^7.50, fox, ^1.50, silver fox, ^15.00 to 30.00, cross 

 fox, $7.00 to ^9.00, and mink about $1.00. This will show the 

 general average of the trade, varying slightly according to the 

 season all along the St. Lawrence and Labrador peninsula. 



The summer visits of these Indians are dreaded by all fishermen. 

 They roam at will, fishing or shooting, visiting salmon and seal nets 

 at night, and stealing the " catch " of their more fortunate white 

 neighbors, while they scare away all species of game and render 

 others as miserable as they themselves are, till fall again disperses 

 them towards their winter hunting grounds in the interior of this 

 wild, bleak, desolate country. In 1881 the value of their whole 

 hunt was only about ^20,000. The same year their numbers all told, 

 from Quebec to Belle Isle, were about 11,000 young and old; this 

 was probably too large an estimate by several thousands. One can 

 thus see that the Indian population of this region is anything but 

 an easy one to manage. They come down from the interior in 

 small bands to the various places named above, in a half starved 

 condition, and attempt to make up for their loss in hunting and 

 trapping, by begging from any and all that are more fortunate than 

 themselves, and by obtaining large credit from the traders. The 

 government can do little to help them. If one year it sends sup- 

 plies, the following year the Indians come down en masse to their 

 rendezvous and loaf around doing nothing to earn their own living, 

 while waiting for a similar shipment from the government. If this 

 comes it demorahzes them more than ever, and if it does not come 

 they have then lost all the benefit of the fishery, where they might 



