16 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



their supplies in the Indian shop, and if I took a fancy to the old 

 gentleman — ^who by the way was about sixty years of age — the 

 trader would give me an introduction, and I could then make 

 my arrangements with the hunter himself. So after dinner, 

 when word came that they had landed, I left the hving room for 

 the Indian shop. 



In the old days, in certain parts of the country, when the 

 Indians came to the posts to get their "advances" or to barter 

 their winter's catch of fur, the traders had to exercise constant 

 caution to prevent them from looting the establishments. At 

 some of the posts only a few Indians at a time were allowed 

 within the fort, and even then trading was done through a 

 wicket. But that apphed only to the Plains Indians and to 

 some of the natives of the Pacific Coast; for the Strong Woods 

 people were remarkably honest. Even to-day this holds good 

 notwithstanding the fact that they are now so much in contact 

 with white men. Nowadays the Indians in any locality 

 rarely cause trouble, and at the trading posts the business of 

 the Indian shops is conducted in a quiet and orderly way. 



The traders do most of their bartering with the Indians in 

 the early summer when the hunters return laden with the 

 spoils of their winter's hunt. In the early autumn, when the 

 Indians are about to leave for their hunting grounds, much 

 business is done, but little in the way of barter. At that season 

 the Indians procure their outfit for the winter. Being usually 

 insolvent, owing to the leisurely time spent upon the tribal 

 camping grounds, they receive the necessary supplies on 

 credit. The amount of credit, or "advances," given to each 

 Indian seldom exceeds one third of the value of his average 

 annual catch. That is the white man's way of securing, in 

 advance, the bulk of the Indian's prospective hunt; yet, 

 although a few of them are sometimes slow in settling 

 their debts, they are never a match for the civilized white 

 man. 



