AX KXCLISII SETTLKK. 295 



During my residence in the town of St. Louis, in tlie 

 United States, I had occasion to associate myself with 

 some of those adventurous merchants who carry on a 

 dangerous but lucrative traffic in the centre of the Ame- 

 rican desert. Their absence is sometimes prolonged for 

 upwards of six months ; they go from one tribe to another, 

 with their vehicles and servants, until all their merchand- 

 ize is disposed of; then they regain Fort Leaven worth 

 with skins, and gold, and other precious commodities, 

 which yield them a profit of from 400 to 500 per cent. 

 Most of my acquaintances confined their operations to 

 the regions along the western coast of America, between 

 the Mississippi and the Portuguese possessions of Ben- 

 guela. 



One of the most enterprising, as well as one of the 

 most fortunate, of these merchants, was named John 

 Jeffrey, an Englishman by birth, who had amassed a 

 small fortune in his excursions among the Redskins, and 

 wished to retire from business. He had been described 

 to me not only as a man very skilful in his profession, 

 and as a valiant hunter, but also as one of the most in- 

 telligent explorers in North America. I had had an 

 opportunity of rendering him a small service, and he 

 gave me, in reference to this country, all the information 

 I could desire. My assistance, however, had not been 

 very considerable. A slave whom he had purchased in 

 Cuba having been thrown into prison, I had succeeded, 

 through my influence with the authorities, in obtaining 

 his release. 



The affectionate solicitude which Jeffrey displayed in 

 this affair surprised me. How originated his strong 

 attachment for the young mulatto ? There was nothing 



