BEAVER AND CANADIAN HISTORY 193 



of the Indian on whose welfare the Company so 

 largely depended. Notwithstanding what has been 

 said to the contrary the use of " fire-water " was 

 certainly discountenanced. This in itself was a 

 potent cause of peace. There is no doubt that 

 many serious wars were averted by the diplomatic 

 handling of what were often extremely difficult 

 situations. (This is not a book on Canada, so 

 that I scarcely feel justified in going too much 

 into historical questions, but if the reader is 

 interested in the subject he will find great pleasure 

 in going through the accounts of the Hudson Bay 

 Company, " The Relations of the Jesuits in 

 Canada," and other historic works relating to the 

 subject.) 



As already stated the coin of the country was 

 the beaver-skin ; it was the unit of exchange or 

 barter. If a man wanted a blanket or a knife or 

 any article he was asked so many " beaver," and 

 though he did not always pay in actual skins they 

 were the basis of all smaller transactions. Unfor- 

 tunately it is impossible to estimate the number 

 of beaver which were killed for use and sale. In 

 1854 no less than 509,000 skins were sold in 

 London and Edinburgh, while Thompson Seton 

 gives the average annual total " brought out by 

 the American Fur Company and the Hudson's 

 Bay Company for the period between 1860 and 

 1870, when the fur trade was at its height, as, in 

 round numbers, 150,000," and he adds : " But the 



R.B. o 



