FUR PACTS 



145 



At one time people paid their bills with beaver skins and esti- 

 mated the value of their possessions by the number of beavers they 

 represented. In trading with the Indians the Hudson's Bay Company 

 measured everything by the value of the beaver skin. It is stated 

 that one reason why the old muzzle-loading rifle had such an extra 

 long barrel was due to the fact that the Hudson's Bay Company sold 



CHWUC 



the inuzzle-loading rifle to the Indians for beaver pelts, and the value 

 of the gun in beavers was equal to the number of beavers it would 

 take to reach to the top or the end of the gun. In other words one 

 end of the gun was placed on the floor in an upright position, and 

 then beavers were laid along side of it until they reached to the top 

 of the barrel. It is easy to see that the longer the barrel of the gun 

 the more beavers it would take to reach to the top. It took one 



