251 
The influence of European intercourse began to be 
very perceptible amongst the inhabitants of the sea- 
coasts. Many of the chiefs, indeed, were the descen¬ 
dants of Frenchmen, who had married or otherwise 
cohabited with the native women; and, as the offspring 
of these unions, were always held in high esteem by 
the natives, they generally secured the rank of nobility 
amongst them. Most of the chiefs, and many of in¬ 
ferior rank, understood and spoke the French lan¬ 
guage. The use and value of coin began to be well 
understood ; and, as a chief of Johanna significantly 
remarked, “ They had learned to prefer dollars and 
gold coin to glass beads and trinkets.” Their com¬ 
mercial transactions, therefore, were conducted by the 
medium of money, instead of being exclusively a trade 
by barter. Some of the chiefs had adopted the French 
costume. Zacavola himself was habited in a scarlet 
uniform, which had been presented to him by the 
governor of the Isle of France. In the construction, 
furniture, and decoration of their houses, also, they 
imitated the French; and the accommodations were 
so similar to those which we might expect to find in 
the house of a man of good circumstances in Europe, 
as to excite the surprise of M. Lescallier. 
These marks of civilization, however, were confined 
to the neighbourhood of the trading posts, for in the 
distant and inland provinces they still retained their 
primitive manners 
* This was the case along the western coast, particularly 
where the French had never had much influence or intercourse. 
