Note 145 — Chapter XXX
Reading edition
INDIAN TRADE IN MONTREAL IN 1689.
Differences of prices in the Indian trade at Montreal and Orange (Albany), New York, in 1689:
The Indian pays for at Albany at Montreal
Eight-pounds of powder 1 beaver 4 beavers
A gun 2 " 5 "
Forty pounds of lead 1 " 3 "
A blanket of red cloth 1 " 2 "
A white blanket 1 " 2 "
Four shirts 1 " 2 "
Six pairs of stockings 1 " 2 "
"The English have no black or Brazilian tobacco, they sell that of Virginia at discretion to the Indians.
"The other small wares, which the French truck with the Indians, are supplied by the English in the market.
"The English give six quarts (pots) of eau de vie for one beaver. It is rum or spirits or, in other words, liquor distilled from the sugar cane, imported from the West Indies. The French have no fixed rate in trading brandy, some give more, some give less, but they never give as much as a quart for a beaver. It depends on places and circumstances and on the honesty of the French trader.
"Remark:—the English do not discriminate in the quality of the beaver; they take all at the same rate, which is more than 50 per cent higher than the French, there being besides more than 100 per cent difference in the price of their trade and ours."