Note 6 — PAPERS ON AMERICAN SUBJECTS BEFORE THE REVOLUTIONARY TROUBLES.

"Dr. Franklin (says Mr. Kalm the Swede,) and several other gentlemen, frequently told me, that a powerful Indian, who possessed Rhode Island, had sold it to the English for a pair of spectacles: it is large enough for a prince's domain, and makes a peculiar government at present. This Indian knew how to set a true value upon a pair of spectacles: for undoubtedly if those glasses were not so plentiful, and only a few of them could be found, they would, on account of their great use, bear the same price with diamonds." See Kalm's Travels into North America, Vol. I. p. 386, 387. "At the time when the Swedes first arrived, they bought land at a very inconsiderable price. For a piece of baize, or a pot full of brandy, or the like, they could get a piece of ground, which at present would be worth more than 290l. sterling." Ib. Vol. II. p. 118.—The truth is, that the Indians considered their lands as mere hunting-manors, and not as farms. B. V.