Note VI-5 — Chapter VI · COMMERCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI.[VI-1]

The plus in the fur-trade was the standard of value, viz.: one prime beaver (abiminikwa). In the above scale of prices the plus was reckoned as $2. The scale was a multiple or fraction of this, which answered the purpose of an English shilling, French franc, Indian rupee, or our dollar. Thus Perrault tells us that in 1784 a bear, an otter, or a lynx was worth a plus; three martens or 15 muskrats were also a plus; a buffalo was two plus, etc. A keg of "made" liquor, i. e., three-fourths water, one-fourth alcohol, with a little strychnine, Cocculus indicus, or tobacco-juice to flavor and color it, has been sold to many an Indian for 20 to 40 plus. During my recent canoe voyage to the source of the Mississippi, I believe that I could have been provisioned, lodged, and transported by the Chippewas for a month at the cost of a gallon or two of "made" whisky, had I been provided with that article and disposed to put it to an unlawful purpose.