Note 626 — Chapter IV · CALIFORNIANS. (continued 2)

Among the Snakes in Idaho garments of four to five beaver-skins were sold for a knife or an awl, and other articles of fur in proportion. Horses were purchased for an axe each. A ship of seventy-four guns might have been loaded with provision, such as dried buffalo, bought with buttons and rings. Articles of real value they thus disposed of cheaply, while articles of comparatively no value, such as Indian head-dress and other curiosities, were held high. A beaver-skin could thus be had for a brass-ring, while a necklace of bears' claws could not be purchased for a dozen of the same rings. Axes, knives, ammunition, beads, buttons and rings, were most in demand. Clothing was of no value; a knife sold for as much as a blanket; and an ounce of vermilion was of more value than a yard of fine cloth. Ross' Fur Hunters, vol. i., pp. 257-9. See further, Lewis and Clarke's Trav., p. 316; Townsend's Nar., pp. 133, 138; Prince, in Cal. Farmer, Oct. 18, 1861; Farnham's Trav., p. 61.