La  Hontan,  a  French  officer  who  was  commandant  of  a  fort  on  Lake
Ontario  during  the  seventeenth  century,  gives  an  interesting  account
of  the  way  the  Indians  traded  with  the  French  while  the  latter  were
rulers  of  the  Northwest. His  "Journal  "  was  first  published  in  1703,
and  there  were  several  editions  in  later  years. "When  the  Indians
accumulated  a  sufficient  supply  of  peltries,  they  loaded  them  in  bark
canoes  and  set  forth  for  the  market. Arrived  at  their  destination  they
encamped  some  four  or  five  hundred  yards  from  the  town,  unloaded
their  canoes  and  camped  beside  them. Next  day  they  generall}^  waited
on  the  commandant  or  highest  person  in  authority,  and  had  an  audience
in  a  public  place. The  French  ruler  would  sit  in  a  chair  and  the  Indians
on  the  ground  with  pipes  in  their  mouths. Presently  one  of  the  orators
would  stand  up  and  make  a  speech,  saying  that  his  party  had  come  to
renew  their  friendship  with  the  French ;  that  they  wished  to  promote
the  interests  of  the  latter;  that  they  knew  their  goods  were  valuable,
and  that  the  French  goods  given  in  exchange  were  not  so  costly  or  de-
sirable; that  they  wanted  to  exchange  their  furs  for  powder  and  ball
and  guns  and  blankets  and  other  articles. With  the  arms  and  ammu-
nition they  proposed  to  hunt  great  quantities  of  beavers,  or  to  fight  the
Iroquois,  if  the  latter  disturbed  the  French  settlement. Then  they
gave  a  belt  of  wampum,  which  was  several  strings  of  shells  or  an  im-
itation of  the  same  in  crockery,  to  the  person  in  authority,  together
with  some  skins,  and  claimed  his  protection  in  case  any  of  their  goods

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were  stolen,  or  for  any  abuse  that  might  be  committed  upon  them  in
the  place. The  ruler  would  answer  in  a  very  civil  speech,  in  which  he
assured  them  of  his  protection  and  made  some  presents  in  return. Then
the  conference  was  over  and  the  savages  returned  to  their  temporary
camp. Next  morning,  with  their  slaves,  if  they  had  any,  they  would
carry  the  skins  to  the  stores  of  the  merchants,  and  bargain  with  them
for  clothes,  blankets,  axes,  powder,  ball,  etc. 