Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/426

 414 General Obfervations on

gate by land or Tea, no day of the week excepted, indeed the fabbath day is the word. This is the true fituation of our Indian affairs, the unavoid able refult of ignorant and wicked clergymen fettled as Miflionaries on the frontiers ; and of that pernicious practice of general licences, by which crowds of diforderly people infed the Indian countries, corrupt their morals, and put their civilization out of the power of common means : the worfl and meaneft may readily get nominal fecurity to intitle them to a trading licence ; and ill ufes are made of them with impunity.

Till of late years, the honed traders lived among the Indians in the greateft plenty. They abounded with hogs, which made very firm ftreaked bacon, and much preferable to that in the Englifh fettlements chiefly ow ing to the acorns and hiccory-nuts they feed on : but the Indians are now grown fo proud and lazy, by having goods too cheap and plenty, that very few raife any. There are at leaft five times the number of trading houfes in all the weftern Indian nations, fince general licences, through the wif- dom of our civil rulers, were firft granted, than was formerly, while expe rience directed South-Carolina to purfue and enforce proper meafures. Such a number of lewd, idle white favages are very hurtful to the honed part of the traders, by heightening the value of vegetables, efpecially in the time of light crops, to an exorbitant price -, for by inebriating the Indians with their nominally prohibited, and poifoning fpirits, they pur- chafe the necefiaries of life, at four or five hundred per cent cheaper, than the orderly traders ; which is a great check to the few, who have a love to the welfare of their country, and driclly obferve the laws of trade. Be- fides, thofe men decoy the intoxicated favages to defraud the old fair dealer every winter, of many thoufand pounds of dred deer-lkins, by the enchanting force of liquors, which, on account of their indolence and im provident difpofition, intered abfolutely required him to credit them for : but when at the end of their mad career, they open their diftrafted eyes, and bitterly inveigh againd the tempting authors of their nakedn^fs, then there is the fame neceflity of truding them a-new for the next feafon's hunt, and likewife the fame improbability, either of better fuccels, or any fort of redrefsj for family jobs mud not be interrupted or retarded on any ac count.

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