[157] Gage estimated it at 80,000 pounds sterling. Gage to Shelburne, Jan. 17, 1767. B. T. Papers, Vol. XXVII. Pa. Hist. Soc. Lib. "New Orleans remits one hundred thousand pounds Sterling worth of Peltry annually for France." Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan to McLeane, Oct. 9, 1767, B. T. Papers, Vol. XXVI, Pa. Hist. Soc. Lib.
[158] Gage to Johnson, Jan. 19, 1767, Johnson MSS, Vol. XIV, No. 23, Captain Forbes, commandant at Fort Chartres during part of 1768, wrote to Gage: "As I am very sensible of the immense expence this Country is to the Crown & the little advantage the Public has hitherto reaped by the trade with the savages, & the reason is that the inhabitants have continued to send their Peltry to New Orleans which is shipped from thence to Old France & all the money that is laid out for the Troops and Savages is immediately sent to New Orleans, for which our Subjects get French Manufactures. I hope, Sir, you will excuse me when I observe to Your Excellency, that the Crown of Great Britain is at all the expence & that France reaps the advantages." Forbes to Gage, April 15, 1768, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 124. Commandant Wilkins wrote the same year, "the French of New Orleans are the sole gainers in this Trade and the public suffer greatly thereby." Wilkins to Gage, Sept. 13, 1768, Pub. Rec. Office.
[159] Hillsborough to Gage, July 31, 1770, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 126.
[160] Gage to Shelburne, April 3, 1767, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 123.
[161] Gage to Johnson, Feb, 8, 1767, Johnson MSS, Vol. XIV, No. 44.
[162] "It has not the least command of the River, owing to an Island which lies exactly opposite to it, & the Channel is entirely on the other side for a great part of the year. This is impassable from a sand bar which runs across even for small boats, & the French & their contraband goods, forcing an illicit Trade, to our great disadvantage & a certain and very considerable loss to his Majesty's Revenue." Wilkins to Barrington, Dec. 5, 1767, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 123.
[163] Gordon's Journal, 1766, MS in Pa. Hist. Soc. Lib. Gage to Johnson, Feb. 8, 1767, Johnson MSS, XIV, No. 44. Hillsborough to Gage, July 31, 1770, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 126.
[164] Gage to Hillsborough, Jan. 16, 1768, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol 124.
[165] Gage to Shelburne, April 3, 1767, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 123. Johnson to Lords of Trade, Sept. 1767, N. Y. Col. Docs. Vol. VII, 974.
[166] Gage to Conway, July 15, 1766, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I. Vol. 122. Gordon's Journal down the Ohio, 1766, MS in Pa. Hist. Soc. Lib. Gage to Johnson, Jan. 25, 1767, Johnson MSS, XIV, No. 28. Ibid., Feb. 8, 1767, Johnson MSS, XIV, No. 44. Gage to Shelburne, Jan. 17, 1767, B. T. Papers, Vol. XXVII, Pa. Hist. Soc. Lib. Gage to Shelburne, April 3, 1767, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 123. Johnson to Lords of Trade, Sept. 1767, N. Y. Col. Docs., VII, 974. Phym to Johnson, April 15, 1768, Johnson MSS, XXV, No. 109. Wilkins to Gage, Sept. 13, 1768, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 125. Wilkins to Harrington, Dec. 5, 1769, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 123. Gage to Hillsborough, Nov. 10, 1772, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. I., Vol. 126.