profits were so enormous. The ring or the axe was indeed
a trifle to the trader, but the beaver skin and the
horse were equally trifles to the savage, who could procure
as many of them as he chose with very little
trouble, while the ring and the axe were in his estimation
of priceless value. Besides, be it remembered, to
carry that ring and that axe to the far-distant haunts of
the Red-man cost the trader weeks and months of constant
toil, trouble, anxiety, and, alas! too frequently cost
him his life! The state of trade is considerably modified