Old Indian was very courteous; he drew forth a bag of clinking dollars,
for strange as it may seem, he was a churchwarden: the Micmacs being all
Catholics, the chief holds the silver keys of St. Peter. But venerable and
pious as he appeared, with his silver cross and silver hair, the old
fellow was something too of a broker! He demanded a fair rate of
commission--eight per cent. premium on every dollar! Even this would not
answer our purpose; it was as difficult to make change with the old
churchwarden as with Malcolm: there was no money in the camp except hard
silver dollars.

No change for a sovereign!

So we went forth from the wigwam again on all fours, and it was only by
another promise of a sound drubbing that Malcolm was finally persuaded to
drop off and leave us.

Aboriginal certainly is the camp of the Micmacs. The birch-bark wigwams;
the canoes that lined the beach; the paddles, the utensils; the bows and
arrows; the parti-colored baskets, are independent of, are earlier than
our arts and manufactures. So far as these people are concerned, the
colonial government has been mild and considerate. Although there are
game-laws in the Province, yet Micmac has a privilege no white man can
possess. At all seasons he may hunt or fish; he may stick his _aishkun_ in
the salmon as it runneth up the rivers to spawn, and shoot the partridge
on its nest, if he please, without fine and imprisonment. Some may think
it better to preserve the game than to preserve the Indian; but some think
otherwise. For my part, when the question is between the man and the
salmon, I am content to forego fish.

As we walked through the Micmac camp we met our semi-civilized friend with
the lozenge eyes, and I made a contract with him for a brief voyage on le
Bras d'Or. But alas! Indian will sometimes take a lesson from his white
comrades! Micmac's charge at first was one pound for a trip of twenty-four
miles on the "Arm of Gold;" cheap enough. But before we left the camp it
was two pounds. That I agreed to pay. Then there was a portage of three
miles, over which the canoe had to be carried. "Well?" "And it would take
two men to paddle." "Well?" "And then the canoe had to be paddled back."
"Well?" "And then carried over the portage again." "Well?" "And so it
would be four pounds!" Here the negotiations were broken off; how much
more it would cost I did not ascertain. The rate of progression was too
rapid for further inquiry.

So we walked