These poor creatures I had seen the morning be-
fore, at the inn, endeavouring to persuade Fenning,
the landlord, to exchange spirituous liquors for a
piece of printed callico, which the Indian had re-
ceived as a present from the agent of the British
Government in Canada. I was glad to observe
that Fenning had the uprightness to refuse taking
advantage of this poor creature, which he might
easily have done, as the Indian was then in a state
of intoxication, and scarcely able to utter any
thing but Whisko, the name he gave to spirits.
I was told in Canada, that many thousand pounds
per annum are expended in presents to the Indians,
in order to insure their friendship in time of war;
and that the greater part of these presents are ex-
changed for spirituous liquors, which they use to
great excess, many times to the loss of their lives,
and always at the expence of their health.

After crossing the Rapids, I passed through the
Prairies, or large open plains, already described.
In the evening I slept in an inn kept by a person
called Esquire Ransom. This is the title given
to all justices of the peace, and my landlord was
one, and a miller also. It seemed to me a little
strange, that men in such low stations should be
appointed magistrates. On making a remark to
this effect, they also thought it very strange that
we should measure peoples understanding by their
wealth.