toms. I have been sometimes at Albany, and have observed that once in seven days they shut up their shops, and afsemble all in the great house; tell me, what is it for? What do they do there?" They meet 6 there,' says Conrad, to hear and learn good things.' "I do not doubt," says the Indian, "that they tell you so they have told me the same: but I doubt the truth of what they say; and I will tell you my reasons. I went lately to Albany to sell my skins, and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum, &c. You know I used generally to deal with Hans Hanson; but I was a little inclined this time to try some other merchant; however, I called first upon Hans, and asked him what he would give for beaver. He said, he could not give more than four shillings a pound; "but," says he, "I cannot talk on business now; this is the day when we meet together to learn good things; and I am going to the meeting." So I thought to myself, since we cannot do any businefs to day, I may as well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. There stood up a man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did not understand what he said; but, perceiving that he looked much at me and at Hanson, I imagined he was angry at seeing me there; so I went out, sat down near the house, struck fire, and lit my pipe; waiting till the meeting should break up. I thought too, that the man had mentioned something of beaver; and I suspected it might be the subject of their meeting. So, when they came out, I accosted my merchant. "Well, Hans," says I, "I hope you have agreed to give more than four shillings a pound.” give more than three shillings and six-pence." I then spoke to several other dealers; but they all sung the same song, three and six-pence, three and six-pence. This made it clear to me, that my suspicion was right; and that, whatever they pretended, of meeting to learn good things, the real purpose was, to consult how to cheat Indians in the price of beaver. Consider but a little, Conrad, and you must be of my opinion. If they meet so often to learn good things, they would certainly have learnt some before this time. But they are still ignorant. You know our practice. If a white man, in travelling through our country, enters one of our cabins, we all treat him as I treat you; we dry him if he be wet, we warm him if he be cold, we give him meat and drink, that he may allay his thirst and hunger, and spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on: we demand nothing in return.* But if you go into a white man's house at Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they say, "Where is your money?" and if I have none, they say, get out you Indian dog! You see they have not yet learnt those little good things that we need no meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers taught them to us when we were children. And therefore it is impossible that their meetings should be for any such purpose as they say, * It is remarkable, that in all ages and countries, hospitality has been allowed as the virtue of those whom the civilised were pleased to call barbarians. The Greeks celebrated the Scythians for it. The Saracens possessed it eminently; and it is to this day the reigning virtue of the wild Arabs. St. Paul, too, in the relation of his voyage and shipwreck on the island of Melita, says, The barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. toms. I have been sometimes at Albany, and have observed that once in seven days they shut up their shops, and assemble all in the great house; tell me, what is it for? What do they do there?" They meet there,' says Conrad, to hear and learn good things.' "I do not doubt," says the Indian, "that they tell you so they have told me the same: but I doubt the truth of what they say; and I will tell you my reasons. I went lately to Albany to sell my skins, and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum, &c. You know I used generally to deal with Hans Hanson; but I was a little inclined this time to try some other merchant; however, I called first upon Hans, and asked him what he would give for beaver. He said, he could not give more than four shillings a pound; "but," says he, "I cannot talk on business now; this is the day when we meet together to learn good things; and I am going to the meeting." So I thought to myself, since we cannot do any businefs to day, I may as well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. There stood up a man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did not understand what he said; but, perceiving that he looked much at me and at Hanson, I imagined he was angry at seeing me there; so I went out, sat down near the house, struck fire, and lit my pipe; waiting till the meeting should break up. I thought too, that the man had mentioned something of beaver; and I suspected it might be the subject of their meeting. So, when they came out, I accosted my merchant. “Well, Hans," says I, “I hope you have agreed to give more than four shillings a pound.” give more than three shillings and six-pence." I then spoke to several other dealers; but they all sung the same song, three and six-pence, three and six-pence. This made it clear to me, that my suspicion was right; and that, whatever they pretended, of meeting to learn good things, the real purpose was, to consult how to cheat Indians in the price of beaver. Consider but a little, Conrad, and you must be of my opinion. If they meet so often to learn good things, they would certainly have learnt some before this time. But they are still ignorant. You know our practice. If a white man, in travelling through our country, enters one of our cabins, we all treat him as I treat you; we dry him if he be wet, we warm him if he be cold, we give him meat and drink, that he may allay his thirst and hunger, and spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on: we demand nothing in return.* But if you go into a white man's house at Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they say, "Where is your money?" and if I have none, they say, get out you Indian dog! You see they have not yet learnt those little good things that we need no meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers taught them to us when we were children. And therefore it is impofsible that their meetings should be for any such purpose as they say, * It is remarkable, that in all ages and countries, hospitality has been allowed as the virtue of those whom the civilised were pleased to call barbarians. The Greeks celebrated the Scythians for it. The Saracens pofsefsed it eminently; and it is to this day the reigning virtue of the wild Arabs. St. Paul, too, in the relation of his voyage and shipwreck on the island of Melita, says, The barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. or have any such effect. They are only to contrive the cheating of Indians in the price of beaver. Farther Remarks on Filamentous Plants. [As a continuation of those of Dr. Anderson in our last, page 233.] DR. ANDERSON has pointed out in the sketch referred to a most useful line of inquiry, which, if prosecuted, cannot fail to be attended with consequences highly beneficial alike for India and for Britain. Hitherto we have contented ourselves with the filaments obtained from two plants only, the cannabis sativa, or common hemp, and flax, linum usitatissimum, for the purpose of cordage and many other useful fabrics, without investigating the properties of the fibres that may be obtained from an immense variety of other plants, which will probably be found to pofsefs qualities that render them much fitter for some particular uses than these are. I had occasion to point out (page 149) a peculiar excellence of the fibre of the common nettle, urtica urens, which, for some purposes, renders it much more valuable than hemp or flax; and other filaments may pofsefs other qualities equally valuable that we do not at present suspect. This is therefore a fine field for observation and useful. experiment. Among the plants enumerated by Dr. Anderson, the only one that has been actually used for cordage in practice, in as far as I yet know, is the husk of the cocoa nut, which has been used in India for that purfor coarse ropes for many years. These are called pose |