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made from St. John by Simonds and White, but they suffice to show that during the period of ten years that elapsed from their settlement in 1764 to the outbreak of the American Revolution (when the ports of Massachusetts were closed against them) they exported 18,250 lbs. of spring beaver skins, and 8,390 lbs. of fall and winter beaver skins, a total of 26,640 lbs. besides 2,265 lbs. of castor, the whole amounting in value to £8,500, according to the invoice prices. As the average weight of a beaver skin was a pound and a half, the number of skins exported must have been at least 40,000. There were other traders engaged in the same business, as appears from Mr. Simond's correspondence. If then this firm alone sent to New England an average of 4,600 beaver skins annually, it is manifest that the fur trade of the St. John river at this period had assumed large proportions.

During the ten years of uninterrupted trade, Simonds and White shipped to New England, in addition to the beaver which was their staple article, skins of all the animals common to the country, including the following:—11,022 Musquash, 6,050 Marten, 870 Otter, 258 Fisher, 522 Mink, 120 Fox, 140 Sable, 74 Racoon, 67 Loupcervier, 8 Woolverene, 5 Bear, 2 Nova Scotia Wolf, 50 Carriboo, 85 Deer, and 1,113 Moose, besides some 3,000 lbs. of feathers, of which articles the value according to invoice prices was £2,795.

The prices at which these furs were quoted one hundred and thirty years ago seem, when compared with those of modern times, to be ridiculously low;^[1] their total value, however, amounted to the respectable sum of $40,000.

In their business transactions Messrs Simonds and White kept four sets of accounts: one for the Indian