A LIVING HISTORY BLOG.

18TH CENTURY LIVING HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Friday 10 February 2017

The prices of the skins in Canada, in the year 1749.

The Fur Trader By John Buxton.

The prices of the skins in Canada, in the year 1749, were communicated to me by M. de Couagne, a merchant at Montreal, with whom I lodged. They were as follows:
Great and middle sized bear skins, cost five livres.
Skins of young bears, fifty sols.
~~~~ lynxes, 25 sols.
~~~~ pichoux du sud, 35 sols.
~~~~ foxes from the southern parts, 35 sols.
~~~~ otters, 5 livres.
~~~~ racoons, 5 livres.
~~~~ martens, 45 sols.
~~~~ wolf-lynxes,  4 livres.
~~~~ wolves, 40 sols.
~~~~ carcajoux, an animal which I do not know, 5 livres.
Skins of visons, a kind of martens, which live in the water, 25 sols.
Raw skins of elks,  10 livres.
~~~~ stags. 
Bad skins of elks and stags,  3 livres.
Skins of roebucks, 25, or 30 sols.
~~~~ red foxes, 3 livres.
~~~~ beavers, 3 livres.
I will now insert a list of all the different kinds of skins, which are to be got in Canada, and which are sent from thence to Europe. I got it from one of the greatest merchants in Montreal. They are as follows:
Prepared roebuck skins, chevreuils passés.
Unprepared ditto, chevreuils verts.
Tanned ditto, chevreuils tanés.
Bears, ours.
Young bears, oursons.
Otters, loutres.
Pecans.
Cats, chats.
Wolves, loup de bois.
Lynxes, loups cerviers.
North pichoux, pichoux du nord.
South pichoux, pichoux du sud.
Red foxes, renards rouges.
Cross foxes, renards croisés.
Black foxes, renards noirs.
Grey foxes, renards argentés.
Southern, or Virginian foxes, renards du sud où de Virginie.
White foxes, from Tadoussac, renards blancs de Tadoussac.
Martens, martres.
Visons, or foutreaux.
Black squirrels, ecureuils noirs.
Raw stags skins, cerfs verts.
Prepared ditto, cerfs passés.
Raw elks skins, originals verts.
Prepared ditto, originals passées.
Rein-deer skins, cariboux.
Raw hinds skins, biches verts.
Prepared ditto, biches passées.
Carcajoux.
Musk rats, rats musques.
Fat winter beavers, castors gras d’hiver.
Ditto summer beavers, castors gras d’été.
Dry winter beavers, castors secs d’hiver.
Ditto summer beavers, castors secs d’été.
Old winter beavers, castors veiux d’hiver.
Ditto summer beavers, castors vieux d’été.’
Peter  Kalm Montreal 22nd September 1749.

1 comment:

Gorges Smythe said...

A carcajoux is a wolverine. A livre has also been called a French pound. I can't find any reference comparing it to the currency of other nations.