Akaitcho, who is a man of great penetration and shrewdness, duly
appreciated these circumstances; indeed he has often surprised us by his
correct judgment of the character of individuals amongst the traders of
our own party, although his knowledge of their opinions was in most
instances obtained through the imperfect medium of interpretation. He was
an attentive observer however of every action, and steadily compared
their conduct with their pretensions.
By the newspapers we learned the demise of our revered and lamented
sovereign George III and the proclamation of George IV. We concealed this
intelligence from the Indians lest the death of their Great Father might
lead them to suppose that we should be unable to fulfil our promises to
them.
The Indians who had left Fort Providence with Belanger arrived the day
after him and, amongst other intelligence, informed Akaitcho of some
reports they had heard to our disadvantage. They stated that Mr. Weeks,
the gentleman in charge of Fort Providence, had told them that, so far
from our being what we represented ourselves to be, the officers of a
great King, we were merely a set of dependent wretches whose only aim was
to obtain subsistence for a season in the plentiful country of the Copper
Indians, that out of charity we had been supplied with a portion of goods
by the trading Companies, but that there was not the smallest probability
of our being able to reward the Indians when their term of service was
completed.
