According to the trader Thomas Nairne, a gun cost an Indian twelve to sixteen deerhides, but a single slave “brings a Gun, ammunition, horse, hatchet, and a suit of Cloathes, which would not be procured with much tedious toil a hunting.” Successful slave raids rewarded the attackers with the means to purchase additional trade goods, especially more muskets, compounding their military prowess. As a further bonus, successful slave raiding crushed and dispersed rival peoples, opening up their deer hunting grounds for exploitation by the victors.
