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Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de Tangle sup^rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 A i ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. BV OHARLES IIAU EEPRINTED FROM THE REPORT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION FOR 1872. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1878. A] J i ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE vx NORTH AMERICA. BY OHARLES RAU. BEPRIMTED FROM THE REPORT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION FOR 1872. WASHINGTON: OOYEBNMENT PBINTINO OFFICE. 1873. MM pc ac CO pr Inl Co| Ga 01.1 Mil Sla exi tin me of pri tioi led inh on mai far hav are und attii the as t oft Sail totl *J conc( Mem ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. By Chakles R\u. The following essay was pnblishod in German, Vol. V of the Archiv fiir Anthro- pologic (Brnnuachweig, 1872); but as the subject is purely North American in char- acter, the author has deemed it proper to prepare a version in the language of the country to which it refers. The present reproduction, however, is enlarged and im- proved. CONTENTS, Page. 1 Introduction Copper 3 Galena 8 Olisiiliau 10 Mica 13 Slate 15 Pnge. Flint..... 18 Red Pipestone 21 Shells 25 Pearls 36 Division of Labor 39 Conclusion 45 . INTRODUCTION. Iiidicatioiis are not waiitiug that a kind of trade or traffic of some extent existed among the prehistoric inhabitants of Europe, even at a time when they stood comparatively low in the scale of human develop- ment. The same practice prevailed in North America, before that part of the new world was settled by Europeans ; and as the the subject of primitive commerce is of particular interest, because it sheds addi- tional light on the conditions of life among by-gone races, I have col- lected a number of data bearing on the trade-relations of the former inhabitants of North America. The fact that such a trade was carried on is proved, beyond any doubt, by the frequent occurrence of Indian manufactures consisting of materials which were evidently obtained from far distant localities. In many cases, however, these manufactures may have been brought as booty, and not by trade, to the places where they are found in our days. The modern Indians, it is well known, sometimes undertook expeditions of a thousand or twelve hundred miles, in order to attack their enemies. The warlike Iroquois, for example, who inhabited the pre; ent State of New York, frequently followed the war-path as far as the Mississippi river. Thus, in the year 1680, six hundred warriors of the Seneca tribe invaded the territory of the Illinois, among whom La Salle sojourned just at that time, preparing to descend the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.* More than a hundred years ago, the traveler * Morgan, League of the Iroquois, Rochester, 1651, p. 13. More precise information concerning this memorable expedition is to be found in the writings of Hennepin, Membrd, Lahontan, and others. ANCIENT ABOKIGINAL TRADE IN NOUTII AMERICA. Carver learned from the Winnebagoes (in the present State of Wiscon- sin) that they sometimes made war-excursions to the southwestern parts inhabited by Spaniards (New IMexico), and that it required months to arrive there.* Simihir excursions and migrations, of course, took phico during tlie early unknown periods of North American history. In the course of such enterprises the property of the vanquished naturally fell into the hands of the victors, who approi)riated everything that ap- peared useful or desirable to them. Tlie consequenc-e was an exchange by force — if I may call it so — which caused many of the manufactures and commodities of the various tribes to be scattered over the face of the country. This having been the case, it is, of course, inqjosslble to draw a line between peaceable bjirter and appropliation by right of war, and, therefore, while employing hereafter frecjuently the terms "trade" or "exchange," I interpose that reservation which is neces- sitated by the circumstances just mentioned. Of the Indian commerce that has si)rung up since the arrival of the Europeaus I shall say but little, considering that this subject has suffi- ciently been treated in ethnological and other works on North America ; and I shall likewise omit to draw within the sphere of my observations that interesting trade which was, and still is, carried on between the tribes inhabiting the high north of Asia and America, where Behring's Strait separates the two continents. My attention is chietly directed to the more ancient manufactures occurring in Indian mounds and elsewhere ; and the distribution of these relics over distant parts of the country, in connection with the known or presumed localities which furnished the materials composing them, forms the basis of my deductions. Thus, my essay will assume an archwological character, and for this reason I shall confine my remarks to that part of the United States concerning whose antiquities we possess the most detailed information, namely, the area which is bounded by the Mississippi valley (in an extended sense), by the Great Lakes, the Atlantic coast, and the Gulf of Mexico. A number of archaeologists make a distinction between the builders of the extensive mural earthworks and tumuli of North America and the tribes whom the whites found in possession of the country, and consequently separate the relics of the so-called mound-builders from those of the later inhabitants. Such a line of demarcation certainly must appear totally obliterated with regard to the relations which I am about to discuss, for which reason I shall by no means adhere to this vague division in my essay, but shall only advert to the former Indian population in general. In the following sections I have first treated of a number of materials which formed objects of trade, either in an unwrought state or in the shape of implements and ornaments ; and subsequently, in conclusion, I have made some observations tending to add more completeness to my preceding statements. *• Carver, Travels, «fcc., Harper's reprint, New York, 1838, p. 4s?. \. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TIJAUE IN NORTH AMERICA. d f Wiscon- torn pints aontbs to ook place r. In the urally fell that ap- exchange nfactures lie face of ossible to i right of he terms is ueces-. al of the has suffi- America; ervatlons the tribes g's Strait etl to the sewhere ; country, uruished . Thus, reason I icerning aely, the sense), builders ica and ry, and s from srtainly ch I am to this Indian iterials ill the ilusion, uess to COPPER. Every one knows that the region where Lake Su])erior borders on the northern part of Michigan abounds in copper, which occurs hero in a native state and in immense masses, the separation of which and rais- ing to the surface contribute in no slight degree to the difticulties of the mining piocess. Long before Europeans penetrated to those parts, the aborigines already possessed a knowledge of this wealth of copper. This fact became known in 1847, at wliich time the traces of ancient aboriginal mining of some extent were pointed out in that district. The circumstances of this discovery and the means employed by the natives for obtaining the ijopper being now well known, a repetition of those details hardly would be in place, and I merely refer to the writings relating to this subject.* Copper was, indeed, the only metal which the North American tribes employed for some purposes before their territories were colo- nized by Europeans. Traces of wrought silver have been found, but they are so exceedingly scanty that the technical significance of this metal hsirdly can be taken into consideration. Gold was seen by the earliest travelers in small quantities (in grains) among the Florida In- dians ;t yet, to my knowledge, no object made of gold, that can with certainty be attributeil to the North American Indians, has thus far been discovered.^ The use of copper, likewise, was comparatively lim- ited, and cannot have exerted any marked influence on the materiid development of the natives. The copper articles left by the former in- habitants are by no means abundant. As an example I will only mention that, during a sojonrn of thirteen years in the neighborhood of St. Louis, which is particularly rich in tumular structures and other tokens of Indian occupancy, I did not succeed in obtaining a single specimen belonging to this class. Copper implements, such as axes, chisels, gravers, knives, and points of arrows and spears, have been found in the Indian mounds and in other places ; but most of the ob- jects made of this metal served for ornamental purposes, which circum- stance alone would go far to prove that copper played but an indifferent part in the industrial advancement of the race. If the ancient inhabit ants had understood the art of melting copper, or, moreover, had na ture furnished them with sufficient supplies of tin ore for producing * Sqiiier and Davis, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Smithsonian lu- Btitntion, Washington, 1848. Foster and Whitney, Report on the Geology and Topo;;;- raphy of the Lake Superior Land District, Part I, Washington, 1850. Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes of the United States, Vol. I, Philadelphia, 1851. Laphaui, The Antiqui- ties of Wisconsin, Washington, 1855. Whittlesey, Ancient Mining on the Shores of Lake Superior, Washington, 1863. Sir John Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, London, 18G5, &c. t See : Brinton, Notes on the Floridian Peninsula, Philadelphia, 1859, Appendix III. X In the Smithsonian Report for 1870, just published, the occurrence of gold beads in a mound near Cartersville, in the Etowah valley, Georgia, is recorded. Native gold is said to be found in the neighborhood, (p. 380.) ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TKADE IN NOUTII AMliltlCA. bronze, that peculiar composition which the Mexicans and Peruvians employed, their state of civilization doubtless would have been much higher when the whites arrived in their country. They lacked, bow- ever, as far as investigations hitherto have shown, the knowledge of rendering copper serviceable to their purposes by the process of melt- ing, contenting themselves by hammei:ing purely metallic masses of cop)>er with great labor into the shapes of implements or articles of decoration. These masses they doubtless obtained principally, if not entirely, from the copper districts of Lake Superior.* Owing to the arborescent or indented form under which the copper occurs in the above-named region, nearly all copper articles of aboriginal origin ex- hibit a distinct laminar structure, though quite a considerable degree of density has been imparted to the metal by continued hammering. It must be admitted, furthermore, that the aborigines had acquired great skill in working the copper in a cold state. From an archaeological point of view this peculiar application of natural copper is certainly very remarkable, and, therefore, has often been cited, both by American and European writers. To the native population, however, the com- paratively sparing use of copper cannot have atlbrded great material aid, and its chief importance doubtless consisted in the promotion of intercourse among the various tribes. The first travelers who visited North America saw copper ornaments and other objects made of this metal in the possession of the natives, and very scrupulously mention this fact in their accounts, while they often leave matters of greater importance entirely unnoticed. This can- not surprise us, considering that the first dis(!0verers were possessed of an immoderate greediness for precious metals, and therefore also paid particular attention to those of less value. The Florentine navigator, Giovanni Verazzano, who sailed in 1524, by order of Francis the First of France, along the Atlantic coast of North America for purposes of discovery, noticed, as he states in his letter to the French king, on the persons of the natives pieces of wrought copper, "which they esteemed more than gold." IMany of them wore copper ear-rings.t In the nar- rative which the anonymous Portuguese nobleman, called the Knight of Elvas, has left of De Soto's ill-fated expedition (lo;j9-'43) it is stated that the Spaniards saw, in the province of Cutifachiqui, some copper axes, or chopping-knives, which apparently contained an admixture of gold. The Indians pointed to the province of Chisca as the country where the people were familiar with the process of melting copper or another * Some of the natives of the northerniuost part of the United States, lately pur- chased from Russia, worked copper before the European occupation. Their industry was, of course, entirely independent of that here under consideration. (See, for in- stance. Von Wrangell, liussiHvhe Bmtzungen an der NordwcatkUste von Amertka, St. Peters- burg, 1839.) tThe Voyage of John do Verazzano, in Collections of the New York Historical So- ciety, Second Series, Vol. I, Now York, 1841, pp. 47 and 50, A. Peruvians ►eeu much ked, how- wledge of s of melt- masses of irticles of lly, if not Dg to the irs iu the origin ex- degree of sriug. It red great Bological certainly American the com- material aotion of uainents natives, jile they 'his can- essed of Iso paid vigator, le First •OSes of on the teemed he nar- light of stated r axes, ■ gold. where nother 3ly pur- idustry for iu- Petera- cal So- ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TKADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 5 ^ metal of a li;^'hter color and inferior hardness.* It i>. very natural that these gold-seeking adventurers should have anticipateil everywhere traces of that valuable metal ; and concerning the statements of the Indians in relation to the melting, it is well known how apt the crafty natives always were to regulate their answers according to the wishes of the inquirers. Yet, i.otwithstanding these improbabilities, the fact remains that the natives of the present Scmthern States used imple- ments of copper some centuries ago. IiuUhmI, I have seen in the col- lection of Colonel Charles C. Jones, of Brooklyn, copper articles of tlie above description, obtained in the State of (leorgia. When Henry Hudson discovere^l, in 1009, the niagnillcent river that bears his name, he noticed among the Indians of that region pipes and ornaments made of copper. "They had red coi)per tobacco-pipes, and other things of copper they did wear about their necks." llobert Juet, who served un- der Hudson as mate in the Half-Moon, relates these details in the jour- nal he has lelt behind.! Additional statements of similar purport might be cited from the early relations eoru-erning the discovery of North America. "While Messrs. S(]uier and Davis were engaged, more than twenty years ago, in surveying the earthworks of t!ie ^li.ssissippi valley, more especially those of the State of Ohio, they f(mnd in the sepulchral and so-called sacrificial mounds a number of copper objects, which they have described and figured in the work containing the results of their investi- gations.! They also met small pieces of the unwrought natural metal in some of the mounds. The copper specimens obtained during this sur- vey were formerly in the possession of Dr. Davis, one of the explorers, and I had frequent occasion to examine them. At present they form a part of the lUackmore Museum, at Salisbury, England, to which insti- tute Dr. Davis sold his valuable collection. They are either implements, such as axes, chisels, and gravers; or bracelets, beads, and otlier probably ornamental objects, exhibiting quite peculiar forms, which were, perhaps, owing to the singular methods employed iu fashioning the copper into definite shapes. The axes resemble the flat celts of the European bronze period, and doubtless were fastened in handles like the latter. Some of the bracelets of the better class are of very good worknumship, the simple rods which form them being well rounded and smoothed, and bent into a regular circle until their ends meet. I have seen quite simi- lar bronze bracelets in European collections. The objects just described obviously have been fashioned by hammering ; others, however, con- sisting of hammered copper sheet, received th^-'r final shape hy prc\s,suf(. To these belong certain circular concavo-convex discs, from one andoue- • Narratives of the Career of Hernaudo do Soto in the Conquest of Florida, as told by a Knight of Elvas, and in a Relation by Luys Hernandez de Biedma, Factor of the Expedition. Translated by Buckingham Smith. New York, iSCG, p. 72. tJournal of the Voyage of the Half-Moon, in Collections of the Now York Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. I, 1841, p. 323. t Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, pp. 19G-207. 6 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NOUTII AMERICA. half inches to two inches in dininetcr, whicli lune been likened to the bosses observed on harnesses. Concerning their use, nothing is defin- itely known, but it is presumed that they were destined for purposes of ornament. The manipulation of pressure was likewise employed in mak- ing smaller articles of decoration resembling the convex metal buttons still seen on the clothes of the peasantry of Germany and other Euro- ])ean countries. However, in minutely describing these remarkable products of aboriginal art, I would merely repeat what already has been stated, detailed accounts being given in the well-known work of Blossrs. Squier aad Davis. Although the fire on the hearths or altars now inclosed by tlie sacri- ficial mounds* was sometimes sufficiently strong to melt the deposited copper articles, it does seem that this proceeding induced the ancient inhabitants to avail themselves of fire in working copper ; they persisted in the tedious i^ractice of hammering. Yet one copper axe, evidently cast, and resembling those taken from the mounds of Ohio, has been ploughed up near Auburn, in Cayuga County, in the State of New York.t This specimen, which bears no traces of use, may date from the earlier times of European colonization. It certainly would be wrong to place much stress on such an isolated case. The Indians, moreover, learned very soon from the whites the art of casting metals. For this we have the authority of Roger Williams, who makes the following statement in reference to the New England Indians ; '■'•They have an excellent Art to cast our Pewter and Brassc into very neatc and artificiall Pqies.'''1(. In the Lake Superior district, resorted to by the aboriginal miners, there have been found, besides many grooved stone hammers (sometimes of very large size) and rude wooden tools, vaiious copper implements, such as chisels, gads, &c., and some spear-heads in which, in lieu of a socket, the flat sides at the lower end are partly bent over,§ a feature also peculiar to certain European bronze celts, which, on this account, "re denominated "winged" celts. The copper-lands of iJs'orthern Michigan, it has been stated, were visited by the aborigines for the sake of obtaining copper at a period anteceding the arrival of the whites. It is probable that small bands of various northern tribes made periodical excursions to thatlocality, return- ing to their homes when they had supplied themselves with sufficient quan- tities of the much-desired metal. The indications of permanent settle- ments, namely, burial-places, defensive works, traces of cultivation and, *For a precise dcsciiptiou of the remarkable stratified uiouuds denomiuated "sacri- ficial," I must refer to tbo "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley." Burned human bones being often discovered in them in connection with manufactured objects, Sir John Lubbock suggests that these mounds are of a sepulchral rather than a sacri- ficial character, (Prehistoric Times, first ed., p. 219, «fec.) t Squier, Aboriginal Monuments of the State of New York, Washington, 1849, p. 78. t Roger Williams, A Key into the Language of America ; Providence, 1827, p. 55. (Re- print of the London edition of 1643.) ij Whittlesey, Ancient Mining, &3. O'A. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. med to the Dg is ilefin- purposes of ^'ed in mak- l:al buttooH ther Enro- remarkablo Iready lias ;vn work of ' tlie sacri- deposited lie aucient y persisted , evidently , has been rew York.t the earlier g to i)laeo ?r, learned is we have itenieut in 'cnt Art to "I il miners, lometiiues plemeuts, lieu of a a feature account, :ed, were a period bands of y, return- Biitquan- it settle- tiou and, ed "sacri- Burned d objects, m a sacri- 9, p. 78. 55. (Ro- dwellings, &c., are wanting, and the small number of chaseable animals, indeed, offered but little inducement to a protracted sojourn. The ques- tion, at what time the natives ceased to resort to the mines, has been answered in various ways. Mr. Whittlesey is of opinion that from five to six hundred years may have elapsed since that time, basing his argu- ment on the growth of trees that have sprung up in the rubbish thrown out from the mines ; Mr. Lapham, or« tVc other hand, believes in a con- tinuance of the aboriginal mining operations to more recent periods, and thinks they were carried on by the progenitors of the Indians still in- habiting the neighboring parts, althougli they possess no traditions relative to such labors. Probably as early as the first half of the sev- enteenth century the French of Canada entertained with those tribes a trade that provided the latter with iron tools, and the ornaments and trinkets so much coveted by the red race. Thus, the inducements to obtain copper ceased, and the practice of procuring it being once dis continued, a few centuries may have sufficed to efface the tradition from the memory of the succeeding generations. Yet, like many other points of North American archseologj', this matter is still involved in obscu- rity, and it would be hazardous, at present, to pronounce any decided opinion on the subject.* The occurrence of native copper in the United States is not confined to the shore of Lake Superior. As I am informed by Professor James D. Dana, it is also met, in pieces of several pounds' weight, in the valley of the Connecticut river, and likewise, in smaller pieces, in the State of New Jersey, probably originating in both cases from the rod sand- stone formation. Near New Haven, Connecticut, a mass was found weighing ninety pounds. Such copper finds may have furnished a small part of the metal worked by the aboriginal inhabitants ; its real source, however, must be sought, in all probability, in the mining di.stiict of Lake Superior. It is a remarkable circumstance that the native copper there occurring sometimes incloses small masses of native silver, a jux- taposition which, as I believe, is not to be ob.served at any other place in the United States; and just such pieces in which the two natural metals are combined have been taken from a few of the tumuli of Ohio. Though copper articles of Indian origin are comparatively scarce in * The ludians cortaiuly are a forgetful race. The traveler Stephens, who has exam- ined and described the grand ruins of ancient buildings in Yucatan and the neighboring states, maintains — and I believe on good grounds — that these erections, at least in part, are the work of the same Indian ^lopulatious with whom the conquistadores (Hernandez de Cordova, Grijalva, Cort<5s) were brought into contact during the six- teenth century. The present descendants of the builders of those magniiiceut works Lave preserved no recollections of their more advanced ancestors. Whenever Stephens asked them concerning the origin of the buildings, their answer was, they hail been erected by the antiguoa; but they could not explain their destination ; they were un- acquainted with the meaning of the statues and fresco paintings, and manifested in general a total ignorance of all that related to their former history. 8 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. the United States,* the field of their distribution, nevertheless, is very wide, extending from the Great Lakes to the Gulf States, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi, and, perhaps, some distance beyond that river. Taking it for granted, as we may do, that the northern part of Michigan is the point from which the metal was spread over that area, the trafiQc in copper presents itself as very extensive as far as distance is concerned. The difficulties connected with the labor of obtaining this metal doubtless rendered it a valuable object, perhaps no less esteemed than bronze in Europe, when the introduction of that composition was yet of recent date. The copper probably was bartered in the shape of raw material. Small pieces of this description, I have already stated, were taken from the mounds of Ohio, and larger masses occasionally have been met in the neighborhood of these works. One mass weigh- ing twenty-three pounds, from which smaller portions evidently had been detached, was discovered in the Scioto valley, near Chillicothe, Ohio.t Of course, it is impossible at present to demonstrate in what manner the copper trade was carried on, and we have to rest satisfied with the presumption that the raw or worked copper went from hand to hand in exchange for other productions of nature or art, until it reached the places where we now find it. Perhaps there were certain persons who made it their business to trade in copper. I must not omit to refer here to some passages bearing, though indirectly, on the latter question, which are contained in the old accounts of Heruando de Soto's expedi- tion. Garcilasso de la Vega speaks of wandering Indian merchants {marcUamh), who traded in salt.| The Knight of Elvas is still more explicit OQ this point. According to him, the Indians of the province of Cayas obtained salt by the evaporation of saline water. The method is accurately described. They exported salt into other provinces, and took in return skins and other commodities. Biedma,who accompanied that memorable expedition as accountant, likewise speaks in various places of salt-making among the Indiaus.§ GALENA. It has been a common experience of discoverer's that the primitive peoples with whom they came in contact manifested, like children, a re- markable predilection for brightly-colored and brilliant objects, which, without serving for any definite purpose, were valued merely on account of their external qualities. The later North American Indians exli ited * The Smithsonian Institution has been receiving for joars Indian antiquities from all parts of North America, yet possessed in 1870 only seven copper objects ; namely, three spearheads, two small rods, a semilunar knife with convex cutting edge, and an axe of good shape. Professsor Baird was kind enough to send me photographs and descriptions of these articles. t Ancient Monuments, &c., p. 203. tConqu6te de la Floride, Leide, 1731, Vol. II, p. 400. } Narratives of the Career of Hernando de Soto, &c., p. 124. Biedma, pp. 152, 153, and 257. ICA. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. (less, is very md from the mce beyond :hern part of it that area, as distance taining this ss esteemed )osition was he shape of jady stated, JccasionalJy nass weigh- dently had Chillicothe, ate in what ist satisfied om hand to I it reached lin persons mit to refer ir question, to's expedi- nierchants still more e province he method inces, and ompanied n various primitive ren, a re- , which, account jxli ited iiities from ; namely, ge, and an rapbs and this tendency in a marked degree, and their predecessors, whose history is shrouded in darkness, seem to have been moved by similar impulses. Thus the common ore of lead, or galena, was much prized by the for- mer inhabitants of North America, though there is, thus far, no conclu- sive evidence of their having understood how to render it serviceable by melting. Quite considerable quantities of this shining mineral have been met in the mounds of Ohio. On the hearth of one of the sacrificial mounds of that State, Messrs. Squier and Davis discovered a deposit of galena, in pieces weighing from two ounces to three- pounds, the whole quantity amounting perhaps to thirty pounds. The sacrificial fire had not been strong enough to convert the ore into pure metal, though some of the pieces showed the beginning of ftlsion.* As stated before, there is no definite proof that the aborigines were ac- quainted with the process of reducing lead from its ore ; for as yet no leaden implements or ornaments have been discovered that can be as- scribed with certainty to the former population. The peculiarly shaped object of pure lead figured on page 209 of the "Ancient Monuments," which came to light while a well was sunk within the ditch of the earth- work at Circleville, Ohio, was perhaps made by whites, or by Indians at a period when they already had acquired from the former the know- ledge of casting lead. This curious relic is in possession of Dr. Davis, and I have often examined it. The archji^ologieal collection of the Smithsonian Institute contains not a single Indian article of lead, but quantities of galena, which were taken from various mounds. Yet, supposing the Indians had known the fusibilitj' of galena, the lead ex- tracted therefrom could not have afforded them great advantages, con- sidering th«at its very nature hardly admitted of any useful application. "Too soft for axes or knives, too fusible for vessels, and too soon tar- nished to be valuable for ornament, there was little inducement for its manufacture." — (Squier and Davis.) However, in making net-sinkers, it would have been preferable to the flat pebbles notched on two oi>posito sides, which the natives used as weights for their nets. Pebbles of this description abound in the valley of the Susquehanmi and in various other places of the United States, especially in the neighborhood of rivers. The frequent occurrence of galena on the altars of the sacrilicial mounds proves, at any rate, that the ancient inhabitants attributed a peculiar value to it, deeming it worthy to be offered as a sacrificial gift. The pieces of galena found in Ohio were, in all probability, ob- tained in Illinois or Missouri, from which regions they were transferred by way of barter, as we may presume, to the Ohio valley. No original deposits of galena are known in greater proximity that could have furnished pieces equal to those taken from the mounds of Ohio. 102, 153, "Ancient Monuments, pp. 149 and 209. 10 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. OBSIDIAN. The peculiar glass-like stouo of volcanic origin, called obsidian, which played such an important part in the household of the ancient Mexi- cans, has not been met in situ within that large portion of the United States (probably of North America in general) that lies north of Mexico and to the east of the Rocky Mountains. Messrs. Squier and Davis, nevertheless, have found obsidian in the shape of points for arrows and spears and cutting implements, though mostly broken, in five mounds of the Scioto valley, in Ohio ; an object made of this material was like- wise found in Tennessee,* and the numerous unopened mounds of the United States may inclose many more articles of this class. The cop- per used by the Indians, it has been seen, occurs as a product of nature within the area over which it was spread by human agency ; it is differ- ent, however, with regard to obsidian, and the question therefore arises, from what region the builders of the large inclosures and tumuli in Ohio obtained the last-named mineral. Obsidian, we know, is found in the present territory of the United States on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. Captain Bonneville noticed, about forty years ago, that the Shoshoneesor Snake Indians in the neighborhood of Snake river (or Lewis river) used arrows armed with points of obsidian, which, he adds, abounds in that viciuity.t The latter fact is confirmed by Samuel Parker, who found, some years later (1835), in tie volcanic formations of that region, "many large and fine specimens of pure obsidian or vol- canic glass."J According to Wyeth, the Shoshonees also employ sharp obsidian flakes of convenient shape as knives, which they sometimes provide v»'ith handles of wood or horn. The same author mentions the frequent occurreuce of obsidian in the district inhabited by the Shosho- nees.§ It is known that various tribes in New Mexico, Arizona, and neighboring parts. Apaches, Mojaves, and others, frequently employ obsidian in the manufacture of their arrowheads. Mr. John R. Bartlett, from 1850 to 1853 commissioner of the United States for determining the boundary line between the latter and Mexico, found pieces of obsidian and fragments of painted pottery along the Gila river, wherever there had been any Indian villages ; and also amoiiji' the ruins of the Casas grandes, in Chihuahua, as well as those of the Gilu and Salir "ers.|| The same observation has been made by earlier and later eiers. The natives of Upper California employ obsidian extensively for making arrowheads. Mr. Caleb Lyon, who " Troost, Auciert Remains in Tennessee, in : Transactions of the American Ethnologi- cal Society, New <'ork, 1845, Vol. I, p. 361. t Ii'viug, Advej. tares of Captain Bonneville, New York, 1851, p. 255. t Parker, Exploring Tour beyond the Rocky Mountains, Ithaca, New York, 1844, p. 98. § Wyeth, in Schoocraft's Indian Tribes, Vol. I, p. 213. II Bartlett, Personal Narrative, &c., New York, 1854, Vol. II, p. 50. Compare: Hum- boldt, Essai politique sur la Nouvelle-Espagno, Paris, 1825, Vol. II, p. 243, andClavi- gero, History of Mexico, Philadelphia, 1817, Vol. I, p. 151. 11 ii ii g ti vl !ICA. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 11 vidian, which iicieut Mexi- f the United th of Mexico ' and Davis, ' arrows and five mounds ial was like- )unds of the 8. The cop- ict of nature ; it is difler- efore arises, d tumuli in vr, is found side of the r years ago. Snake river I, which, he I by Samuel formations 3iau or vol- iploy sharp sometimes entions the he Shosho- zoua, and y employ he United id Mexico, along the and also s those of made by ia employ yon, who Etbnologi- i'ork, 1844, are: Hum- andClavi- was, about ten years ago, among the Shasta Indians in California, saw one of the tribe engaged in making arrowheads from obsidian as well as from the glass of a broken porter-bottle. He describes the method of manufacture in a letter v.liich was published by the American Eth- nological Society.* To this letter I shall refer in a succeeding section of tliis essay, when treating of the division of labor among the North American Indians. ]Mr. Bartlett visited, while in California, a locality in the Napa valley (north of San Francisco), where obsidian occurs in pieces from the size of a i)ea to that of an ostrich egg, which are imbedded in a mass resembling a coarse mortar of lime, sand, and gravel. He found the surface in many places covered, from six to twelve inches in depth, with broken pieces and small boulders of this volcanic substance. The appearance of these .si)ots reminded him of a newly-made macadamized road.t The most extensive use of obsidian, however, was formerly made in Mexico, before the empire of the Aztecs succumbed to the Spanish in- vaders. Old obsidian mines are still seen on the Cerro de Navajas, or "Ilillof Knives," which is situated in a northeasterly direction from the city of Mexico, at some distance from the Indian town Atotonilco el Grande. These mines provided the ancient population of Mexico with vast quantities of the much-prized stone, of which they made those fine double-edged knives, arrow and spear-heads, mirrors, very skilfully executed masks, and ornaments of various kinds. Humboldt speaks of the Hill of ^ ves in a transient manner; J for a precise description we are inde . to the meritorious English ethnologist, E. L. Tylor, who visited that interesting locality in 185G, while traveling through Mexico in company with the late Mr. Christy.§ In describing the mines, Mr. Tylor says : " Some of the trachy tic porphyry which forms the substance of the hills had happened to have cooled, under suitable conditions, from the molten state into a sort of slag, or volcanic glass, which is the obsid- ian in question ; and, in places, this vitreous lava, from one layer hav- ing flowed over another which was already cool, was regularly stratified. The mines were mere wells, not very deep, with horizontal workings into the obsidian where it was very good and in thick layers. Eound about were heaps of fragments, hundreds of tons of them ; and it was clear, from the shape of these, that some of the manufacturing was done on the spot. There had been great numbers of pits worked, and it was from these minillas, little mines, as they are called, that we first got an idea how important an element this obsidian was in the old Aztec civi- lization. In excursions made since, we traveled over whole districts in the plains where fragments of these arrows and knives were to be found * BuUetiu of the American Ethnological Society, New York, 1H61. Vol. I, p. 39. t Person al Narrative, Vol. II, p. 49. t Essai politique sur la Nouvelle-Espagne, Vol. Ill, p. 122. § Tylor, Anabuac: or Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Mo'lein, Lond., 1861. This volume contains, besides many facts relating to the arcbaiology ani ethnology of Mexico, the best observations on obsidian I have found in any work on that country. 12 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. literally at every step, mixed with morsels of pottery, and here and there a little clay idol."* From the centre of the State of Ohio to the country of the Sho- shonees, as well as to the Bio Gila, and the just-described mines in Mexico, the straight distances are almost equal, measuring about seven- teen hundred English miles ; indeed, the Mexican mines are a trifle nearer to Ohio than the above-mentioned districts. It would be lost labor, therefore, to Indulge in speculations from which of these locali- ties the obsidian found in Ohio and Tennessee was derived. The num- ber of articles of this stone that has been met east of the Mississippi is so exceedingly small that its technical significance hardly deserves any consideration. Yet, the sole fact of finding worked obsidian at such great distances from the nearest places where it occurs either in rl • Anahuac, p. 99. The following interesting communicatiou was addressed to nio by Dr. C. H. Berendt : "During one of many excursions which I made in the years 1853-'5G around the Citlaltepetl, or Pico do Orizaba (in the State of Vera Cruz), I saw an obsidian mine on the western slope of that mountain. I had heard of it from my friend the late Mr. C. Sartorius ,who had visited the place years ago. I was informed that the Indians of the village of Alpatlahua knew the place, but that they did not like to have it visited. Some say they have treasures hidden in the caves of the neighborhood ; while others believe that they have idols in those lonely places which they still secretly worship. The cura of San Juan Coscomatepec, who was of this latter opinion, gave me the name of a mestizo farmer in the neighborhood who might be induced to show me the i)lace. Our party followed from Coscomatepec the road which leads to the rancho Jacal and the pass of La Cnchilla. We did not find the mestizo at home, but his wife, who directed her boy to show us the cave. Reaching the bridge of the Jamapa river, we took a by-road parting to the north, which brought us to the village of Alpatlahua, and about four miles farther north to a branch of the Jamapa river, which we crossed. \ve then left the road and proceeded about half a mile up the river through thick -woods, when we found ourselves suddenly before the entrance of the cave. It was about fifty feet high and of considerable width, but obstmcted by fallen rocks and shrubs. Heaps of obsidian chips of more than a man's height filled the bottom of the grotto, which had apparently no considerable horizontal depth. To the left the mine was seen, an excavation of from six to eight square yards, the bottom tilled up with rubbish and chips. Obsidian, evidently, had not only been quarried, but also been made into implements at this spot, the hitter fact being proved by the occurrence of cores, or nuclei, of all sizes, from wliich fiakes or knives had been detached. We were not prepared for digging, and it was too late for undertaking explorations that day. So we left, with the purpose to return better prepared at another time, hoping to find some relics of the miners and workmen, and, perhaps, other antiquities. But it happened that x never had an opportunity to visit the place again. Mr. Sartorius saw in this cave three entrances walled up w ilh stone and mortar, but these I did not discover, having, as stated, no time for a careful examination. Future travelers, I hope, will be more successful. " Mr. Sartorious mentioned another place, likewise in the State of Vera Cruz, where obsidian formerly was quarried. This place is situated in the chain of mountains ex- tending from the Pico de Orizaba to the Cofre de Perote. One of the intervening mountains, called Xulistac, is distinguished by a white spot that can be seen at the distance of many miles, even at Vera Cruz. It is produced by an outcropping of pumice- stone resting on ah immense mass of obsidian that has been worked in various places. I know the mountain well, but not the road leading to it, never having traveled in that direction." RICA. nd here and of the Sbo- )ed mines in about seven- I are a trifle eould be lost these locali- 1. The num- e Mississippi dly deserves obsidian at urs either in •eased to me by '5G around tbo sidian niiue on the late Mr. C. Indians of the lave it visited. ; while others jretly worship. B me the name '' me the place. [ Jacal and the , who directed er, we took a iua,aud about led. ^v e then woods, when )Out fifty feet Heaps of which had m excavation Obsidian, Dents at this of all sizes, for digging, the purpose f the miners ever had an ee entrances 8 stated, no cessful. Cruz, where mntains ex- intervening seen at the [of pumice- ious places, ilcd in that ANCIENT ABORT ilNAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 13 bs. situ or in consequence of human agency (as, perhaps, on the Gila), is in itself of importance, for it furnishes an additional illustration of the far- reaching communications among the aborigines of North America. MICA. Like the shining galena, mica (commonly called isinglass), was a substance held in high estimation by the former inhabitants ; but, while the first-named mineral apparently fulfilled no definite purpose, being deemed valuable merely for its brilliancy, the latter was often made into articles of ornament, a purpose for which it certainly was well fitted on account of its metallic lustre. It is also said to have been used for mirrors. Mica is found in the tumuli in considerable quantities, some- times in bushels, and is often ploughed up in the neighborhood of old earthworks. It occurs in sepulchral mounds as well as, though more rarely, in those of supposed sacrificial character. In the former the plates of mica are placed on the chest or above the head of the skeleton, and sometimes they cover it almost entirely. If I speak here of "plates of mica," the expression is to be taken literally, it being known that this mineral occurs in some of the eastern parts of North America in masses of considerable size, as, for instance, in New Hampshire, where pieces of from two to three feet in diameter have been observed. The most important archaeological finds of mica, as far as I know, occurred in Ohio. Of some of them I will give here a brief account. Mr. Atwater has left a very accurate description of the earthwork at Circleville, Ohio, now mostly obliterated, which consisted of a large cir- cular and adjoining quadratic embankment. In the centre of the circle there arose a sepulchral mound which contained two skeletons and various objects of art, among which was a " mirror" of mica, about three feet long, one foot and a half wide, and one inch and a half in thickness. Atwater found these so-called mirrors at least in fifty diflerent places in Ohio, mostly in mounds. " They were common among- that people," he says, " and answered very well the purpose for which they were in- tended. These mirrors were very thick, otherwise they would not have reflected the light."* It has been doubted, however, whether the objects served as mirrors. It is true, every one who has come in contact with the modern Indians knows how eager they are, prompted by vanity, to obtain from the traders small looking-glasses, which they often carry about their persons in order to contemplate their features, or to have them on hand when they are about to paint their faces, or to eradicate their scanty growth of beard. Yet, after all, 1 am inclinded to believe that Atwater's so-called mirrors were nothing else but those largo plates of mica, probably of symbolic character (as will be seen), which have frequently been met since the publication of his account. In the year 1828, during the digging of a canal near Newark, Ohio, one of the low mounds frequent in that neighborhood was removed. It •Atwater, in: Archa3ologica Americana, Worcester, 1820, Vol. I, pp. 173,225. 14 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. contained fourteen skeletons in a bigli state of decomposition, wbicb were covered with a regular la3'er of mica plates. The latter were from eight to ten inches in length, four or five inches wide, and from half an inch to an inch in thickness. The quantity of mica thrown uj) from this raound amounted to fifteen or twenty bushels.* During their archaeological investigations, ^Messrs. Squier and Davis frequently found mica in the mounds, and they have given precise ac- counts of their discoveries. In one of the sacrificial mounds near Chilli- cotho, Ohio, they came upon a layer of round plates of silvery mica, measuring from ten to twelve inches in diameter, which overlapped each other like the tiles or slates on a roof, and were deposited in the shape of a half-moon. The excavation laid bare more than one-half of this crescent, which could not have measured less than twenty feet from horn to horn. The greatest width (in the middle) was five feet. It has been thought that the shape of this curious deposit of mica might be suggestive of the religious views of the builders of the mound, and imply a tendency to moon- worship.! Another mound not far from the preceding one — both belonged to a group of twenty-three within an in- closure — likewise contained mica.f The circular cavity of the altar in this mound was filled with fine ashes intermixed with fragments of clay vessels and some small convex copper discs. Over these contents of the basin a layer of mica sheets, overlapping each other, was spread like a cover, which, again, served as the basis for a heap of burned human bones, probably belonging to a single person.§ The authors of the "Ancient Monuments'' also found occasionally in the mounds ornaments made of thin sheets of mica, cut out very neatly and with great regularity in the shapes of scrolls, oval plates, and discs, and pierced with small holes for suspension or attachment. They doubtless were intended to embellish the dress of persons of distinction. || Dr. Davis has some of these ornaments which, fastened on black vel- vet, almost might be taken for silver objects, the mica of which they are made being of the perfectly opaque kind. Ornamental plates of mica, further, were met in the large Grave- Creek Mound, situated twelve miles below Wheeling, in Western Virginia. This burial- mound, which is one of the highest in the United States — it is seventy feet high — was opened in 1838. Near one of the skeletons, one hun- dred and fifty rather irregularly- shaped thin sheets of mica, from one inch and a half to two inches in size, were collected. They were all "provided with two or more holes for stringing them together, and had evidently formed a scarf or some other article of personal adornment.tl * Ancient Monuments, p. 72. t Ancient Monuments, p. 154. t This earthwork, called " Mound City " by Squier and Davis, •will be described in a sub- sequent section. $ Ancient Monuments, p. 145. II Ancient Monuments, p. l.^S ; representations on p. 240. HSchoolcraft, in: Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. I, p. 399. RICA. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 15 jsition, which ter were from from half an [1 up from this er and Davis 3n precise ac- Is uear Chilli- silvery mica, irlapped each in the shape e-half of this ity feet from I feet. It has ica might be mound, and far from the within an in- ■ the altar in uents of clay 3 contents of , was spread ip of burned 'asionally in ; very neatly s, and discs, nent. They distinction. 1 1 n black vel- which they al plates of id, situated his burial- is seventy S one hun- a, from one ey were all T, and had ornment.ty bedinasub- Tho preceding quotations, to which others of similar purport might be added, will sullico to sliow how much mica was valued by the former inhabitants of the Mississippi valley ; indeed, the frequent and peculiar occurrence of this mineral in the mounds almost might justify the conjecture that it was believed to be invested with some mysterious significance, and played a part in the superstitious rites of the abori- gines. Mica has been found in a worked and raw state in districts where it is not furnished by nature, and therefore nmy be safely classed among the aboriginal articles of exchange. In the State of Ohio, to which my observations chiefly refer, mica is not found in situ, and it is presumed that the mineral discovered in that State was derived from the southern spurs of the Alleghany IMountaius. Yet, it may have been brought from greater distances, and from various points, to its present places of occurrence. SLATE. Various kinds of ancient Indian stone manufactures frequently con- sist of a greenish slate, which is often marked with darker parallel oi concentric stripes or bauds, giving the objects made of it a very pretty appearance. This slate is not very hard, but of close grain and therefore easily worked and polished. The objects made of this stone, which occur on the surface as well as in mouuds, are generally executed with great care and regularity, and it is much to be regretted that the destination of some of them is not quite well known. Among the latter are certain straight tubes of cylindrical and other shapes and various lengths, which sometimes terminate in a kind of "mouth-piece." While the smaller ones, which often measure only a few inches, have been thought to represent articles of ornament, or amulets, a difl'erent purpose has been ascribed to the longer specimens. Schoolcraft appears to consider these latter as telescopic instruments which the ancient inhabitants used for observing the stars. This view, 1 think, has Ixen generally re- jected. It is far more probable that these tubes, iu part at least, were implements of the sorcerers or medicine-men, who employed them iu their pretended cures of diseases. They applied one end of the tube to the surering part of the patient and sucked at the other end, in order to draw out, as it were, the morbid matter, which they afterwards feigned to eject with many gesticulations and contortions of the body. CoBcal calls the tubes used by the medicine-men of the Florida Indians a kind of shepherd's flute {une espeee de chalumemi) and the character of some of the stone implements in question that have been found cer- tainly justifies this comparison.* Kohl saw, as late as 1855, one of the above-mentioned cures performed among the Ojibways of Lake Supe- 1. 1, p. 399. * Coreal, Voyages aux ludes Occidentales, Amsterdam, \72'2, Vol. I, p. 39. 16 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. rior; in this instance, Uowgvcm', the tube used by tbo niodicineuian was a smootb hollow bone, probably of the brant-goose.* A far more numerous class of articles often made of the greenish striped slate is represented by small, variously-shaped tablets of great regularity and finish, which are pierced in the middle with one, two, or more round holes. The most frequent shape of these tablets is illus- trated by the upper figure on Plate 28 in Vol. 1 of Schoolcraft's work on the Indian tribes. It is that of a rectangle with sides exhibiting a slight outward curve. The full-size drawing of this rather large specimen is done in colors, and thus affords the advantage of sliowing the greenish tint and the markings of the stone. Other tablets are lozenge-shaped, quadratic with inwardly-curved sides, oval, cruciform, &c.t Most of them have two perforations, though specimens with only one are not scarce, while those that have more than two holes are of less frequent occurrence. The holes are drilled either from one side or from both, and, accordingly, of conical or bi-conical shape. They seldom have more than one-eighth of an inch in diameter at the narrowest part. Concerning the destination of the tablets nothing is definitely known. At first sight one might be inclined to consider them as objects of orna- ment or as badges of distinction ; but this view is not corroborated by the appearance of the perforations, which exhibit no traces of the wear produced by continued suspension, being, on the contrary, in most cases as perfect as if they liad but lately been drilled. The classification of the tablets as " gorgets," therefore, may be regarded as erroneous. Schoolcraft calls them implements for twine-making. It has been sug- gested that they were used in condensing and rounding bow-strings by drawing the wet strips of hide, or the sinews employed for that pur- pose, through the round perforations. The diameter of the latter, it is true, corresponds to the thickness of an ordinary Indian bow-string ; but also in this case the usually unworn state of the holes rather speaks against this supposition. Being desirous to learn whether Mr. George Catlin had seen, during his first sojourn among the western tribes, anything like those tablets used by them in making bow-strings, I availed myself of that gentle- man's return to the United States, and asked him by letter, among other mutters, for information concerning this subject. He replied (Decem- ber 2i, 1871) as follows : " Of the tablets you speak of, I have seen several, but the holes were much larger than those you describe. Those that I have seen were * Kohl, KitscLi-Gami, oder Erziihlungea vom Obern See, Bremen, 1856, Vol. I, p. 118. Compare : Venegas, History of California, Loudon, 1759, Vol. I, p. 97, and Baegert's Account of the Ahorigiual luhabitants of the Californian Peninsula, Smithsonian Re- port for 1864, p. 386. Drawings of the stone tubes are given on pp. 224-27 of the "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley." t The various shapes of these tablets, and of other" perforated objects, not exactly tablets, but probably intended for the same purpose, are represented on pages 236 and 237 of the "Ancient Monuments." 5 ] CA. leman was 10 grecniHh its of great >ue, two, or lots is illus- rt's work on ing a slight ^pccinien is 10 greenish ige-shaped, \ Most of ne are not 3S frequent from both, Jdoin have )we8t part. oly known. cts of orna- (borated by )f the wear most cases nfication of [ erroneous. been sug- strings by that pur- atter, it is ow-string; her speaks en, during se tablets at gentle- on g other 1 (Decem- loles were seen were ), Vol. I, p. d Baegert's soniaii Be- *-27 of the lot exactly \ea 236 and ANCIENT AUORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 17 used by the Indians for grooving the shafts of their arrows. All arrows of the primitive Indians are found with three grooves from the arrow's shoulder, at the fluke, extending to, and conducting the air between, the feathers, to give them steadiness. These grooves, on close exam- ination, are found to be indented by pressure, and not in any way cut out ; and this pressure is produced, while forcing the arrow, softened by steam, through a hole in the tablet, with the incisor of a bear sot firmly in a handle and projecting over the rim of the hole as the arrow- shaft is forced downward through the tablet, getting compactness, and on the surface and in the groove a smoothness, which no cutting, filing, or scraping can produce. It would be useless to pass the bow-string through the tablet, for the evenness and the hardness of the strings are produced much more easily and eftectually by rolling them, as they pi river, a distance about eqiud to one-third of the whole breadth of the United States. It is i»ossil)le that they are scattered over a far greater area. In 181S, when Squier and Davis published their work, in which aborijjinal numufactures were for the llrst time ac<*urately described, they could not specify the locality from which the oft-mentioned slate was derived. Since that time {•eolo^^ical surveys have been made in all States of the Union, and the; i)laces of its occurrence are no lonj^er un- known. It appears, I am infornuHl, as the oldest sedimentary forma- tion, in es most proper for that purpose. The Kjoek- [CA. ANCIENT ABOUIGINAL TKADE IN NOUTH AMEKICA. 19 iC's of rt'lica t of inquiry, •Hoiial expo- Mi((8iHsip{)i bread th of il over a far icir work, in lyclescrihed,' tioned Hlato made in all • lon;4('r un- itary fornia- st, and has not believed d, therefore, n a rough or the United mdantly, in le countries I has i)layed )ea not seem am person- land, manj' es of a sili- conchoidal he produc- ed here in a edony, fer- |«lic stones, to another, Itions. The the trans- n districts served as ds. L»en discov- II. These |ns rare in ition since huhited to ?s all nselace on both 5 in every re- name is for- d already in lud gives the owl of which, 'rairies. "It that one end )n the stem, , and pierced : of diiferent )f red, greeu siastical suc- gs, but none itone was ob- " History of neons as far le Missouri," lich rises so b it. Prom ne, which is ■s, however, ered by an- )rt of earth y, knowing ig pieces of ^covered by mets, using >ne can bo 55. , 1852, p. 35. worked without difficulty and resists the fire very well.''* Leaving aside the incorrect description of the locality and of the character of occurrence, tlie stone here mentioned corresponds exactly to that of Coteau des Prai- ries, the latter being, indeed, very often marked with lighter (though not white) spots, which give it a perfectly porphyritic appearance. I have seen many raw pieces of the red pii)estone and have some my- self, in which this peculiarity is prominently exhibited. The unworked stone is usually of a dull pale red, the heightened color appearing only after the process of polishing. Carver, who explored the region of the Upper Mississippi in 17GG-'GS, nK'utions the red stone, but does not seem to have visited its place of oc- currence, which he marks on his map as the "Country of Peace." He also states distinctly in his work that even individuals belonging to hos- tile tribes met in peace at the "Eed Mountain," where they obtained the stone for their pipes.t This shows that, at his time, the neutrality of the district was still respected. This laudable regulation, it also appears, had not yet become obsolete in the beginning of the present century, for on the map accompanying the work in which Lewis and Clarke describe the territories explored by them in 1804-'G, the locality in ques- tion is thus designated : "Here the dili'erent Tribes meet in Frieiidship and collect Stone for Pipes." Yet, about forty years Jigo, when Catlin visited the Coteau des Prairies, the warlike Sioux or Dakotahs had usurped the exclusive authority over the quarry, not permitting their enemies to provide themselves with stone. Catlin and his English traveling companion encoutitered at first difficulties on their way to the quarry, a band of those Indians trying to prevent them from going there. "As this red stone," the warriors said, "was a part of their flesh, it would be sacrilegious for white men to touch or take it away; a hole would be made in their flesh and the blood could never bo made to stop running."! When, subsequently, after Catlin's return I'rom the quarry, an old chief of the Sacs saw some pieces of the red stone in the traveler's possession, he observed: "My friend, when I was young I used to go with our young men to the Mountain of the Eed Pipe and dig out pieces for our pipes. We do not go now, and our red pipes, as you see, are but few. The Dakotahs have spilled the blood of the red men on that place and the Great Spirit is oflended."§ Mr. Catlin is of opinion that the Indian quarrying operations at Coteau des Prairies reach back into far remote times, basing his view * Du Pratz, Histoire de la Louisiaue, Paris, 1758, Vol. I, p. 15'iG. The passage in question ia not quite clear. It remains doubtful whether DuPratz, in speaking of the stone resembling porphyry, relates what he has heard himself, or alludes to the jour- nal of M. do Bourgmont, to which he refers on the preceding page. The last-named cavalier undertook, in 1724, an expedition to the country of the Padoucas, or Co- manchea. The erroneous account may be duo to the natives, who purposely misplaced the locality of the quarry. t Carver, Travels, p. 78. . . t Catlin, Vol. II, p. 106. $ Ibid., Vol. II, p. 171. 24 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. chiefly ou the traditions of the ludiaus, which certaiulj- indicate a com- paratively long acquaintance with the locality. It appears, however, hardly admissible to ascribe a very high antiquity to the quarry, consider- ing that thus far no pipes or objects of ornament made of the red stone have been discovered in the oldest tumuli of the Mississippi valley, and the results of a recent examination of the Coteau des Prairies by Dr. F. V. Hayden likewise tend to detract much from the supposed antiquity of this aboriginal place of resort. According to Dr. Hayden, the layer of Catlinite, hardly a foot in thickness, rests upon a gray quartzite, and there are about five feet of the same gray quartzite above it, which the Indians had to remove with great labor before the pipestone could be secured. A ditch from four to five feet wide and about five hundred yards in length indicates the extent of work done by the Indians. Only about one-fourth of the pipestone layer, thin as it is, can be used for the manufacture of pipes and other objects, the remainder being too impure, slaty, or fragile. Dr. Hayden describes the place as unpicturesque and deficient in trees. He found no stone implements in the vicniity, nor did he loaru that any had ever been found ; rusty iron tools, ou the other hand, are frequently discovered. According to his view, the quarry belongs to a comparatively recent period. f Nevertheless the fact seems to be well established that the surround- ing tribes resorted for many succeeding generations to this locality, and that it formed a neutral ground, which they approached with a kind of superstitious awe. The Indians looked upon the red stone as a particu- larly valuable gift of the Great Spirit, and Catlin relates from personal observation that they humbly sacrificed tobacco before five huge boul- ders of granite near the quarry, in order to acquire the privilege, as it were, to take away a few pieces of the stone.t At present the settle- ments of the whites are advancing toward that interesting spot, which lies now, indeed, within the State of Minnesota, close to its western border, and in a county to which the name "Pipestone"' has been given. A communication from Dr. Hajden informs me that the i)lace is still visited by Dakotah Indians, but not very frequently, and without the observance of those ceremonies which formerly appeared indispensable. Not much longer, however, will the red man be seen to make his pil- grimage to the quarry of Coteau des Prairies. Mr. Catlin has published very good drawings of the red pipes, which are, moreover, familiar to every one who has paid some attention to Indian matters. Some of them bear testimony to the skill and patience of their makers, who, in most cases, probably possess no other imple- ments than the knives and files obtained from the traders. The cylin- drical or conical cavities in the bowl, and neck of these pipes are drilled with a hard stick and sharp sand and water.J 01 oi wl 01 n« * Haydeu, in American Journal of Science and Arts, Vol. XLIII, January, 1867. t Catlin, Vol. II, p. 160. tCatlin, Vol. I, p. 234. [CA. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 2 o icate a com- rs, however, ry, consider- he red stone valley, aud iries by Dr. 2d antiquity the layer of lartzite, aud t, which the ne could be ive huudred lians. Only used for the too impure, uesqne aud ieniity, nor )ols, ou the , the quarry e surround- acality, and h a kind of 5 a particu- m personal huge boul- lego, as it the settle- pot, which ts western een given, lice is still ithout the speu sable, ke his pil- »es, which eutiou to patience er imple- 'he cylin- re drilled ,1867. j Xot long ago a small Catlinite pipe of unusual shape was sent to me, which had been ploughed up in a maize-field near Centreville, in Southern Illinois (St. Clair County). Such older specimens are even met in the New England States, near the Atlantic coast. The collection of the Smithsonian Institute contains some pipes and ornaments made of Cat- linite, which w€re taken from Indian graves in the State of New York, or obtained from the Iroquois still inhabiting the same State. The raw or worked red pipestone, therefore, constituted an article of barter, which was brought from its original place of occurrence to the present Eastern States of the Union. A passage in Loskiel, who chiefly treats of the Delawares and Iroquois, refers to this trade. lu describing the pipes of those Indians, he says : " Some are manufactured from a kind of red stone, which is sometimes brought for sale by Indians who live near the Marble river, on the western side of the Mississippi, where they extract it {sic) from a mountain."* This passage, it will be noticed, im- plies a direct trade-connection of great extent, the distance between the red pipestone quai'ry and the Northern Atlantic States being equal to twelve or thirteen huudred English miles. SHELLS. A substance pleasing to the eye, and easily worked, such as is ofl'ered by nature in the shells of marine and fresh-water mollusks, could not fail to attract the attention of men in the earliest times. The love of l^ersonal adornment, moreover, already manifests itself in the lowest stages of human development,! and shells being, above other natural productions, particularly fitted to be made into ornaments, it is not sur- prising that they were employed for that purpose in all parts of the world. The North American tribes made an extensive use of the shells of the sea-coast as well as of those of their rivers, and fossil marine shells were also employed as ornaments. The valves of recent marine mollusks, indeed, must have been widely circulated by barter consider- ing that they are found, in the shape of ornaments, antl sometimes of utensils, in the interior of North America, at great distances from the shores of the sea. The oldest reference to the shell-trade among the aborigines is contained in the remarkable account of the Sjjaniard Alvar Nunez Cabega de Yaca, who accompanied in the year 15l*7, as treasurer and alguazil mayor, the unfortunate Pamphilo de Narvaez on * Loskiel, Mission der evangeliscbeu BiiUler uiittr dtn ludiaueru iu Noidamerikii, Barby, 17d9, p. C6. tit is probable tliat the barbarous manufacturers of the rude flint tools found, a.<.«o- ciated with the bones of extinct animals, in the diluvial deposits of Northern France, used small round petrefacts of the chalk {Coacinopora globularis, D'Orb.) aa beads, by stringing them together, these i)etritied bodies being provided by nature with holes liassing through their middle (Lyoll, Antiquity of Man, p. 119). Personal vanity is a prominent feature in the character of the North American Indians. Among the mis- erable Root-Diggers an old woman has been seen, who " had absolutely nothing on her person but a thread round her neck, from which was pendent a solitary bead." (Irving, Adventures of Captain Bounevillo, p. 2G1.) 26 ANCIENT AliOUIGINAL TKADE IN NORTH AMEUICA. his expedition for the conquest of rioiida. The leader and nearly all his followers having perished, Cabe^a de Yaca, one of the survivors, wandered with his companions for manj' years through North America, until he Anally succeeded in reaching the settlements of his country- men near Culiacan, in the present Mexican province of Sinaloa, after having traversed the whole continent from the Floridian peninsula to the Pacific coast. The description of his adventures and suflerings forms one of the most remaikablo early works on North America, being, in- deed, the first that treats of the interior of the country and of its na- tive population. For the latter reason it is of particular value to the ethnologist, presenting, as it does, the Indians as they were seen by the first white visitors.* While he sojourned among the Charruco Indians, a tribe inhabiting the coast, he carried on the business of a trader, which, as he observes, suited him very well, because it protected him at least from starvation. The excursions undertaken in the pursuit of his trade sometimes extended as far as forty or fifty leagues from the coast i nto the interior of the district. Ilis wares consisted of pieces and " hearts" of sea-shells {peda^os de caracoles de la mar y cora^ones de ellos), of shells employed by the Indians as cutting implements, and of a smaller kind that was used as money. These objects of trade he transported to i^arts distant from the sea, exchanging them there for other articles of which the coast-people were in want, such as hides, a red earth for painting their faces, stones for arrowheads, hard reeds for shafting the latter, and, finally, tufts of deer's hair dyed of a scarlet color, which were worn as head-dresses.t This passage, indeed, is of particular in- terest iu connection with the subject treated in this essay, beciluse it affords not only some insight into the system of Indian trade, but like- wise informs us that among the objects of exchange those were con- spicuous which served for the gratification of personal vanity. By the "hearts" of sea-shells Cabega de Vaca understands the spines otcoIu- melhc of large conchs, which parts were worked by the aborigines into a kind of ornament, of which more will be said hereafter. Large quantities of shell-ornaments, mostly destined to be strung together or to be worn as pendants, have been found in the sepulchral mouTids and other burial-places of the Indian race. In Ohio, accord- ing to ^Messrs. Squier and Davis, beads made of shell and other mate- * TIio iuiportauce of Oixbe^a do Vaca's work, it seeiua to me, Las been undervalued, perhaiijs on account of the marvelous cures which he pretends to have performed among tilt! natives. Imbued with the superstitious of his time, he probably believed iu bis own powers of healiug the sick in a supernatural way. When these incredible details are taken away, there remains much in the book that deserves the highest ap- prt'cialion. According to Arthur Helps, a most careful investigator, his account '• bears every mark of truthfulness." See : Helps, The Spanish Conquest in America, Harper's edition, Vol. IV, p. 397. t Relation et Naufrages d'Alvar Nuucz Cabcga de Vaca, (Tornaux-Compaus Col- lection), Paris, 1837, p. 121, &c. The Spjinish original appeared in the year 1555 at Valladolid. I K12ICA. and ueurly all tbe survivors, forth America, of bis country- ■ Siualoa, after euinsula to tbe iflerings forms ica, being, iu- aiid of its na- • value to tbe sre seen by tbe irruco ludiaus, 8 of a trader, oteeted bim at pursuit of bis a tbe coast into > and " hearts" ?s lie ellos), of id of a smaller e transported other articles 1, a red earth 3 for shafting 3t color, which particular in- ay, because it ade, but like- ose were con- nity. By tbe pines OTcolu- rigines into a ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TKADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 27 strung to be be sepulchral Ohio, accord- 1 other mate- n undervalued, lavo performed )l)ably believed ihese incredible the highest ap- T, his account est in America, -Compaus Col- 10 year 1555 at :i rials occur even more frecpuMitly in tbe sacrificial mounds than in those of a sepulchral (;baracter, a circumstance that nmy be accounted for by tbe value attached to these objects by their owners, who deemed them worthy of being olfcred in their sa(!rilicial rites. Tbe methods emiiloyed by tbe manufacturers doubtless being of the most primitive character, each shell-bead was the result of a certain amount of patient labor, and consecpiently was esteemed according to tbe time and art bestowed on its production. Tbe Indian sliell ornament in its simplest form consisted of entire specimens of small marine univalves, such as species of Marpinclla, Xafica, and OUvaj which, after being conveniently ])ierced, could be strung together at once without further pre])aration, and worn as neck- laces, armlets, »S:c. The above-mentioned kinds were met by Squier and Davis in the mounds of Ohio, and in oi)ening tbe Grave Creek Mound live hundred specimens of Marginella were obtained near one of the skeletons. Some time ago, I rec(uved pierced specimens of iMarginella, recovered in removing a mound at East St. Louis, in Southern Illi- nois, which, I believe, contained a great number of Ihem. Small sea- shells appear to be particularly abundant in tbe Indian graves of tbe Gulf States. ]\Iore than a bundr. 389. t Trauaactious of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. I, p. 361. tThe stone-grave in question contained a skeleton, much decayed, and, besides the two Ca«8ts-8hclls, stone axes and chisels, some perforated objects of stone, &c. The most important piece, however, was a copper axe, which deserves particular mention. This axe is very long, but narrow and thin, and shows on both sides very distinctly the friction produced by having been inserted into the split end of a wooden handle. The objects found in this grave are all in the possession of Colonel Jones, who intends to publish an illustrated description of this find in his forthcoming work on the an- tiquities of Cfeorgia. 30 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. works of various descriptions, and sometimes of stupendous extent, these large sliells of marine moUusks are of frecjueut occurrence. Atvvater already mentions them in the lirst volume of the Arcba;oloj,'ia Ameri- cana, published iu 1820. What Squier and Davis observed in regard to sea-shells generally during their investigations in Ohio, I will reca- pitulate here in a few words. They found in the mounds the smaller shells already specifled, namely, Marginvlla, Oliva, and Katioa, as well as entire specimens or fragments of Cassis and Pynda perversa^ and also the unwrought columella) of a largo species of couch, probably iStrombus (jigas. Entire specimens of the Pyrula perversa, they state, irequeutly have been discovered outside of the mounds, iu excavating at different ])oinls in the Scioto valley. They found in one of the mounds a large Cassis, from which ihe inner whorls and columella had been removed, to adapt it for use as a vessel. This specimen, eleven inches and a half in length by twenty-four in circumference at the largest part, is now iu the Blackmore Museum.* The above-mentioned marine shells, all pertaining to tropical or semi- tropical regions, occur in the United States only on the eastern shore of the peninsula of Florida (perhaps a little hi with the natives. " The Indians," he says, " bring dowuo all their soits of Furs, which they take in the countrey, both to the Indiana and t\> tho English for this Indian Money : this Money the English, French, »nd Dutch, trade to the Indians, six hundred miles in sevemll parts ^Norti^ and South from New-England) for their Furres, and whataoeNV>r ti>H\v stand in need of from them : as Come, Venison, ^c.^t Similar stat^^wouts are contained in the writings and records of various persons who lived in North America contemporaneously with the liberal-mimlod founder of Khode Island. Even in the intercourse of the English colonists among themselves, wampum ser\'e(l at certain periotla instead of the common currency, and the courts of New England issued from time to time regulations for fixing the money- value of the wampum. In trans- actions of some importance it was measured by the fathom, the dark oi- blue kind generally being double the value of the white.J According; to Roger WUliams, the Indians of New England — he chiefly refers to the Narragansetts — denoted by the term icompam (which signifies tchiti) the white beads, while they called the dark kind suckatihocJe (from sdclci, black).^ The great value attached to wampum as an ornament is well illustrated by the following passage from the same author : " They hang these strings of money about their necks and wrists ; as also upon * Loskiel, Mission dcr evangolischeu Briider, &c., p. 34. t Roger Williams, A Key, &c., p. 128. \ Interesting details concoruiiig wiiinpnui are given by Mr. Stevens in " Flint Chips," London, 1870, pp. 454-(>4. $ Roger Williams, 1. c. p. 130. In another place (p. 154) he gives the vrord tcdmpi for white. JVampumpeagc, peak, smwant, roanok, were othe names to signify wampum. 3 AA 34 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. !1 ||: m tho Decks and wrists of their wives and children. Mdchequoce, a Girdle ; which they make curiously of one, two, three, foure, and five inches thicknesse and more, of this money which (sometimes to the value often pounds and more) they weare about their middle and as a scarfe about their shoulders and breasts. Yea, the Princes make rich Caps and Aprons (or small breeches) of these Beads thus curiously strung into many forrues and figures : their blacke and white finely mixt together."* The wampum-belts, so often mentioned in connection with the histo- ry of the eastern tribes, consisted of broad straps of leather, upon which white and blue wampum-beads were sewed in rows, being so arranged that by the contrast of the light and dark colors certain figures were produced. The Indians, it is well known, exchanged these belts at the conclusion of peace, and on other solemn occasions, in order to ratify the transaction and to perpetuate the remembrance of the event. When sharp admonitions or threatening demonstrations were deemed neces- sary, the wampum-belts likewise played a part, and they were even sent as challenges of war. In these various cases the arrangement of the colors and figures of the belts corresponded to the object in view : on peaceable occasions the white color predominated ; if the complica- tions were of a serious character, the dark prevailed ; and in the case of a declaration of war, it is stated, the belt was entirely of a somber hue, and, moreover, covered with red paint, while there appeared in the middle the figure of a hatchet executed in white. The old accounts, however, are not quite accordant concerning these details, probably be- cause the different 'Atlantic tribes followed in this particular their own taste rather than a general rule. At any rate, however, the wampum- belts were considered as objects of importance, being, as has been stated, the tokens by which the memory of remarkable events was transmitted to posterity. They were employed somewhat in the manner of tlie Peruvian quipu, which they also resembled in that particular, that their meaning could not be convej'ed without oral comment. At certain times the belts were exhibited, and their relations to former oiicurrences explained. This was done by the aged and experienced of the tribe, in the presence of young men, who made themselves thor- oughly acquainted with the shape, size, and marks of the belts as well as with the events they were destined to commemorate, in order to be able to transmit these details to others at a future time. Thus the wampum-belts represented the archives of polished nations. Among the Iroquois tribes, who formed the celebrated "league," there was a special " keeper of the wampum," whose duty it was to preserve the belts and to interpret their meaning, when required. This office, which bore some resemblance to that of the quipu-decipherer {quipucamayoc) of the Peruvians, was intrusted to a sachem of the Onondagas.t In March, 1864, a delegation of Iroquois of the State of New York • Ibid., p. 131. t Morgan, League of the I ^uois, p. 181. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 35 own puni- )een was b'Uner ular, At rmer ed of thor- well » be the ong as a the hich lyoc) Tork passed through New York City on their way to Washington, where they intended to negotiate with the Government concerning former treaties relative to their lands. They had brought with them their old wampum- belts, as documents to prove the justness of their claims. One of these belts, if I am not mistaken, had been given them by General Washing- ton on some important occasion ; for even the \.hites of that period were under the necessity of conforming to the established rule in their trans- actions with the natives. The New York Historical Society honored these delegates with a public reception, which ceremony took place in the large hall of the Society. The president delivered the speech of wel- come, which an old chief, unable to express himself in English, answered in the Seneca dialect. A younger chief, Dr. Peter Wilson, called by the people of his tribe Dejihnon-da-wehhoh, or the "Pacificator," served as interpreter, being well versed in both languages. He afterward ex- hibited the belts, and explained their significance. They were, as far as I can recollect, about two feet long and of a band's breadth. The ground consisted of white beads, while blue ones formed the figures or marks. The latter resembled ornamental designs, and I could not dis- cover in them the form of any known object. I compared them at the time to somewhat roughly executed embroideries of simple patterns. I asked the " Pacificator " whether these belts were the work of Indians or of whites ; but he was unable to give me any definite information on that point.* I possess a number of white and blue wampum-beads from an Indian grave, opened in 1801, near Charlestown, in the State of Ehode island. The late Dr. Usher Parsons, of Providence, Rhode Island, to whom I am indebted for these beads, has described the grave,t and thinks it enclosed the remains of a daughter of Ninigret, Sachem of the Niantic or Nahantic tribe of Indians. The interment is supposed to have taken place about the year 16G0. These beads are regularly worked cylinders, drilled lengthwise, and from five to nine millimetres in length, by four or five in diameter. Of course, it cannot now be decided whether Indi- ans or whites were their manufacturers. The grave contained many other objects, but almost without exception derived from the colonists of that period. I may also state, in this place, that thus far I have not found in the oldest English works on North America a perfectly satis- factory account of the method originally employed by the Indians in the manufacture, and especially in the drilling, of the wampum-beads.}: Among the tribes of the northwestern coast of North America, from * This is tbo same chief who delivered, in 1847, before the New York Historical Society, a powerful speech, qnoted by Morgan, (League of the Iroquois, p. 440). The chiefs name was then Wd-o-tco-xcd-nd-onk. t New York Historical Magazine, February, 1863. t " Before ever they had awle blades from Europe, they made shift to bore this their shell money, with stones, and to fell their trees with stone set in a wooden staff, and used wooden towes ; which some old and pooro women (fearfuU to leave the old tradi- tion) use to this day." — Roger Williams, Key, p. 130. 36 ANCIENT ABOKIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. ?! the northern border of California far upward to the north, the shells of the Dentalium represented, until within the latest time, the wampum of the Atlantic region, being used, like the latter, both as ornament and money. These shells, which abound in certain places of the Pacific coast, may be likened to small, tapering, and somewhat curved tubes. Being open at both ends, they can be strung without further prepara- tion. As my essay relates only to that portion of North America which lies east of the Rocky Mountains, I probably would not have mentioned the use of Dentalium-shells, were it aot for the fact that they have been found in the interior of the country, far from the Pacific coast, as personal oruament of existing tribes, and even in the ancient mounds of Ohio.* The latter fact, indeed, is of interest in its bearing on the extent of former aboriginal trade-re) ^s, the distance from the Pacific to the State of Ohio being almost equal to the whole breadth of the North American contiuent.t PEARLS. Perforated pearls, destined to serve as beads, often form a part of the contents of ancient North American mounds. Squier and Davis found them on the hearths of five distinct groups of mounds in Ohio, and sometimes in such abundance that they could be gathered by the hun- dred. Most of them had greatly suffered by the action of fire, being in many cases so calcined that they crumbled when handled ; yet, several hundred were found suflftciently well preserved to permit of their being strung. The pearls in question are generally of irregular form, mostly pear-shaped, though perfectly round ones are also among them. The smaller specimens measure about one-fourth of an inch in diameter, but the largest has a diameter of no less than three-fourths of an inch.| According to Squier and Davis, pearl-bearing shells occur in the rivers of the region whose antiquities they describe, but not in such abundance that they could have furnished the amount discovered in the tumali ; and the pearls of these fluviatile shells, moreover, are said to be far inferior in size to those recovered from the altars. The latter, they think, were derived from the Atlantic coast and from that of the Mexican Gulf. It is a fact that the Indians, who inhabited the present Southern States of the Union, made an extensive use of pearls for ornamental purposes. This is attested by the earliest accounts, and more especially by the chroniclers of De Soto's expedition (the anonymous Portuguese gentleman and Garcilasso de la Vega), who" speak of almost fabulous quantities of pearls, which that daring leader and his followers * Stov«Mi.s, Flint Cbips, p. 468. t Since writing the above, I learned, by consnlting WoodwauVs work on conchology, tbat the DentaUiim ia also found *a the West Indies. If it should likewise occur un the Bonthern coasts of the United States, there is at least a possibility that the speciDieus found iu Ohio may have been obtained from the last-named region. t Ancient Monuments, p. 'i'Si ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH A^IERICA. 37 saw among the Indians of the parts traversed by them. Pearls, how- ever, belonged to the things most desired by the Spaniards, and the accounts relating to them, perhaps, may be somewhat exaggerated. The following passage from Garcilasvso de la Vega is of particular interest: " While De Soto sojourned in the province of Ichiaha,* the cacique visited him one day, and gave him a string of pearls about two fathoms i^leux hrasses) long. This present might have been considered a valu- able one, if the pearls had not been pierced ; for they were all of equal size and as large as hazle-nuts.t Soto acknowledged this favor by pre- senting the Indian with some pieces of velvet and cloth, which were highly appreciated by the latter. He then asked him concerning the pearl-fishing, upon which he replied that this was done in his province. A great number of pearls were stored in the temple of the town of Ichiaha, where his ancestors were buried, and he might take as many of them as he pleased. The general expressed his obligation, but ob- served that he would take away nothing from the temple, and that he had accepted his present only to please him. He wished to learn, how- ever, in what manner the pearls were extracted from the shells. The cacique replied that he would send out people to fish for pearls all night, and on the following day at eight o'clock {sic) his wish should be grati- fied. He ordered at once four boats to be dispatched for pearl-fishing, which should be back in the morning. In the mean time much wood was burned on the bank, producing a large quantity of glowing coals. When the boats had returned, the shells were placed on the hot coals, and they opened in consequence of the heat. In the very first, ten or twelve pearls of the size of a pea were found, and handed to the cacique and the general, who were present. They thought them very fine, though the fire had partly deprived them of their lustre. When the general had satisfied his curiosity, he retired to take his dinner. While thus engaged, a soldier came in, who told him that in eating some of the oysters caught by the Indians, a very fine and brilliant pearl had got between his teeth, and he begged him to accept it as a present for the governess of Cuba.f Soto very civilly refused the present, but assured the soldier that he was just as much obliged to him as though he had accepted his gift : he would try to reward him one day for his kindness and for the regard he was showing to his wife. He advised him to keep his (intended) present, and to buy horses for it at Havana. The Span- iards, who were with the general at that moment, examined the pearl of this soldier, and some, who considered themselves as experts in the mat- ter of jewelry, thought it was worth four hundred ducats. It had re- • The province and town of Iciaba, or Icbiaba, have been located in tbat part of North- ern Georgia where the Oostanaula and Etowah rivers unite, and form the Coosa river. (See Theodore Irving's " Conquest of Florida," second edition, p. 242 ; also McCuUoh's " Researches," p. 525.) t The Indians used to pierce them with a heated copper wire, a process by which they were spoiled. IDoQa Isabel de Bobadilla, De Soto's wife. 38 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. having been extracted by means of tained ifes original lustre, not fire."* It is evident, therefore, that the Indians obtained their pearls, in part at least, from their river-mnscles, many of which are known to be margaritiferous.t These mollusks undoubtedly were used as food by the aborigines, who atealligators, snakes, and other animals less tempt- ing thau tho contents of fluviatile shells. Indeed, I learned from i)v. Briuton, who Avas attached to the Army of the Cumberland during the late civil war, that muscles of the Tennessee river were occasionally eaten " as a change " by the soldiers of that corps, and pronounced no bad article of diet. Shells of the Unio are sometimes found in Indian graves, where they had been deposited with the dead, to serve as food during the journey to the land of spirits. In many parts of the Xorth American inland heaps of fresh-water shells are seen, indicating the places where the natives feasted upon the mollusks. Atwater has drawn attention to such accumulations on the banks of the Muskingum, in Ohio.J Ueaps of muscle-shells may be seen in Alabama, along the rivers wherever Indians used to live. Thousands of the shells lie banked up, some deep in the groimd.§ Dr. Brinton saw ou the Tennes- see river and its tributaries numerous shell-heaps, consisting almost exclusively of the Unio riniiniamts (Lamarck ?)• In all instances he found the shell-heaps close to the water-courses, on the rich alluvial bottom-lands. " Tlie mollusks," he says, " had evidently been opened by placing them on a fire. The Tennessee muscle is magaritiferous, and there is no doubt but that it was from this species that the early tribes obtained the hoards of pearls whieh the historians of De Soto's explor- ation estimated by bushels, and which were so nuich prized as orna- ments. It is still a profitable emi)loyment, the jewelers buying them at i)riees varying from one to fifty dollars."|| Kjoekkenmoeddhigs on the St. John's river, in Florida, consisting of river-shells, were examined by Professor Wyman, and described by him; he saw, similar accumula- tions on the banks of the Concord river in Massachusetts, and was in- formed by eye-witnesses that thev are luimerous in California.tl Ou Stalling's Island, in the Savanniib river, more than two hundred miles above its mouth, there stands a monud of elliptical shape, chiefly com- posed of the muscles, ehims, and snail-shells of the river. This tumu- * Gurcilusso de la Vega, Conquete dc la Floride, Vol. II, p. 296. t As Mr. Isaac Lea, of Philadelphia, informs me, pearls are found in various species of the Unionida, more frequently in Unio complanatus, Margaritana viargaritifera, and Jnotlonta fluviatiUa. But they occur occasionally in all the species of this family. Very large and valuable pearls have been found in New Jersey. t Archffiologia Americana, Vol. i, p. 226. J Pickett, History of Alabama, Charleston, 1851, Vol. I p. 12. B Brinton, Artificial Shell-Deposits iu the United States, Smithsonian Report for 1866, p. 357. f Wyman, Fresh-Water Shell-Heaps of the St. Johji's River, East Florida, Salem, Massachusetts, 1868, p. 6. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 39 for lem, lus, which is aboutthreehun(lre(lfeetlong,one hundred and twenty feet wide, and, perhaps, over twenty feet high, was found to contain a large number of skeletons. " Several pits have been opened in the northeast- ern end. At the depth of twelve feet the amount of shells was undi- minished. They appear to have been distributed in layers of eight or ten inches in thickness, with intervening strata of sand. An examina- tion into the contents of the mound proves conclusively that it must have been used only for burial purposes ; that it is, in fact, a huge ne- cropolis. It could not have been the work of a year, or of a generation. Stratum upon stratum has been heaped, each covering the dead of its age, until by degrees, and with the lapseof time, it grew into its present surprising dimensions."* It is probable that the natives of North America obtained pearls, both from fluviatile and marine shells, and further that they caught the bivalves, not solely on account of the pearls they inclosed, but for using them as food. The pearls themselves, in all likelihood, were looked upon as additional, highly valued gifts of nature. DIVISION OF LABOR. ■ Among tlie later Indians, at least those who lived east of the Kocky Mountains, nearly all work was performed by women. When, during times of peace, tlie master of a lodge had supplied his family with the game necessary for its support, he thought to be relieved of further duties, and abandoned himself either to indolence or to his favorite pastimes, such as games of hazard, and exercises calculated to im))art strength and agility to the body. He manufactured, however, his arms and kept them in repair, and also condescended to work, when a larger object, a canoe for instance, was to be made, or a dwelling to be con- structed. Far more varied, on the other hand, were the duties imposed upon women. Not only had they to procure water and tire-wood, to prepare the meals, to collect the fruits serving as winter provisions, to make moccasins and other articles of dress, but it was also incumbent upon them to perform many other labors, which, from their nature, would seem to be more suited for men. Thus, the lields were cultivated by women ;t they dressed the skins to fit them for garments and other jjurposes ; the manufacture of pottery was a branch of female industry ; they did the principal work in the erection of the huts or tents (of skins, mats or bark), and their assistance was even required when canoes, especially those of bark, were made. During the march they carried heavy loads, and on the water they handled the paddle as skilfully as tlie men. If to all those tasks and toils the bringing up of children is added, the lot of the Indian woman appears by no means an enviable one, though slio bore her burden patiently, not being accustomed to a diff'erent manner of existence. She was, indeed, hardly more than the servant of her lord '$1 * Jones (Charles C), Mouumental Remains of Georgia, Savannah, 1H61, p. 14. t Also, to some extent, by enslaved prisoners of war. 40 ANCIE:?T aboriginal trade in north AMERICA. :i' and master, who frequeutly lived in a state of polygamy merely for com- manding more assistance in his domestic affairs. Such were the occupations of Indian men and women in general. Nev- ertheless, there are indications that the germs of handicrafts already existed among the North American tribes, or, to speak more distinctly, that certain individuals of the male sex, who were, by natural inclina- tion or practice, particularly qualified for a distinct kind of manual labor, devoted themselves principally or entirely to this labor. I refer, of course, to the period anteceding the occupation of the country by Euro- peans — that period about which so little is known, that a careful exam- ination of the still existing earth-works, and of the minor products of industry left by the former inhabitants, affords the principal guidance in the ir tc : to determine their mode of existence. The earliest writ- ings OQ North America are exceedingly deficient in those details which are of interest to the aichteologist, and form, as it were, his points of departure ; and it becomes therefore necessary to adopt here, in the pursuit of archaeological investigation, the same system of careful in- quiry and ('^ ^.•'^'.j.r. that has been so successfully employed in Europe. The only differ ic^ is. that in the latter part of the world "prehistoric times" reach lick /iKUSinds of years into the remotest antiquity, while in Arerica a compaia'vy recent period must be drawn within the precinc*^ of anliqiii rian j • rcli. Any one who examiui s .i, c "•• -^ion of North American chipped flint implenyents will notice quite rinie and clumsy specimens, but also, along- side of these, others of great regularity and exquisite finish, which could only have been fashioned by practised workers in flint. This applies par- ticularly to the points of arrows and lances, some of which are so sharp and pointed that they, when properly shafted, almost would be as effectual as iron ones. In fact, the oldest Spanish writings contain marvelous ac- counts of the penetrating force of the flint-pointed arrows used by the Indians of Florida in their encounters with the whites. Not every warrior, it may be presumed, was able to make stone-points, especially those of a sui)erior kind, this labor requiring a skill that could only be attained by long practice. There were doubtless certain persons among the various tribes who practised arrow-making as a profession, and disposed of their manufactures by way of exchange. In reference to this subject Mr. Schoolcraft observes as follows : " A hunter, or warrior, it is true, expected to make his own arms or implements, yet the manufacture of flint and hornstone into darts and spears and arrowheads demanded too much skill and mechanical dexterity for the generality of the Indians to succeed in. According to the Ojibway tradition, before the introduction of fire-arms, there was a class of men among the northern tribes who were called makers of arrowheads. They selected proper stones, and devoted themselves to this art, taking in exchange for their manufactures, the skins and flesh of animals." According to Colonel Jones, the tradition has been preserved in Georgia " that among the Indians who inhabited A.NCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 41 » tbe mountains, there was a certain number or class who devoted their time and attention to the manufacture of these darts. That as soon as they had prepared a general supply, they left their mountain homes and visited the sea-board and intermediate localities, exchanging their spear and arrowheads for other articles not to be readily obtained in the region where they inhabited. The further fact is stated that these persons never mingled in the excitements of war ; that to them a free passport was at all times granted, even among tribes actually at variance with that of which they were members ; that their avocation was esteemed honorable, and they themselves treated with universal hospitality. If such was the case, it was surely a remarkable and interesting recogni- tion of the claims of the manufacturer by an untutored race." * In a former section I have mentioned a Californian Indian of the Shasta tribe, who was seen making arrowheads of obsidian by Mr. Caleb Lyon. " The Indian," he says, *' seated himself on the floor, and, placing a stone anvil upon his knee, which was of compact talcose slate, with one blow of his agate chisel he separated the obsidian pebble into two parts, then giving another blow to the fractured side he split off a slab a fourth of an inch in thickness. Holding the piece against the anvil with the thumb and finger of his left hand, he commenced a series of continuous blows, every one of which chipped off fragments of the brittle substance. It gradually assumed the required shape. After finishing the base of the arrowhead (the whole being only a little over an inch in length) he began striking gentler blows, every one of which I expected would break it into pieces. Yet such was their adroit application, his skill and dexterity, that in little over an hour ho produced a perfect obsidian arrowhead. Among them arrow-making is a distinct trade or profession, which many attempt, but in which few attain excellence.''^ t Another method of arrow-making practised by the Californian tribes is mentioned by Mr. Edward E. Chever in an article published in the " American Naturalist," May, 1870. He has figured the implement used in the process (p. 139). " The arrow-head," he says, " is held in the left hand while the nick in the side of the tool is used as a nipper to chip off small fragments." Mr. Catlin gives an interesting and full account of the manufacture of arrowheads among the Apaches and other tribes living west of or in the Rocky Mountains. The following extract contains his principal state- ments : " Erratic boulders of flint are collected (and sometimes brought au immense distance) and broken with a sort of sledge-hammer made of a rounded pebble of hornstone, set in a twisted withe, holding the stone and forming a handle. The flint, at the indiscriminate blows of the sledge, is broken into a hundred pieces. The master-workman, seated on the ground, lays one of these flakes on the palm of his left hand, •Jones (Charles C.)» Indian Remains iu Southern Georgia. Address delivered before the Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, 1859, p. 19. t Bulletin of the American Ethnological Society, Nevr York, 18C1, Vol. I, p. 39. 42 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. holding it firmly down with two or more Angers of the same hand, and with his right hand, between the thumb and two forefingers places his chisel or punch* on the point that is to be broken off" ; and a co- operator (a striker) silting in front of hira, with a mallet of very hard wood, strikes the chisel on the upper end, flaking the flint off on the under side, below each projecting point that is struck. The flint is fhen turned and chipped in the same manner from the opposite side ; and so turned and chipped until the required shape and dimensions are obtained, all fractures being made on the palm of the hand, whose yielding elasticity enables the chip to come off without breaking the body of the flint, which would be the case if they were broken on a hard substance. This operation is very curious, both the holder and the striker singing, and the strokes of the mallet given exactly in time with the music, and with a sharp and rebounding blow, in which, the Indians tell us, is the great medicine (or mystery) of the operation. Every tribe has its factory In which these arrowheads are made, and in those only certain adepts arc able or alloived to malce them for the use of the tribe.^^i Thus tradition as well as modern experience justify the belief that the manufacture of arrow and spearheads was formerly carried on as a craft by certain individuals of the North American tribes, and Longfel- low's "Ancient Arrow-maker," therefore, is not a mythical person, but the ideal type of a class of men whose art flourished in bj-gone times. The skilfully executed agricultural flint implements of East St. Louis, described by me in the Smithsonian Eeport for 1868, have alto- gether the appearance as if one hand had fashioned them. Is it not probable that they formed the magazine of an aboriginal artisan, who devoted his time chiefly to the manufacture of such tools ? The making of wampum and of shell-beads in general may have formed a trade among the tribes inhabiting the sea-board ; for this labor required much time and promised success only to those who, by long practice, had attained skill in the operation. The supposition gains some ground by an observation of Roger Williams, who states that " most on the Sea side make Money and Store up shells in Summer against Winter whereof to make their money." He further observes on the same page : " They have some who follow onely making of Bowes,someATrowes, some Dishes (and the women make all their Earthen Vessells,) some follow fishing, some hunting."! The most remarkable productions of ancient aboriginal industry are the carved stone pipes of peciiliar shape exhumed by Messrs. Squier and Davis from the mounds of Ohio, and minutely described and fig- ured by them in the "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley.§" * Six or seveu iucbes in leugtli, and made of an incisor of the 8i)erm-whale, often Btranded on the coast of the Pacific, t Catlin, Last Rambles amongst the Indians, New York, 18G7, p. 187, &c. i Roger Williams, A Key, &c., p. 133. 5 Chapter XV, Sculptures from the Mounds, pp. 248-278. » ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 43 i Four miles north of Cbillicotlie, Ohio, there lies, close to the Scioto river, an embankment of earth somewhat in the shape of a square with strongly rounded angles, and enclosing an area of thirteen acres, over which twenty-three mounds are scattered without much regularity. This work has been called " Mound City," from the great number of mounds within its walls. In digging into the mounds, Squier and Davis discovered hearths in many of them, which furnished a great number of aboriginal relics. From one of the hearths nearly two hun- dred of those peculiar stone pipes were taken, many of them, unfortu- nately, cracked by the action of the fire, and otherwise damaged. The occurrence of these " mound-pipes," however, was not confined to the mound in question, similar ones having occasionally been found else- where. In the more elaborate pipes from Mound City, the bowl is some- times formed in imitation of the human head, but generally of the body of an animal, and iu the latter cases the peculiar characteristics of the species which have served as models are frequently expressed with sur- prising fidelity. The following m.ammals have been recognized : the beaver, otter, elk, bear, wolf, dog, panther, wild cat, raccoon, opossum, squirrel, and sea-cow (Manati, Lamantiu, Trichecus manatus, Lin.). Of the last-named animal, no less than seven representations were found, a circumstance deserving particular notice, because this inhabit- ant of tropical waters is not met in the higher latitudes of North Amer- ica, but only on the coast of Florida, which is many hundred miles dis- tant from Ohio. The Florida Indians called this animal the " big beaver," and hunted it on account of its flesh and bones.* Most fre- quent are carvings of birds, among which the eagle, hawk, falcon, tur- key-buzzard, heron, several species of owls, the raveu, swallow, paro- quet, duck, and other land and water-birds, have been recognized. One of the specimens is supposed to represent the toucan, a tropical bird not inhabiting the United States. Worthy of particular mention as a well-executed sculpture is a species of eagle or hawk in the attitude oi tearing a smaller bird held in its claws ; and so is that of the tufted heron feeding on a fish. The amphibious animals, likewise, have their representatives in the snake, toad, frog, turtle, and alligator. One spe- cimen shows a snake that winds itself around the bowl of the pipe. The toads, in particular, are very faithful imitations of nature. Indeed, it is said in the "Ancient Monuments " that, if placed in the grass be- fore an unsuspecting observer, they would probably be mistaken for the natural objects ; and this statement is in no way exaggerated, as every one will admit who has seen the specimens iu question. The bird- figure supposed to represent the toucan, I think, is not of sufficient dis- tinctness to identify the original that was before the artist's mind ; it would not be safe, therefore, to make this specimen the subject of far- reaching speculations. For the rest, the imitated animals belong, with- Bartram, Travels, Dul)liu, 1793, p. 229. 44 ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRAUK IN NORTH AMERICA. I i out exception, to the North American fauna ; and there is, moreover, the greatest probability that the sculptures in question were made in or near the present State of Ohio, where, in corroboration of the last sup- position, a few unfinished specimens have occurred among the complete articles. The discovery of the manati-flgures, however, is in so far of interest as it indicates a communication between the ancient inhabitants of Ohio and those of the Floridian coast-region. It was formerly believed most of these pipes were composed of a kind of porphyry ; but since their transfer to the Blackmore Museum, they were carefully examined and partly analysed by Professor A. II. Church, who found them to consist of softer materials.* Nevertheless, they constitute the most remarkable class of Indian products of art thus far discovered, for some of them are so skilfully executed that a modern artist, notwithstanding his far superior instruments, would find no little difficulty in reproducing them. The manufacture of stone pipes, neces- sarily a painful and tedious labor, therefore may have formed a branch of aboriginal industry, and the skilful pipe-carver probably occupied among the former Indians a rank equal to that of the experienced sculptor in our time. Even among modern Indians pipe-makers some- times have been met. Thus, Dr. Wilson mentions an old Ojibway In- dian, whose name is Pahahmesad, or the " Flier," but who, from his skill in making pipes, is more commonly known as Ficahguncka — " he makes pipes."t Kohl, also, speaks of an Ojibway pipe-maker whom he met on Lake Supierior. " There are persons among them," he says, " who i)ossess particular skill in the carving of pipes, and make it their profession, or at least the means of gaining in part their livelihood. I made the acquaintance of such afaiseur de calumet, and visited him occasionally. He inlaid his pipes very tastefully with figures of stars and flowers of black and white stones. But his work proceeded very slowly, and he sold his pipes at high prices, from four to five dollars apiece. Yet the Indians sometimes pay much higher prices." J In addition to the articles thus far enumerated, others may have been manufactured more or less extensively by way of trade ; but, in defalult of corroborating data, we mast rest satisfied with the supposition that such was the case. European archaeologists, in estimating the condi- tions of prehistoric races of the Old World, have derived much aid from inquiries into the modes of life among still-existing primitive popula- tions of foreign parts. The same system may be applied in antiquarian researches relative to North America, where the customs and manners of the yet lingering aboriginal population can be brought into requisi- tion for elucidating the past. Thus, some statements made by Mr. James G. Swan, in a recent work on the Makah Indians of Cape Flat- tery, (published by the Smithsonian Institute,) are of great interest in * Church, iu "Flint Chips," p. 414. t Wilson, Prehistoric Man, Loud., 1882, Vol. II, p. 15. t Kohl, Kitschi-Gami, Vol. II, p. 82. ANCIENT ABORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 45 connection with the object treated in this article. " The manufacture of implements," he says, " is practised by all ; some, however, produc- ing neater articles, are more employed in this way. The manufacture of whaling implements, particularly the staff of the harpoon and the harpoou-head, is confined to individuals who dispose of them to the others. This is also the case with rope-making ; although all under- stand the process, some are peculiarly expert, and generally do the most of the work. Canoe-making is another branch that is confined to cer- tain persons who have more skill than others in forming the model and in finishing the work. Although they do not seem to have regular trades in these manufactures, yet the most expert principally confine themselves to certain branches. Some are quite skilful in working iron and copper, others in carving or in painting, while others again nre more expert in catching fish or killing whales."* It is true, the conditions of existence of a northern tribe bordering on the Pacific coast cannot serve as a standard for the populations for- merly inhabiting the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio, or the Atlantic sea-board ; yet, that the latter were led by similar motives, in regard to the division of labor, seems to be confirmed by the observations and extracts given in this sketch. i m CONCLUSION. In the preceding series of {irticles I have almost exclusively referred to manufactures^ and among these, of course, only to such as could, from their nature, resist the destroying influence of time. Yet, it can- not be doubted that articles consisting of less durable materials, for instance, dressed skins, basket-work, mats, wooden ware, &c., formed objects of traffic. The most extensive exchange, perhaps, was carried on in provisions that could be preserved, such as dried or buccaned meat, maize, maple sugar, and other animal or vegetable substances. Those who were abundantly provided with one or the other article of food bartered it to their less favored neighbors, who, in return, paid them in superfluous products or in manufactures of their own. Con- cerning the ways of communication, the North American continent afforded, by its many n.avigable waters, rivers as well as lakes, perhaps greater facilities for a primitive commerce than any other part of the earth, and the canoe was the means of conveyance for carrying on this commerce. The learned Jesuit, Lafitau, has given some account of Indian trade as it was in the beginning of the eighteenth century, at which period he lived, as a missionary, in North America. "The savage nations," he says, " always trade among each other. Their commerce is, like that of the ancients, a simple exchange of wares against wares. They all have something particular which the others have not, and the traffic •Swan, The Indians of Cape Flattery, at the Entrance to the Strait of Fnca, Wasb- ingtou Territory, Wusbingtou, 1870, p. 48. 46 ANCIENT AHORIGINAL TRADK IN NORTH AMERICA. m hi makcH these tliiiipfH circulate amon;; tUcm. Tlieir wares are )?raiii, por- celain (wampum), furs, robes, tobacct), uuits, canoes, work made of moose or buffalo hair and of porcupine rpiills, cotton-beds, domestic utensils — in a word, all sorts of necessaries of life required by them."* A passage from Lawson, a contemporary of Ladtau, may also bo inserted with pro- priety in this place. Speaking of the natives of Carolina, he says: ^'The women make baskets and mats to lie upon, and those that are not extraordinary hunters make bowls, dishes, and spoons of gum-wood and the tulip-tree; others, where they lind a vein of white clay lit for their purpose, make tobacco-pipes, all v.hich are often transported to other Indians that, perhaps, have greater plenty of deer and other game, &c. The arrival of the whites produced a thorough change in Indian life, wherever a contact between the two races took place. The age of stone and that of iron met, almost without an intervening link, for the so- called North American " copper period" was but of little practical sig- nificance. Simultaneously with the settlement of the eastern parts of North America by the whites, there arose a trailic between these and the Indians in their neighborhood, which provided the latter with implo. ments and utensils so far superior to their own, that they soon ceased to manufacture and use them. The keen-edged steel axe superseded the clumsy and far less serviceable stone tomahawk; the European knife did away with the cutting implement of flint; and those of the natives who could not obtain tire-arras at least headed their arrows with points of iron or brass. The potter's art was neglected, solid and durabk vessels of metal supplying the place of the fragile aboriginal fabrics ' clay. Instead of procuring fire by turning a wooden stick, fitting in a small cavity of another piece of wood, rapidly between their hands until ignition was effected, the natives now resorted to the far preferable method of striking fire with steel and flint. Their dress, too, underwent changes, pliant woolen and cotton textures being employed to a certain extent instead of dressed skins. Formerly, when the Indians wished to make one of their more durable canoes or a large mortar for pounding maize, they had first to fell a suitable tree, a task which, on account of the insuflSciency of their tools, required much labor and time. Being unable to cut down a tree with their stone axes, they resorted to fire, burning the tree around its foot and removing the charred portion with their stone implements. This was continued until the tree fell. Then they marked the length to be given to the object, and resumed at the proper place the process of burning and removing. In a similar manner the hollowing of the tree was effected. But now a few strokes of the European axe did the same work which formerly, perhaps, required days ; and to a race as indolent and averse to labor as the Indians, the effect of that simple tool must have appeared almost miraculous. f 1 )« * Lafitau, Moenrs des Sauvages Amdriqnains, Paris, 1724, Vol. II, p. 332. t Lawson, History of Carolina, London, 1714 ; reprint, Raleigh, 1860, p. 338. por- ANCIENT AIJORIGINAL TRADE IN NORTH AMERICA. 4? Greater however, than these and mauy other advantaeos were the evUs which the eoutact with the whites brought upon them a 'd in sueeumbing to the o^^rwhellniug power of the Caueasiansthe'y shared the fate of every inferior race that takes up the contest wi h one "Z pying a higher rank in the family of men. < I i'.ii