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Show 'fHl\.VELS THROUGH UPPER C! ADA: a they term it, is about to be held with any neighbourino- tril c, or whenever any tr aty or national compact is a.bout to be made, one of thefe belt , diffcrin o- in fome refpcCl fi·om very other that ha been mad<.: before, is immcdiat ly conftruClcd; each perfon in the a!fembly holds this b It in his hand w!Jilfl: he delivers his 1})cech, and whet) 1 has ended, he prcfcnts it to the n xt perfon that rifes, by which ceremony each individual is reminded, that it behoves him to be cautious in hi difcourfe, as all he Clys will be hlithfully recorded by the belt. The tJ.lk being over, the belt i dcpofitcd in the hands of the principal (. h ic£: On the ratification of a treaty, very broad fplcndid belts arc recipro cally given by the contratling parties, which arc dcpofi tcd amongfl: th · other bdt belonging to the nation. At fb tcd intervals they arc all produced to the nation, and thc occallon upon wbich they we re m; de arc mentioned; if they relate to a talk, one of the chief! repeat~ the fubil: nee of what 'vas iitid over them; if to a tr aty, the terms of it arc reca pitulatcd. Certain of the fqua.w s, alio, ar entrufiecl with the bel ts, whofc bulincis it is to relate the hifl::ory of each one of them to the younger branches of the tribe; thi they do with great accuracy, and thus it is tlnt the remembrance of every important tranfac ion is kept up. The wampum is formed of the infide of the cl.un {bell, a lar?e fca i11cll bcarinn· feme fimilitud' to that of a fcallop, which is found on the coafls of New England and Virginia. The !l <.:11 is fcnt in its original rough fl:ate to r~ngland .• and there cut into fmall pi eces, exaCtly fimilar in ilwpe and fizc w the modern gbfs bugles worn by hdi s, which little bits of !hell conftitutc wampum. There arc two forts of wampum, the white anJ the purple; the latter is moil: e£1:t•cmcd by tht.: Indians, who think a pound weight of it equally valuabk with a pound of filver. The wampum is llrung UJ on bi ts of leather, and the belt is compofed of ten, twc:lvc, or more firin gs, according to the importance of the oc afion on which it is made; fomctimes alio the wampum is fow ·din differcn t patterns on broad bdts o lea thcr. The SAGACITY OF THE INDI ANS. .."_) 91 The ufe of wam mm appea rs to he v ry rencr. 1 amon()fl: the Indian 11ations, bu how it l ccame fo, is a qucfl:ion that would require difc uffioJ, for it is well kno\ n that they :uc a people ohtlinatdj at tched to old cu£1:oms, and tl at would not thr;rcfo re be apt to: lopt, on th·· molt grand and fo 1 ·1 .n occ.tliun, tl · ufe of an artie]· that they h.td n<.:vet· [cCtl until brought to them by J ran._'i..! r!> ; at the t:u 1c time it fe ms wholly i mJ1ofllblt: t 1at th ~.. . tho. 1cl ever have bu.:n able to have made wampun fi·ot 1 the cL1m fh ·ll for themfdvcs ; th ·y fa l1io 1 the b•)Wl of tobacco pipes, indeed, frot l 1one, in a very cnri.ms manner, and with aflondh'ng accuracy, conJ1dering that they ufc no other inllru ncnt than a ommon J ni fc, but th 11 the il:one which they commonly <..trvc thus is ot a Vl'ry (oft kind; the clam fhell, however, is c, ccctt111t;ly lu~d, and to bore ami cut it into fu ch fmall piece as arc n cdlary to fQrm wampum, very fine tools would be wa11ting. Pr )bably th y made f"Ome ufe of chc cLlm fbcll, and endeavoured to reduce ic to as fmall bits as they could with their rnde jnfl:rumcnts before we c.une amongfl: them, but on findinrr that we coul f cut it fo much more nc·ltly than they could, b laid nfidc the wampum before in u{c for that of our manufaCture. Mr. Carver tells us, that he found 1i a !hells \'cry gencr,dly worn by the Indians who rcfi.d · 1 in th~ mofl: interjor part of tht ·ontinent, who never could he ve vifltcd a .{(·a fhorc themfelvcs, and could only have procured them at the cxpcnc of much trouble from th 'r nation . The Indinns arc >,·cccd ingly .fagacious and obft...:rvant, and by dint of minute attention, acquire many qnalt.fications to which we are wholly {hang rs. They wi ll traverfe a tracklcf~ .Cordl, hnndred' of mile in extent, without devi.lting from the :fl::r;light couril:, and will reach to a certainty the fpot whither they intended to go on feLting out: with equal {kill th y will crofs one of the large bl, cs, and though out of fio-ht of the !bores for days, will to a certainty make the land at once, atb the very place th('y ddired. Some of the.: French miOi.onarics have fuppofcd that the Indians are o-uided by infl:inet, and have pretended that Indian childrcn an find their way through a forc£1: as eafily as a perfon of maturer years; but this is a moll: abfurd notion. It is un-. que:fl::ionably by a clofe attention to the growth of the trees, and pofi-tion . |