BEADS, MONET-SHELLS, AND STONE IMPLEMENTS. 25 



knew each other, the dentalium was the only 

 currency in use. It is quite clear, and also a 

 very curious fact, that the hi-qua and kop-kop 

 were known and used by the Indians of the 

 interior at some distant period, although no trace 

 of their use, or knowledge of the shell, exists 

 among them at present ; for in digging out some 

 flint implements, stone beads, and other things 

 I need not here enumerate, from the drift, I found 

 numbers of dentaliums and round buttons made 

 of the Haliotis nacre. The" distance from the 

 nearest seaboard was about a thousand miles, 

 and the language spoken by these inland Indians 

 quite incomprehensible to the Indians on the 

 coast. But as I have more to say about the 

 various tribes occupying North-west America, I 

 shall here only explain the system adopted by 

 the Indians to capture the money-shells. 



An Indian when shell -fishing arms himself 

 with a long spear, the haft of which is light deal ; 

 to the end of it is fastened a strip of wood placed 

 transversely, but driven full of teeth made of 

 bone ; the whole affair resembles a lono- comb 

 affixed to the end of a stick with the teeth very 

 wide apart. A squaw sits in the stern of the 

 canoe, and paddles it slowly along, whilst the 

 Indian with the spear stands in the bow. He 



