1868.] 433 [Peale. 



The style of ornament is shown in Figures No. 1, in Plate IX, 

 all of which are draw'n full size or \. 



From the variety in the ornamentation and contour indi- 

 cated by the fragments so numerously dispersed in the vicinity 

 of the Delaware, from its mouth to the sources of that river, 

 there is abundant evidence of an advanced state of the art; 

 and that it was not confined to the production of vessels for 

 the cooking of food, or preservation of stores, &c., is proved 

 by the existence of pipes of burnt clay, and the imitation of 

 natural objects in the same material. The wolfs head, in my 

 collection, the emblem of the Minsi Tribe, the dwellers on 

 these shores, and the undoubted makers of these relics, is full 

 of character, and, it is not too much to say, artistic merit. 



We cannot, however, claim for this tribe any exclusive pe- 

 culiarity of form. The vase. Fig. 1, Plate X, was made by 

 the Maudans ; the original was brought from high up the Mis- 

 souri by General Sully, to whom it was presented by an old 

 chief of that tribe, the few remaining members of which are 

 fast decreasing in numbers, and will soon have passed away: 

 the hard but inevitable destiny of the Indian, in contact with 

 the white race. The old chief told the General " that it was 

 the last article of the ancient pattern in their nation, now 

 nearly extinct ; how old it was, he could not tell." 



This tribe, once celebrated for their skill in the ceramic art, 

 do not now practise it, and Mr. Catlin's interesting remarks* 

 are of things and customs that no longer exist. 



The form, it will be observed, is good, but the ornamenta- 

 tion is not profuse, and it has the advantage of loops for suspen- 

 sion, which construction has not occurred in any of the speci- 

 mens from the Delaware. 



The formation of the ware within basket-work, has been re- 

 peatedly noticed, f and the number of fragments of vessels of 

 large size, found in the vicinity of salt springs, are facts well 

 established, proving the manufacture of salt by people of whom, 

 in some instances, all record is lost. Fig. 2, -Plate X, is a 

 drawing of a specimen of this kind from Gallatin Co., Illi- 

 nois, found in such a locality', accompanied by large quanti- 



* "Catlin's North American Indians," vol. 1, p. 116. 

 f Charles Kau, on " Indian Pottery." 

 VOL. X. — 3h 



