432 ETHNOLOGY. 



ress in the working of gold, silver, copper, and tin. They made not 

 only weapons and ornaments of metal, bat also vessels showing a high 

 degree of skill. They alloyed copper and tin, and manufactured bronzed 

 utensils, to which they imparted considerable hardness by hammering. 

 But the arrow-heads and knives of obsidian remained in use at the same 

 time ; the latter probably in consequence of their being used, in the 

 terrible human sacrifices, to open the breast of the victim and cut out 

 the heart. Immense numbers of such obsidian knives, as well as arrow- 

 heads and chips, are still found in various localities. A mountain dis- 

 tinguished for the large number of these objects is still called " the 

 mountain of knives." The inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley ob- 

 tained the obsidian arrow-heads from Mexico in exchange for other 

 articles. 



The pipes are peculiar to America. They are called mound-pipes, 

 on account of their being found almost exclusively in the altar-mounds. 

 The Indians were in all probability the first smokers, and so great was 

 the esteem in which thej' held the enjoj'ment derived from it that they 

 devoted more labor and skill upon their pipes than upon their weapons. 

 The pipes are of stone, with a base in some cases 5 inches long, one end 

 of which forms the stem. The bowls are in the center of the base and 

 are about 1 or 1^ inches high. These bowls are in most cases fashioned 

 in imitation of human heads, with all the characteristics of the Indian 

 race upon them, or various animals, which are so faithful that they can 

 be recognized at once ; a fact which is the more surprising, since the 

 pipes are fashioned of a single piece of very hard stone. The pipes of 

 baked clay found in New York and elsewhere seem to belong to a later 

 period. 



The Indians of to-day also devote considerable attention to the 

 adornment of their i)ipes. Many are cut from the red pipe-clay of the 

 West, which was discovered by the celebrated artist and ethnographer 

 Catlin. The beds of this clay were considered as on neutral ground by 

 the Indians. . 



Among the other objects, which I have only time to name, are needles 

 and bodkins of bone and horn, pearls of bone and of various shells, 

 genuine pearls, perforated claws of eagles and bears, teeth of wild-cats 

 and of the shark, perforated bits of mica, and the like. The vessels 

 of clay, however, require a more detailed consideration. They also 

 show some resemblance to the products of the corresponding era in 

 Europe. They were all fashioned without the potter's wheel ; in m'any 

 cases baskets of willow or rushes served as models. They were cov- 

 ered inside with clay and placed with it in the fire. Thus the wicker- 

 work left its impression on the outside of these vessels. This method, 

 according to Catlin, was still practiced in the present century. In 

 some southern localities pumpkins were covered with clay on the out- 

 side, and the whole placed in the fire. 



A great number of the vessels, like the olde/ European ones, had a 

 round bottom, and could only be used for hanging up by means of a 



