GUESDE COLLECTION OF ANTIQUITIES IN WEST INDIES. 737 



one side of tbe cutting edge, which suggests the idea of a tool appro- 

 priated to some special purpose. Finally, I have some axes with the 

 blade curved like that of a cimeter. These are rare. 



Celts. — Celts vary much in form, size, and color. Some are slender 

 with a sharp point, others are massive with a blunt point; some are 

 broad and flat, others narrow and deep ; some reach enormous propor- 

 tions, while others are very much reduced in size. 



Celts are scarcer than axes in Guadeloupe. Most of them are made 

 of a handsomer, harder material than that used for axes, such as ser- 

 pentine, jade, or jadite. The fine glazing of the stone, also, is found 

 only in celts. I have some, large and small, made of the volcanic stone 

 used ordinarily for axes. These are very well polished, but not glazed. 

 This handsome glazing gives an exalted idea of the industry of these 

 savages, for it could not be done better in our days. 



The Caribs made use of the living forces of nature to fix the celts on 

 the wood. But to introduce a celt into a young tree and let the tree 

 grow till the resistance was sufficient, required many years. I believe, 

 therefore, that they rarely had recourse to this process. They evi- 

 dently followed the same method employed by the Canaques and other 

 savages of the present century ignorant of the use of metals, whose 

 celts do not differ from those found in our islands. This method con- 

 sisted in fixing the stone by the aid of very fine cords in a socket pre- 

 pared in the wooden handle. 



I must not forget to mention the shell celts. These are not made of 

 living shell, which would not have been hard enough for the purpose, 

 but of fossil shell. They are very rare. They were extracted from the 

 outer edge of the Stromhus gigas, very common in the Caribbean Sea. 



It is to be supposed that the glazed celts were rather warlike weapons 

 than instruments of labor, for they offer more resistance in proportion 

 to their size, and we know besides that the savages used in war what- 

 ever had most value in their eyes. The very large-sized celts must have 

 served as wedges in splitting trunks of trees. 



Casse-tetes. — The casse-tete type is furnished by a stone, either round 

 or with bilateral facets, in the center of which is a more or less deep 

 groove for the wooden handle. One can easily conceive the power of 

 such a weapon wielded by a muscular arm in hand-to-hand combat. 



Some are more perfect in form than others. Every one was free to 

 fashion so important a weapon as best suited him. 



But what astonishes the observer is the small size of one of these 

 relics. Evidently it could have been only an amulet, worn with the 

 idea of preserving its owner from the blows of the weapon it represented. 



Other casse-tetes were used without handles. Only two types figure 

 in my collection. This weai)on had not the value of the preceding. 



Pestles, grinders. — Pestles and grinders are of various forms and sizes. 

 My collection includes a certain number of them. I possess a single 

 specimen, which was used with both hands. 

 S. Mis. 33 47 



