BEADS, MONEY-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 
Tneed 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 long 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 
