HOLMES] WAMPUM BELTS. 253 



is said to be very old, and is thought to represent the formation of the 

 Iroquois league and to signify "one heart for all the nations." He 

 doubts its great antiquity as the beads are too regular for hand-made 

 cylinders. The belt is thirty-eight rows wide and about two hundred 

 beads in length. 



The large elaborately figured belt shown in Plate XLI is almost 

 perfect. The lateral margins are white ; a broad notched band of dark 

 wampum occupies the middle of this bolt; through this from end to end 

 runs a chain of white diamonds, sixteen in number, which may repre- 

 sent States or nations. It is forty -five rows wide and two hundred 

 and forty beads long. 



The magnificent belt shown in Plate XLII, is probably the finest ex- 

 am[)le in existence. It is fifteen rows wide and six hundred and fifty 

 in length, making the enormous total of nine thousan 1 seven hundred 

 and fifty beads. Mr. Beauchamp believes that this belt, or one like it, 

 has been described as representing the formation of the League. From 

 Webster's' statement, that it was "made by George Washington," he 

 surmises that it is a belt memorizing a covenant between the Indians 

 and the government. In the center is a house which has three gables 

 and three compartments. Next the house on either side are two picto- 

 graphic men, who appear to stand beneath protecting arms which pass 

 over their heads, connect with the house, and grasp the hands of the first 

 personages immediately on the right and left. In all there are fifteen 

 figures of men, two being connected with the house; of the others, six 

 stand on the right and seven on the left of the central group. It is 

 suggested by Mr. Beauchamp that these figures may represent the 

 thirteen colonies. 



Six other belts are shown in the photographs procured by General 

 Price. One of them is thirteen rows wide and two hundred and fifty 

 beads in length. The light ground is decorated with groups of triple 

 chevrons. This belt is somewhat fragmentary. Another is forty -nine 

 rows wide, being the widest example known. The original length can- 

 not be determined, but at present it is two hundred and forty beads in 

 length, and hence contains about twelve thousand beads. The pattern 

 is simple, consisting of a dark ground notched at the edges with tri- 

 angular figures of white. As the four remaining belts of this fine col- 

 lection have no features of especial interest, they need not be described 

 here. 



The remai-kable belt shown in Plate XLIII has an extremely interest- 

 ing, although a somewhat incomplete, history attached to it. It is 

 believed to be the original belt delivered by the Leni-Lenape sachems 

 to William Penn at the celebrated treaty under the elm tree at Shacka- 

 maxon in 168ii. Although there is no documentary evidence to show 

 that this identical belt was delivered on that occasion, it is conceded on 

 all hands that it came into the possession of the great founder of Penn- 



' Present chief of the Onoudagas. 



