﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  115 
  

  

  called 
  by 
  some 
  English 
  heus-po-qua-hock 
  ; 
  three 
  are 
  equal 
  to 
  a 
  penny 
  ; 
  a 
  fathom 
  

   is 
  worth 
  five 
  shillings.' 
  * 
  

  

  " 
  Poquahock, 
  corrupted 
  into 
  quahaug 
  or 
  quahog." 
  

  

  The 
  money 
  or 
  wampum 
  made 
  from 
  the 
  shells 
  above 
  referred 
  to, 
  was 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  

   use 
  among 
  the 
  Indians, 
  but 
  among 
  the 
  Whites 
  also. 
  Col. 
  T. 
  W. 
  Higginson, 
  

   of 
  Massachusetts, 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  Atlantic 
  Essayx, 
  " 
  The 
  Puritan 
  Minister," 
  says 
  : 
  

   " 
  In 
  coming 
  to 
  the 
  private 
  affairs 
  of 
  the 
  Puritan 
  divines, 
  it 
  is 
  humiliating 
  to 
  

   find 
  that 
  anxieties 
  about 
  salary 
  are 
  of 
  no 
  modern 
  origin. 
  The 
  highest 
  compen- 
  

   sation 
  I 
  can 
  find 
  recorded, 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  John 
  Higginson, 
  in 
  1671, 
  who 
  had 
  £160 
  

   voted 
  him 
  in 
  ' 
  country 
  produce,' 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  glad, 
  however, 
  to 
  exchange 
  for 
  

   £120 
  in 
  solid 
  cash. 
  Solid 
  cash 
  included 
  beaver-skins, 
  black 
  and 
  white 
  wam- 
  

   pum, 
  beads 
  and 
  musket-balls, 
  value 
  one 
  farthing." 
  

  

  In 
  Cadwalader 
  Colden's 
  Hl^tovij 
  of 
  the 
  Five 
  Indian 
  Nations 
  (p. 
  34), 
  he 
  says 
  

   that 
  wampum 
  is 
  made 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  whelk-shell 
  Buccinum, 
  and 
  shaped 
  like 
  long 
  

   beads 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  current 
  money 
  of 
  the 
  Indians. 
  Whether 
  the 
  shells 
  of 
  the 
  true 
  

   Buccinum 
  [B. 
  undatum, 
  Linn., 
  or 
  B. 
  undulatum, 
  Mull.), 
  or 
  those 
  of 
  Busycon 
  

   [B. 
  canaliculatum 
  and 
  B. 
  carlca), 
  is 
  not 
  satisfactorily 
  explained. 
  

  

  In 
  Major 
  Rogers' 
  Account 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  (London 
  1765), 
  in 
  alluding 
  to 
  

   the 
  wampum 
  of 
  the 
  Indians, 
  he 
  says 
  : 
  " 
  When 
  they 
  solicit 
  the 
  alliance, 
  offensive, 
  

   or 
  defensive, 
  of 
  a 
  whole 
  nation, 
  they 
  send 
  an 
  embassy 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  belt 
  of 
  wam- 
  

   pum 
  and 
  a 
  bloody 
  hatchet, 
  inviting 
  them 
  to 
  come 
  and 
  drink 
  the 
  blood 
  of 
  their 
  

   enemies. 
  The 
  wampum 
  made 
  use 
  of 
  on 
  these 
  and 
  other 
  occasions, 
  before 
  their 
  

   acquaintance 
  with 
  the 
  Europeans, 
  was 
  nothing 
  but 
  small 
  shells, 
  which 
  they 
  picked 
  

   up 
  by 
  the 
  sea-coast, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  the 
  lakes 
  ; 
  and 
  now 
  it 
  is 
  nothing 
  but 
  

   a 
  kind 
  of 
  cylindrical 
  beads, 
  made 
  of 
  shells, 
  white 
  and 
  black, 
  which 
  are 
  esteemed 
  

   among 
  them 
  as 
  silver 
  and 
  gold 
  are 
  among 
  us. 
  They 
  have 
  the 
  art 
  of 
  stringing, 
  

   twisting, 
  and 
  interweaving 
  them 
  into 
  their 
  belts, 
  collars, 
  blankets, 
  moccasins, 
  etc., 
  

   in 
  ten 
  thousand 
  different 
  sizes, 
  forms, 
  and 
  figures, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  ornaments 
  for 
  ev- 
  

   ery 
  part 
  of 
  dress, 
  and 
  expressive 
  to 
  them 
  of 
  all 
  their 
  important 
  transactions. 
  

  

  " 
  They 
  dye 
  the 
  wampum 
  of 
  various 
  colors 
  and 
  shades, 
  and 
  mix 
  and 
  dispose 
  

   them 
  with 
  great 
  ingenuity 
  and 
  order, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  significant 
  among 
  themselves 
  of 
  

   almost 
  everything 
  they 
  please 
  ; 
  so 
  that 
  by 
  these, 
  their 
  words 
  are 
  kept 
  and 
  their 
  

   thoughts 
  communicated 
  to 
  one 
  another, 
  as 
  ours 
  by 
  writing. 
  The 
  belts 
  that 
  pass 
  

   from 
  one 
  nation 
  to 
  another 
  in 
  all 
  treaties, 
  declarations, 
  and 
  important 
  transac- 
  

   tions, 
  are 
  very 
  carefully 
  preserved 
  in 
  the 
  cabins 
  of 
  their 
  chiefs, 
  and 
  serve 
  not 
  only 
  

   as 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  record 
  or 
  history, 
  but 
  as 
  a 
  public 
  treasure." 
  

  

  Golden 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  author 
  in 
  whose 
  writings 
  we 
  find 
  any 
  allusion 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  or 
  

   manufacture 
  of 
  money 
  or 
  wampum 
  by 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  interior 
  tribes, 
  and 
  the 
  tribes 
  

   of 
  the 
  Five 
  Nations 
  were 
  not 
  remote 
  from 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  shore. 
  

  

  How 
  far 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  New 
  England 
  this 
  wampum 
  money 
  was 
  used, 
  we 
  do 
  

   not 
  know. 
  The 
  shells 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  made 
  are 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  

   New 
  York 
  and 
  Philadelphia, 
  and 
  are 
  the 
  common 
  clam 
  in 
  the 
  markets 
  of 
  those 
  

   cities. 
  A 
  closely 
  related 
  form 
  {Mercenaria 
  praparca, 
  Say) 
  , 
  is 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  

   shores 
  of 
  Florida, 
  and 
  attains 
  an 
  exceedingly 
  large 
  size 
  ; 
  specimens 
  collected 
  in 
  

  

  * 
  Vide 
  Invertebrata 
  of 
  Massachusetts, 
  Binney's 
  edition, 
  p. 
  134. 
  

  

  