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  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  Tampa 
  Bay 
  frequently 
  weigh 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  three 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  pounds 
  after 
  the 
  ani- 
  

   mal 
  is 
  removed. 
  Explorations 
  made 
  by 
  us 
  in 
  that 
  State 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1809, 
  in 
  

   the 
  course 
  of 
  which 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  shell-heaps 
  and 
  burial-mounds 
  on 
  both 
  

   shores 
  of 
  the 
  peninsula 
  were 
  examined, 
  resulted 
  in 
  the 
  obtainment 
  of 
  much 
  in- 
  

   teresting 
  material, 
  but 
  nofspecimens 
  were 
  found 
  of 
  forms 
  which 
  suggested 
  their 
  

   possible 
  use 
  for 
  money. 
  

  

  Crossing 
  the 
  continent 
  to 
  the 
  north-western 
  coast 
  of 
  North 
  America, 
  we 
  

   find 
  that 
  the 
  sea-board 
  aborigines 
  had, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  decreasing 
  degreestill 
  use, 
  a 
  money 
  

   of 
  their 
  own 
  — 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  shell, 
  though 
  of 
  a 
  widely 
  different 
  form 
  from 
  that 
  used 
  

   by 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast. 
  The 
  money 
  of 
  the 
  West-coast 
  Indians 
  is 
  

   a 
  species 
  of 
  tnsk-shell 
  (Dentalin), 
  resembling 
  in 
  miniature 
  the 
  tusks 
  of 
  an 
  ele- 
  

   phant, 
  (Plate 
  VI, 
  fig 
  2). 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  K. 
  Lord, 
  formerly 
  connected, 
  as 
  naturalist, 
  with 
  

   the 
  British 
  North 
  American 
  Boundary 
  Commission, 
  refers 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  these 
  

   shells 
  as 
  money 
  "by 
  the 
  native 
  tribes 
  inhabiting 
  Vancouver's 
  Island, 
  Queen 
  

   Charlotte's 
  Island, 
  and 
  the 
  main-land 
  coast 
  from 
  the 
  Straits 
  of 
  Fuca 
  to 
  Sitka, 
  

   Since 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  blankets 
  by 
  the 
  Hudson's 
  Bay 
  Company, 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  

   these 
  shells 
  has 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  extent 
  died 
  out 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  blankets 
  have 
  become 
  the 
  

   money, 
  as 
  it 
  wore, 
  by 
  which 
  everything 
  is 
  low 
  reckoned 
  and 
  paid 
  for 
  by 
  the 
  

   savage. 
  A 
  slave, 
  a 
  canoe, 
  or 
  a 
  squaw, 
  is 
  worth 
  in 
  these 
  days 
  so 
  many 
  blankets 
  » 
  

   it 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  so 
  many 
  strings 
  of 
  Dentalia." 
  Mr. 
  Lord 
  also 
  remarks 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  

   value 
  of 
  the 
  Dentalium 
  depends 
  upon 
  its 
  length. 
  Those 
  representing 
  the 
  greater 
  

   value 
  are 
  called, 
  when 
  strung 
  together 
  end 
  to 
  end, 
  a 
  Hi-qua 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  standard 
  

   by 
  which 
  the 
  Dentalium 
  is 
  calculated 
  to 
  be 
  fit 
  for 
  a 
  Hi-qua 
  is 
  that 
  twenty-five 
  

   shells 
  placed 
  end 
  to 
  end 
  must 
  make 
  a 
  fathom, 
  or 
  six 
  feet 
  in 
  length. 
  At 
  one 
  

   time 
  a 
  Hi-qua 
  would 
  purchase 
  a 
  male 
  slave, 
  equal 
  in 
  value 
  to 
  fifty 
  blankets, 
  or 
  

   £50 
  sterling.* 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Frederick 
  Whymper, 
  speaking 
  of 
  an 
  Indian 
  muster 
  of 
  various 
  tribes 
  at 
  

   or 
  near 
  Fort 
  Yukon, 
  Alaska, 
  in 
  1867, 
  says: 
  " 
  Their 
  clothing 
  was 
  much 
  be- 
  

   fringed 
  with 
  beads, 
  and 
  many 
  of 
  them 
  wore 
  through 
  the 
  nose 
  (as 
  did 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  

   other 
  Indian 
  men 
  present) 
  an 
  ornament 
  composed 
  of 
  the 
  Hyaqua 
  shell 
  [Denta- 
  

   lium 
  entalis, 
  or 
  Entalis 
  valgarit). 
  Both 
  of 
  the 
  fur 
  companies 
  on 
  the 
  river 
  trade 
  

   with 
  them, 
  and 
  at 
  very 
  high 
  prices. 
  These 
  shells 
  were 
  formerly 
  used, 
  and 
  still 
  

   are, 
  to 
  some 
  extent, 
  as 
  a 
  medium 
  of 
  currency 
  by 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  Vancouver 
  Is* 
  

   land 
  and 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  North-west 
  Coast. 
  I 
  saw 
  on 
  the 
  Yukon, 
  fringes 
  

   and 
  head-ornaments, 
  which 
  represented 
  a 
  value 
  in 
  trade 
  of 
  a 
  couple 
  of 
  hundred 
  

   marten-skins, 
  f 
  Mr. 
  Whymper 
  further 
  remarks 
  that 
  " 
  These 
  shells 
  are 
  generally 
  

   obtained 
  from 
  the 
  west 
  coast 
  of 
  Vancouver 
  Island," 
  and 
  that 
  his 
  spelling 
  

   " 
  Hija-qua 
  conveys 
  a 
  " 
  closer 
  approximation 
  to 
  the 
  usual 
  pronunciation 
  of 
  the 
  

   word 
  " 
  than 
  Mr. 
  Lord's 
  " 
  Hi-qua." 
  

  

  The 
  use 
  of 
  these 
  shells 
  for 
  nasal 
  ornamentation 
  by 
  the 
  Indians, 
  as 
  observed 
  by 
  

   Mr. 
  Whymper 
  at 
  Fort 
  Yukon, 
  attracted 
  our 
  attention 
  while 
  at 
  Crescent 
  City, 
  

   in 
  this 
  State, 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1861. 
  A 
  medicine-man, 
  belonging 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  neigh- 
  

   boring 
  tribes, 
  had 
  perforated 
  the 
  partition 
  which 
  separates 
  the 
  nostrils, 
  and, 
  into 
  

  

  * 
  Proceedings 
  Zoological 
  Society, 
  London, 
  March 
  Sth, 
  1864. 
  

   t 
  Whymper's 
  Alaska, 
  Harper's 
  edition, 
  18G9, 
  p. 
  255. 
  

  

  