:. SCALLOP. 1 05 



is called the Sand- clam. Lutraria maxima is called the 

 Great clam, as we have already seen. In America, My a 

 arenaria is the soft clam, and Venus mercenaria the 

 hard clam, and it is from the shell of the latter that 

 the wampum, or Indian money, is made, although 

 other shells are used for the same purpose; the white 

 " wampum" being made sometimes from the Bahama 

 conch, or strombus. It is the token of peace and friend- 

 ship amongst the American Indians. The coloured 

 portion of the inside of Venus mercenaria the clam 

 shell is ground into oblong pieces, varying from one 

 quarter of an inch usually, to three quarters of an inch 

 in length, and of the diameter of a crow's quill. The 

 pieces are then strung together like beads, to the 

 number of about two dozen and a half to three dozen 

 on a string, and this is called a string of wampum. The 

 worth of wampum is regulated very much by its free- 

 dom from white and by the intensity of its blue or 

 purple. The manufacturers prepare two kinds, which 

 are of different value. According to their deepness of 

 blue, or freedom from white, is the estimation in which 

 the pieces and strings are held. Formerly the price 

 of a horse, a pack of beavers, or anything else, could be 

 estimated exactly in strings and pieces of wampum,. 

 Belts are made of pieces of wampum strung together, 

 and it is believed that the Indians adapt and arrange 

 them in such a manner as to be significant like writing. 

 Belts of wampum are, therefore, mostly delivered at 

 treaties, and on great public occasions. In ' Flint 

 Chips/ Mr. Stevens mentions that Mr. Granville John 

 Penn, a descendant of William Penn, the founder of 

 Pennsylvania, had until quite recently in his posses- 

 sion, the belt of wampum, the sole title-deed of an 



