RELICS OF THE STONE AGE IN NOVA SCOTIA PIERS. 31 



Speaking of some Indians who followed the French vessel 

 along the sands, " with their bows in hand, and their quivers, 

 upon their backs, always singing and dancing, not taking care 

 with what they should live by the way," the worthy advocate 

 exclaims with enthusiasm, " Happy people ! yea, a thousand 

 times more happy than they which in these parts made them- 

 selves to be worshipped ; if they had the knowledge of God and 

 of their salvation." [Book I, chap, xiv.] 



We shall now leave the old French narrator and proceed to 

 discuss the examples of aboriginal skill with which this paper 

 is chiefly concerned. In classifying the specimens, I have princi- 

 pally adopted the arrangement given by Dr. Charles Rau in his. 

 account of the archaeological collection of the United States 

 National Museum (Washington, 1876.) In a few cases, how- 

 ever, I have found it necessary to depart slightly from .his 

 nomenclature. 



A. FLAKED AND CHIPPED STONE. 



Arrow-heads. The collection before me contains eleven speci- 

 mens which IJiave so denominated (Plate I, Figs. 1 to 11). This is 

 rather a small number, but it is very likely that several have been 

 lost or given away since the formation of the collection. Some of 

 the implements are flaked with great skill. With one exception, 

 to be hereafter noted, all are formed of silicious stones, mostly 

 jaspideous, such as are found in the western parts of the pro- 

 vince. None have been polished in any degree. All are the 

 result of the ordinary process of flaking by pressure. The 

 points are mostly unfractured. In length the specimens vary 

 from 1'25 in. (Fig. 8) to nearly 275 ins. (Fig. 4). Larger imple- 

 ments of this kind are denominated " spear-heads." The dis- 

 tinction, however, is an arbitrary one ; for without the handle, 

 which almost invariably has utterly decayed, there is no means, 

 by which an archaeologist, in the present state of our knowledge > 

 can form a fixed rule by which he may assert positively whether 

 a given head was used as a spear, an arrow, or a knife. It is 

 very likely that some of the larger so-called arrow-heads, as well 

 as many of the " spear-heads," were hafted and employed as 



