24 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



broad triangle, united by their bases. It is of flint, one and one 

 quarter inches long, and is said to have been found on Grand island, 

 in the Niagara river. Fig. 30 is a very small and pretty arrow of 

 yellow jasper, three quarters of an inch long, and comes from Amboy, 

 west of Syracuse. Yellow jasper is a common material for small 

 arrow heads. 



Fig. 31 represents a very common form. This is of white flint, 

 two and one eighth inches long, and comes from Brewerton. It is 

 neatly chipped, and has a slightly expanding base. There are many 

 small and often good specimens of this form, usually quite slender, 

 and made of the nearest hornstone, but fine examples occur on most 

 indian sites, except those of the Iroquois. Beveled arrows are com- 

 monly of this form. 



Among the notched or shouldered arrows, of every variety, more 

 or less occur which are of a spiral or twisted form, but whether this 

 came from design may be a question. The indians were aware of 

 the advantages of a rotary motion, and learned to rifle smooth bore 

 guns very neatly for themselves. Loskiel said, ' Many of the Dela- 

 wares and Iroquois have learned to make very good rifle barrels of 

 common fowling pieces, and keep them likewise in good repair.' On 

 the other hand, the triangular Iroquois arrow-heads, whether of 

 metal or stone, were made as flat as possible. Obviously, a rotary 

 motion was not always desirable in the woods, and to this day the 

 Onondagas do not feather their own arrows, though they will do it 

 for others. Accordingly, as the spiral twist is the exception rather 

 than the rule with stone arrow-heads, and is quite as frequent in 

 knives and spears, this feature is to be ascribed to the first flaking 

 of the material, rather than to design. It may be observed that in 

 the picture of the battle on Lake Champlain in 1609, the indians on 

 both sides have feathered arrows, as is the case in the picture of a 

 Susquehanna warrior made about the same time, and this might be 

 thought the idea of the European artist, rather than the fact, were 

 we not told elsewhere how the southern indians affixed the feather. 

 When required, the Onondagas feather their shafts very simply and 

 neatly. The shaft of the feather is split, one side only being used. 

 The anterior part of this is stripped and bound on the arrow shaft, 



