H0LMK8.1 WAMPUM BELTS. 251 



highly conventional representation of a council or treaty in which 

 wampuiu belts were used. It is probably drawn from description and 

 is far from truthful in detail. The more important facts are, however, 

 very clearly presented. No information is given either of the people 

 or the locality. The scene is laid iu the middle of a broad featureless 

 plain, the monotony of which is broken by three highly conventional- 

 ized trees. The parties to the treaty are ranged in two rows, placed, 

 face to face. The chief who speaks stands at the farther end holding a belt 

 iu his right hand. Three other belts lie upon the mat at his feet, while 

 a fifih is shown on a large scale in the foreground. The patterns can 

 not be clearly made out, but in a general way resemble very closely the 

 designs woven into the belts of the Irqouois. 



The small belt shown in Fig. 1. Plate XXXVIII, is probably one of 

 the most recent examples. The cut is copied from Plate 1 of tlie Fifth 

 Annual Report of the Regents of the Uuiversity of New York on the 

 condition of the State Cabinet of Natural History, p. 72. The beads of 

 which it is composed formerly belonged to the celebrated Mohawk chief, 

 Joseph Brant. They were afterwards purchased from his daughter by 

 Mr. Morgan. In 1850 they were taken to Tonawanda, in the Stat© of New 

 York, and made into this belt. The trimmings are apparently of rib- 

 bons, and the symmetry and uniformity of the whole work give it anew 

 look not noticeable in the other specimens. The design consists of a row 

 of dark diamond-shaped figures upon a white grouud. It is now pre- 

 served in the State Cabinet of Natural History at Albany. 



A belt of unusual form is shown in Fig. 2, Plate XXXVIII. It 

 was kindly lent by Mrs. E. A. Smith, of Jersey City, by whom it 

 was obtained from the Mohawks. It is 2G inches (251 beads) in 

 length and in width varies from three inches (11 beads) at one end 

 to about one inch (5 beads) at the other. It is bifurcated at the 

 wide end, five rows having been omitted from the middle of the belt 

 for about one-third of the length. Near the middle of the belt one 

 row of beads is dropped from each side. Between this and the smaller 

 end at nearly equal intervals it is twice depleted iu a like manner. 

 The beads are quite irregular in shape and size, but rather new look- 

 ing and are strung in the usual manner, the longitudinal strings being 

 buckskin and the transverse small cords of vegetable fiber. The ends 

 and edges are all neatly finished by wrapping the marginal strings 

 with a thin fillet of buckskin. The figures are iu white beads upon a 

 ground of purple. The form of this belt indicates that it has been 

 adapted to some particular use, the placing of cords at the corners 

 and shoulders suggesting its attachment in a fixed position to some part 

 of the i)erson or costume. 



In Plates XXXIX, XL, XLI and XLII, I present a series of illus- 

 trations of the wampum belts belonging to the Onondagas. They 

 are preserved as a most precious treasure by these people at their 

 agency in Onondaga County, New York. The drawings were made by 

 Mr. Trill from a series of minute photographs made from the original 



