USE OF COPPER BY THE ABORIGINES. 177 



Raleigh observed copper ornaments among the Indians on the coast of the 

 Carohnas ; and Verazzano mentions articles, probably ornamental, of wrought 

 copper, among the natives which he visited in a higher latitude, " which were more 

 esteemed than gold." Granville speaks of copper among the Indians of Virginia, 

 which was said to have been obtained among the Cliawanooks (Shawanoes?). "It 

 was of the color of our copper, but softer." He endeavored to visit the place 

 where it was represented to be found; but after a toilsome journey of some days 

 into the interior, the search was abandoned. This was a grievous disappointment 

 at that time, when the minds of men were filled with visions of vast mineral wealth, 

 and when the value of the New World was thought to consist in its mines. Gran- 

 ville thus concludes his account of his fruitless expedition : " I have set down 

 this voyage somewhat particularly, to the end that it may appear unto you (as true 

 it is) that there wanted no good will, from the first to the last of us, to have per- 

 fected the discovery of this mine ; for that the discovery of a good mine, by the 

 goodness of God, or a passage to the South Sea, or some way to it, and nothing 

 else, can bring our country in request to be inhabited by our people." — (^Granvilie's 

 Voy., 1585, in Pinkerton, Vol. XII., p. 580.) Heriot says, "In two towns 150 

 miles from the main, are found divers small plates of copper, that are made, we are 

 told by the inhabitants, by people who dwell farther in the country, where, they 

 say, are mountains and rivers which yield white grains of metal, which are deemed 

 to be silver. For the confirmation whereof, at the time of our first arrival in the 

 country, I saw two small pieces of silver, grossly beaten, about the weight of a 

 tester, [an old coin about the weight of a sixpence sterling,] hanging in the ears of 

 a Vi^iroance. The aforesaid copper we found to contain silver." — (^Heriofs Voy., 

 1586, in Pink., Vol. XII., p. 594.) Robert Juet, in his account of Hudson's discovery 

 of the river which bears his name, asserts that the savages " had red copper tobacco 

 pipes, and other things of copper, which they did wear about their necks." He 

 makes mention, in another place, of " yellow copper," as distinct from what he 

 terms " red copper." Both Behring and Kotzebue found copper implements in 

 use among the Indians of the Northwest Coast. — (^Behring''s First Voy., p. 85 ; 

 Kotzebue, Voy., Vol. I., p. 227.) McKenzie mentions copper as being in common 

 use among some of the extreme Northern tribes, on the borders of the Arctic Sea. 

 " They point their arrows and spears with it, and work it up into personal ornaments, 

 such as collars, ear-rings, and bracelets, which they wear on their wrists, arms, and 

 legs. They have it in great abundance, and hold it in high estimation." — (^Second 

 Journey, p. 333.) Owing to the difficulty of reducing iron from the ore, an acquaint- 

 ance with that metal has usually been preceded by a knowledge of copper, silver, 

 and gold. " These three metals," says Robertson, " are found in their perfect state 

 in the clefts of rocks, in the sides of mountains, or in the channels of rivers. They 

 were accordingly first known and applied to use. But the gross and stubborn ore 

 of iron, the most serviceable of all metals, and to which man is most indebted, must 

 twice feel the force of fire, and go through two laborious processes, before it be- 

 comes fit for use." Says Lucretius : 



^ " Sed prius sby'is erat, qiiam ferri cognitus usus.'''' 



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