Meyer on Nephrite from Alaska. 3*75 



which they work up immediately they have obtained it 

 from the shamans who quarry it in the mountain. More- 

 over, whether the pieces be rough, partly or altogether 

 worked, does not affect the question of the actual occur- 

 rence of nephrite there in the country, for any one who 

 will not acknowledge the fact of the occurrence, until it 

 has been reported by an European eye-witness. Nobody 

 will, any more than Capt. Jacobsen, doubt the correctness 

 of the reiterated testimony of the natives, considering the 

 large number of nephrite objects which are scattered in the 

 whole district, and especially along the west coast and on 

 the islands.' " 



"Henceforth the occurrence of rough nephrite in Alaska 

 must be considered as established, and it is quite certain 

 that it is also worked in the country itself. The nephrite 

 comes neither in a rough nor in a wrought state from 

 Asia ; such a view cannot be any longer entertained. Capt. 

 Jacobsen remarks also as against such hypotheses, that if 

 Siberia were the place of origin, there would surely be 

 found in the Chukches country larger quantities of rough 

 and of worked specimens for transportation, but they are 

 there scarcely known. 



"In reference to the described nephrite chisel from 

 Queen Charlotte Island, Mr. Arthur Krause called atten- 

 tion to the following passage in Dawson's report, — Geolo- 

 gical Survey of Canada, lSYS-YB, p. 146 b — where, on the 

 subject of the stone implements in the island, it is said : — 

 ' The material of these tools appears to be a matter of indif- 

 ference, as I have seen them made of hard, altered igneous 

 rocks, like those so common in the country, of a hard, sandy 

 argillite and of the peculiar greenish jade, which the natives 

 of some other parts of the province prize so highly. This 

 latter mineral is not, according to the Haida, found in the 

 islands, but has occasionally been obtained in the course of 

 trade.' 



"After the discovery of rough nephrite in Alaska, there 

 is no need of referring to Asia to account for the nephrite 

 implements of North America, nor indeed any part of 

 America, which besides, on general considerations, would 

 never have been necessary. 



