350 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
In speaking of this, William H. Holmes points out some historic 
examples in which the quantity was moderately estimated. The 
Onondaga belt which he cites is now 210 beads long by 50 rows © 
wide, containing about 10,500 beads in its imperfect condition, and 
may have been double that size. In Barber and Howe’s account 
of the wampum manufacture in New Jersey in 1844, it was stated 
that from 5 to 10 feet of wampum beads was a woman’s ordinary 
day’s work. This would be an average of 375 small beads daily, 
or about 112,500 for one person’s yearly product. It was made in 
several places, and from 50 to 100 persons would carry the annual 
supply far into the millions. Furman says that several bushels of 
wampum were taken from Oyster bay in 1831. Elsewhere this is 
said to have come “from Babylon on this island, and the person who 
had this stated that he had procured this for.an Indian trader, and 
that he was in the habit of supplying those traders with this wam- 
pum.” In the days of the Dutch colony the average value of wam- 
pum was about 120 beads to the guilder. In 1664 Stuyvesant 
wished a loan of 5000 to 6000 guilders in wampum negotiated at 
Albany to pay the laboring people. This would have required over 
half a million beads and probably much more. In 1622 a Hudson 
river chief paid a ransom of 140 fathoms of sewant. 
These few facts prepare us to understand the sudden abundance 
of wampum in New York and Canada, and the astounding state- 
ments in early New England history. Some of these are quoted 
from Indian biography by B. B. Thatcher, without farther credit. . 
In treating with the Narragansetts in 1645 the commissioners, “to 
show their moderacon required of them but twoo thousand fathome 
of white wampon for their oune satisfaction,’ besides some equally 
mild conditions for Uncas. If the fathom is literal this would be 
but about 576,000 wampum beads. This was “moderacon” indeed. 
When 1300 fathoms were due, the Narragansetts sent into Boston 
100 fathoms, which trifling quantity of over 28,000 beads the com- 
missioners would not accept, though 70 fathoms had been paid the 
first year. A little later the Narragansetts brought in 200 fathoms 
more. An allowance of 20 days for paying another thousand 
fathoms was then granted. In 1649 the English acknowledged the 
