334 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
has been manufactured by the females in this region from 
very early times for the Indians... The wampum is” 
made from the thick and blue parts of sea clamshells. The 
process is simple, but requires a skill only attained by 
long practice. The intense hardness and brittleness of the 
material render it impossible to produce the article by ma- 
chinery alone. It is done by wearing and grinding the shell. The 
first process is to split off the thin part with a light sharp hammer. 
Then it is clamped in the sawed crevice of a slender stick, held in 
an eight sided figure of about an inch in length and nearly half an. 
inch in diameter, when it is ready for boring. The shell then is 
inserted into another piece of wood sawed similarly to that above, 
but fastened firmly to a bench of the size of a common stand. One 
part of the wood projects over the bench, at the end of which hangs 
a weight, causing the sawed orifice to close firmly upon the shell 
inserted on its under side, and to hold it firmly, as in a vice, ready 
for drilling. The drill is made from an untempered handsaw. The 
operator grinds the drill to a proper shape, and tempers it in the 
flame ofacandle. A rude ring, with a groove on its circumference, 
is put on it, around which the operator (seated in front of the 
fastened shell) curls the string of a common hand-bow. The boring 
commences by nicely adjusting the point of the drill to the center 
of the shell, while the other end is braced against a steel plate on 
the breast of the operator. About every other sweep of the bow 
the drill is dexterously drawn out, cleaned of the shelly particles by 
the thumb and finger, above which drops of water from a vessel 
fall down and cool the drill, which is still kept revolving by the use 
of the bow with the other hand, the same as though it were in the 
shell. This operation of boring is the most difficult of all, the pecu- 
liar motion of the drill rendering it hard for the breast. 
Peculiar care is observed lest the shell should burst from heat 
caused by friction. When bored half way the wampum is reversed 
and the same operation repeated. The next process is the finish- 
ing. A wire about 12 inches long is fastened at one end to a 
bench. Under and parallel to this wire is a grindstone fluted on 
its circumference, hung a little out of the center so as to be turned 
by a treadle moved with the feet. The left hand grasps the end 
of the wire, on which are strung the wampum, and as it were 
wraps the beads around the hollow or fluted circumference of the 
grindstone. While the grindstone is revolving the beads are held 
down on to it, and turned round by a flat piece of wood held in 
the right hand, and by the grinding soon become round and smooth. 
They are then strung on hempen strings about a foot in length. 
From five to 10 strings are a day’s work for a female. They are 
sold to the country merchants for 124 cents a string, always com- 
mand cash, and constitute the support of many poor and worthy 
families—Barber, p. 72-73 
