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 ofif 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 of a candle. 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 j 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 12^ cents a string, always com- 

 mand cash, and constitute the support of many poor and worthy 

 families. — Barber, p. 72-73 



