CHAP. IV SHELLS AS MONEY — WAMPUM 97 



A banded form of Nerita polita was used as money in certain 

 parts of the South Pacific. The sandal-wood imported into the 

 Cliina market is largely obtained from the New Hebrides, being 

 purchased of the natives in exchange for Ovulum angidosum, 

 which they especially esteem as an ornament. Sometimes, as 

 in the Duke of York group, the use of shell money is specially 

 restricted to certain kinds of purchase, being employed there 

 only in the buying of swine. 



Among the tribes of the North-West coasts of America the 

 common Dentaliiim indianorum used to form the standard of 

 value, until it was superseded, under the auspices of the Hud- 

 son's Bay Compau}^, by blankets. A slave was valued at a 

 fathom of from 25 to 40 of these shells, strung lengthwise. 

 Inferior or broken specimens were strung together in a similar 

 way, but were less highly esteemed ; they corresponded more to 

 our silver and copper coins, while the strings of the best shells 

 represented gold. 



The wampum of the eastern coast of North America differed 

 from all these forms of shell money, in that it required a labori- 

 ous process for its manufacture. Wampum consisted of strings 

 of cylindrical beads, each about a quarter of an inch in length 

 and half that breadth. Tlie beads were of two colours, Avhite 

 and purple, the latter being the more valuable. Both were 

 formed from the common clam, Venus mey^cenaria^ the valves of 

 which are often stained with purple at the lower margins, while 

 the rest of the shell is white. Cut small, ground down, and 

 pierced, these shells were converted into money, which appears 

 to have been current along the whole seaboard of North America 

 from Maine to Florida, and on the Gulf Coast as far as Central 

 America, as well as among the inland tribes east of the Missis- 

 sippi. Another kind of wampum was made from the shells of 

 Busycon carica and B. perversum. By staining the wampum 

 with various colours, and disposing these colours in belts in 

 various forms of arrangement, the Indians were able to preserve 

 records, send messages, and keep account of any kind of event, 

 treaty, or transaction. 



Another common form of money in California was Olivella 

 hiplicata^ strung together by rubbing down the apex. Button- 

 shaped disks cut from Saxidomus arata and Pachydesma crassa- 

 telloides, as well as oblong pieces of Haliptis^ were employed for 



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