144 INDIAN NETSINKERS AND HAMMERSTONES. 
distinct scraper-edges, and probably were used in the preparation 
of hides and for other kindred purposes. I further believe that 
there is a certain connection between the netsinkers and hammer- 
stones of Muncy, in so far as the latter served in the manufacture 
` of the former. Two workmen, I imagine, were active in the oper- 
ation. One held the pebble, its narrow side upward, firmly in the 
hand; the other placed a piece of. flint of suitable shape and 
strength at the spot where the notch was to be cut out, and gave 
the flint wedge a heavy blow with the hammerstone, thus effecting 
the indentation. In this manner a great many sinkers could be 
made in a short time. 
From the great number of netsinkers found near Muncy, it may 
be deduced that the Indians were much engaged in fishing at this 
point. Indeed, the Susquehanna is here about nine hundred and 
fifty feet wide, very deep in some places, and well stocked with 
fish, among which I will mention perch, pike, sunfish, catfish, and 
eels. There existed formerly a shad-fishery near Muncy, before 
the river was obstructed by dams. Salmon is still sometimes 
caught. Formerly, however, fish were still more abundant, and 
the locality, therefore, afforded the aborigines great advantages as 
a fishing-station. When the first white settlers penetrated to this 
region, they found on or near the present site of Muncy a village — 
of the Minsi or Munsey Indians, the Wolf tribe of the great Leni- 
Lenape or Delaware nation. The name “ Muncy,” indeed, perpet- 
uates the tribal designation of those aboriginal predecessors, whose 
scanty descendants now dwell, far from the home of their fathers, 
in the districts beyond the Mississippi. The Minsi Indians, I 
think, may be considered as the manufacturers of the stone imple- 
ments described in these pages. 
Netsinkers of stone are even in our time in use among certain 
tribes of the northwest coast of North America; as for instance, 
among the Chinooks (at the mouth of the Columbia river), who 
attach them to their salmon-nets. ‘Their nets,’ says Mr. Swan, 
“are made of a twine spun by themselves from the fibres of spruce 
roots prepared for the purpose, or from a species of grass brought 
from the north by the Indians. Itis very strong, and answers the 
_ purpose admirably. Peculiar-shaped sticks of dry cedar are used 
_ for floats, and the weights at the bottom are round beach pebbles, 
_ about a pound each, notched to keep them from slipping from their 
fastenings, and securely held by withes of cedar firmly twisted and 
