472 Wampum and its History. _ [May, 
It followed as a matter of course that the shrewd first traders 
who came to New York and New Jersey should adopt this cur- 
rency which all the natives were accustomed to, receiving it as 
pay for their merchandise. They used it to buy peltries of the 
Indians. Thus wampum quickly became a standard of values, 
the currency of the colonists to a great extent in their transac- 
tions with each other, and even a legal tender. 
Though the beads were often used separately, the ordinary and 
approved manner was to string them upon the sinews of animals 
or upon cords, which might or might not be woven into plaits 
about as broad as the hand, called wampum belts. The length ot 
these strings varied, but in the North about six feet was found the 
usual quantity computed by the Indians, and hence the fathom be- 
came the unit of trade. In the Carolinas, according to Lawson, 
the strings were measured in cubits, “as much in length as will 
reach from the elbow to the little finger.” | 
The Indians themselves were particular as to quality and size 
of the beads, for upon the elegance of its finish (speaking scientifi- 
cally, the amount of labor and time it represented) depended its 
value. “When these beads are worn out,” says Lindstrom, at 
engineer in New Jersey in 1640, “so that they cannot be strung 
neatly, and even on the thread, they no longer consider them as 
good. Their way of trying them is to rub the whole thread full 
on their noses; if they find it full and even, like glass beads, then 
they are considered good, otherwise they break and throw them 
away. Their manner of measuring their strings is by the length 
of their thumbs; from the end of the nail to the first joint makes 
six beads.” 
Seeing that profit and wealth lay in the possession of man 
the burghers, as the easiest way of getting rich, began to make t 
With their tools of steel this could be done very rap! 
with the loss of the painstaking care with whi 
wrought, came a loss of value, and the wampum ve 
to depreciate. To widen their market it was carried to 
land. Considering the many references to it, an 
fact that it was made there aboriginally as well as south 
am at a loss to understand Gowan’s statement that 
wampum was not known in New England until it was 1n% site 
there in October, 1627, by Isaac de Razier, who was cain 
sort of amity-treaty commissioner from the New Netherlan 
New Eng- 
idly; but 
ch the Indian : 
ry soon began 
d the undou I : 
« the use of - 
introduced 
