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WAMPUM. 251 
the tribe ; this they do with great accuracy, 
and thus it is that the remembrance of every 
important transaction is kept up. 
The wampum is formed of the inside of the 
clam shell, a large sea shell bearing some simi¬ 
litude to that of a scallop, which is found on the 
coasts of New England and Virginia. The 
shell is sent in its original rough state to Eng¬ 
land, and there cut into small pieces, exactly 
similar in shape and size to the modern glass 
bugles worn by ladies, which little bits of shell 
constitute wampum. There are two sorts of 
wampum, the white and the purple ; the latter 
is most esteemed by the Indians, who think a 
pound weight of it equally valuable with a 
pound of silver. The wampum is strung upon 
bits of leather, and the belt is composed of ten, 
twelve, or more strings, according to the im¬ 
portance of the occasion on which it is made ; 
sometimes also the wampum is sowed in dif¬ 
ferent patterns on broad belts of leather. 
The use of wampum appears to be very 
general amongst the Indian nations, but how 
it became so, is a question that would require 
discussion, for, it is well known that they are 
a people obstinately attached to old customs, 
and that would not therefore be apt to adopt; 
on the most grand and solemn occasion, the use 
of an article that they had never seen until 
brought to them by strangers; at the same 
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