as a gouge to detach coal in the process of felling
trees by fire, than an axe proper. By the application
of the common lathe and turning chisel,
those species of thick sea shells, which the natives
had, with so much labor, converted into
Seawan and wampum, were manufactured; with
such superior ski 11, expedition and. cheapness,
(although this is an article which the-, trader
always held comparatively high) that the old
Indian art of thé warnpum-maker, sunk, like that
of the arrow-maker, ja&Ver to berévived. Butpf
all the exchanges made between civilized and
savage life, the gift of the steel .trap in replacing
the Indian trap of wood, was the. most^eagerly
sought and highly prized by the hunter, although
it hastened the period" of therdestruction of the
whole class of furred anipaajs, and thus,ip effect,
brought to a speed yrclose the Indian dominion*
Pottery was an a rt known universally among
all. the tribes from Patagonia to the Arefic ocean,
but was practised with very different .decrees of
skill. The northern 1 ribes whó-bordered on the
great, lakes, and thence .reached downffo the
Atlantic, made a rude article,:whic h just answjet^
ed the simple purposes of the . culinary art. The
clay, or argillaceous materialused fpr .it, was
such as is common to diluvial and tertiary soils;
It was tempered with silex, in the form of
pounded quartz, or often quartz and feldspar, as
it exists in graniff, in quite coarse particles.
This* mixture prevented shrinkage and cracks in
drying, and enabled the mass to withstand the
application of heat—an art which has resulted,
and would very soon result, in any given case,
from experience. There were no legs to the
Indian akeek, or pot. It was designed to be
used, to use a chemical phrase, as a sand bath.
Being set on the ashes, a fire was built around
S It might also admit of suspension, by a
bark, cord tied below the lip, which flared out
well, and thus could be, attached to the ordinary
Indian cooking tackle, namely, a long-legged
itipod, tied at the top with bark.
There is no evidence in the structure of any
of this- species of pottery, at least in these latitudes,
that it had been raised or formed on a
potter’s wheel. The fact that prepared clay
placed" on a revolving horizontal circle, would
rise by the centrifugal force, if resisted by the
hand, or a potter’s stick or former, was not
known to these tribes; although it is admitted
to be one of the oldest arts in the world. Some
skill was consequently required to form the
mass and shape the vessel, without machinery.
M wah e^eutiai to ifs utility, and to prevent
unequal shrinkage, in drying, that the body
should be of uniform thickness; and this art
was also, if we may judge from fragments, and
one or two entire vessels examined, very well
attained.
, It is believed that this art, in this quarter,
was in the hands of femalespbut every female
or mistress of a lodge, was not adequate to it.
It must have been the business of a class of