Beyond them. The figure which is assumed to represent the Indian is holding another object also, but what it is, is difficult to say. this figure is a zigzag pattern ending in what seems to represent two arrows, crossed. Next is a human figure, an Indian grasping a bow in one hand. The last two designs suggest a pipe and a pine tree. It will be noticed that the designs on the two extreme ends are different. That the history of this unique piece is not known is to be regretted; but its presence in the museum in the Collegio di Propaganda Fide may be accepted as proof of its having been brought from America by a missionary. FIG. 12. Figure on a Huron wampum belt in the There is a similarity between the figure of the Indian holding a bow, on the piece just described, and four figures on a Huron belt presented by Professor Hamy in his work illustrating the Galerie Américaine du Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadero in Paris. The accompanying sketch (fig. 12) of one of the figures on that belt was made from this illustration. While the figures on the specimen now in Rome are placed across the band, those on the other extend lengthwise, as may be seen by comparing the two illustrations. The large Onondaga belt figured by Professor Holmes 1 is a trifle longer than the specimen in Rome, each now being formed of 650 beads, and there is close similarity in the human figures represented on both pieces. There are other examples of wampum in the same collection, al of minor importance in comparison with the one described, but interesting nevertheless. One is a small band, about 250 mm. in length, formed of four rows of beads. The beads appear to be old and much worn; but they have been newly strung on yellow wool, which detracts greatly from the value of the piece. Two small pipes, made of grayish steatite, with an opening for the stem forming an acute angle with the bowl, have each a perforation through the under part. To each of these is attached a single string of wampum, alternating purple and white. Both pipes are new, never having been used; but the beads, like those forming the small band, appear to be old-certainly much older than the pipes to which they are attached. These three pieces seem to belong together, and the beads may be the remnants of an old belt. It is not known when or where the specimens were collected. FIG. 13.-Small club in the Museum of the Collegio di Propaganda Another object worthy of attention in the same collection is a small club (figure 13). The dimensions are: length 320 mm.; the handle, which is rectangular in section, is 23 mm. wide and II mm. thick; the ball at the end is 47 mm. in diameter. The whole is made of a single piece of wood, rather heavy and dark in color. It shows the effect of long use, being much worn and highly polished. Long, narrow strips of tanned buckskin are wound round the lower part of the handle; probably these were originally wound smooth and even, but they have become loosened. At short intervals the strip of skin is bound with porcupine quills colored red and white. The question naturally arises, for what purpose was this small club used? It is too small and light to have been serviceable as a weapon, although in form it resembles 1 Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans, in Second Report of the Bureau of Eth nology, 1883, pl. xlii. |