They were used for ornament as well as for coin, and ten thousand or more were sometimes wrought into the belt of some

1 Six by two inches, found in Bedford.

GROOVED HAMMER.

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

great chieftain. The district about Byram Lake was called Cohemong, which meant the place where wampum is made.

There have been but few unbroken specimens of Indian pottery found in Westchester County, but

BIRD AND TORTOISE PIPE. Found in New Castle.

ducks' head pipe.

Found in Bedford.

numerous fragments, some of considerable size, are in existence. These are all quite rude, although some show attempts at ornamentation. On Croton Point, where the clay was favorable for this manufacture, a trench has been discovered containing numerous fragments of earthen vessels, along with charcoal, indicating that here may have been a simple kiln for burning pottery.

In the manufacture of all these various articles, some of which required a great amount of labor, be-

BLACK FLIXT KNIFE.

sides the time necessarily taken in hunting and fishing and in the cultivation of their crops, our Indians must have been pretty fully occupied, and we can scarcely believe them to have spent so much time in idleness as is generally supposed.

In their domestic relations the Mohegans were not depraved. The lover courted his chosen maiden with presents of ornaments, and won the favor of her parents with gifts of wampum. The consent of the sachem was obtained to their marriage, and he usually joined their hands together and they went away as man and wife. The man had but one wife, unless he was a sachem or occupied an exceptionally high position. The marriage tie was respected, and unfaithfulness was looked upon as a crime. In cases of separation the wife was given her share of the goods and departed, being then at liberty to marry again.