4. _Shell Ornaments_. Traces are found in the mound, of the fact that
the decorative taste, no doubt developed in all ages, and in all
climes, was possessed by the Takawgamis.

(_a_.) _Sea Shells_. Important as pointing to the home and trading
centres of the mound builders is the presence among the debris of the
mound, of sea shells. We have three specimens found in the grand
mound. Two of them seem to belong to the genus Natica, the other to
Marginella. They have all been cut or ground down on the side of the
opening of the shell, so that two holes permit the passage of a
string, by which the beads thus made are strung together. The fact
that the genera to which the shells belong are found in the sea, as
well as their highly polished surface show these to be marine; and not
only so but from the tropical seas, either we suppose from the Gulf of
Mexico or from the Californian coast.

(_b_.) _Fresh Water Shells_. In all the mounds yet opened, examples of
the Unio, or River Mussel, commonly known as the clam have been found.
They are usually polished, cut into symmetrical shapes, and have holes
bored in them. We have one which was no doubt used as a breast
ornament, and was hung by a string around the neck. In the bottom of a
nearly complete pottery cup, found in the grand mound, which went to
pieces as we took it out, there was lying a polished clam shell. The
clam still abounds on Rainy River. Six miles above the mound, we saw
gathered together by an industrious housewife hundreds of the same
species of clam, whose shells she was in the habit of pulverizing for
the benefit of her poultry.

5. _Pottery_. (_a_.) _Broken_. It seems to be a feature of every mound
that has been opened that fragments of pottery have been unearthed.
The Society has in its possession remains of twenty or thirty pottery
vessels. They are shown to be portions of different pots, by their
variety of marking. The pottery is of a coarse sort, seemingly made by
hand and not upon a wheel, and then baked. The markings were made upon
the soft clay, evidently with a sharp instrument, or sometimes with
the finger nail. Some pieces are found hard and well preserved; others
are rapidly disintegrating. As stated already, in the grand mound, a
vessel some five inches in diameter was dug up by one of the workers,
filled with earth, which though we tried earnestly to save it, yet
went to pieces in our hands. The frequency with which fragments of
pottery ar