Loskiel states that "the Indian women are very dexterous in weaving the strings of wampom into belts, and marking them with different figures, perfectly agreeing with the different subjects contained in the speech. These figures are marked with white wampom upon black, and with black upon the white belts. For example, in a _belt of peace_, they very dexterously represent, in black wampom, two hands joined. The belt of peace is white, a fathom long and a hand's breadth."[117] In Plate XXXVII I present a fac-simile reproduction of a plate from the well known work of Lafitau,[118] in which we have a graphic yet highly conventional representation of a council or treaty in which wampum belts were used. It is probably drawn from description and is far from truthful in detail. The more important facts are, however, very clearly presented. No information is given either of the people or the locality. The scene is laid in the middle of a broad featureless plain, the monotony of which is broken by three highly conventionalized trees. The parties to the treaty are ranged in two rows, placed, face to face. The chief who speaks stands at the farther end holding a belt in his right hand. Three other belts lie upon the mat at his feet, while a fifth is shown on a large scale in the foreground. The patterns can not be clearly made out, but in a general way resemble very closely the designs woven into the belts of the Iroquois. [Illustration: PL. XXXVII--USE OF WAMPUM BELTS IN INDIAN COUNCIL. _Facsimile_ of a plate in Lafitau.] The small belt shown in Fig. 1. Plate XXXVIII, is probably one of the most recent examples. The cut is copied from Plate 1 of the Fifth Annual Report of the Regents of the University of New York on the condition of the State Cabinet of Natural History, p. 72. The beads of which it is composed formerly belonged to the celebrated Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant. They were afterwards purchased from his daughter by Mr. Morgan. In 1850 they were taken to Tonawanda, in the State of New York, and made into this belt. The trimmings are apparently of ribbons, and the symmetry and uniformity of the whole work give it a new look not noticeable in the other specimens. The design consists of a row of dark diamond-shaped figures upon a white ground. It is now preserved in the State Cabinet of Natural History at Albany.