His quick mind pictured a royal garden adorned with these
foreign shrubs and herbs, the wainscoting and furniture to be made by
French and Italian joiners from these endless leagues of timber, the
stately churches and castles which might be built by skilful masons from
the abundant stone along these shores. Here was a province which, if it
had not gold, had the material for many luxuries which must otherwise be
bought with gold, and his clear Italian brain perceived that ingots of
gold and silver are not the only treasure of kings.
At last the _Dauphine_ came into a harbor or lake three leagues in
circumference, where more than thirty canoes were assembled, filled with
people. Suddenly Francois Parmentier leaped to his feet and waved his
cap with a shout.
"Now what madness has taken you?" queried Verrazzano.
"I know where we are, that's all. This is Wampum Town,--L'Anorme
Berge--the Grand Scarp. This is one of their great trading places,
Captain. Father heard about it at Cape Breton from some south-country
savages."
"And what may wampum be?" asked Verrazzano coolly.
"'T is the stuff they use for money--bits of shell made into beads and
strung into a belt. There is an island in this bay where they make it
out of their shell-fish middens--two kinds--purple and white.
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