Among the heaps of fragments were many that had become weathered on the upper side, and had a remarkable lustre, like silver.

Obsidian is called _bizcli_ by the Indians, and the silvery sort is known as _bizcli platera_.[11] They often find bits of it in the fields; and go with great secrecy and mystery to Mr.Bell, or some other authority in mining matters, and confide to him their discovery of a silver-mine.

They go away angry and unconvinced when told what their silver really is; and generally come to the conclusion that he is deceiving them, with a view of throwing them off the scent, that he may find the place for himself, and cheat them of their share of the profits--just what their own miserable morbid cunning would lead them to do under such circumstances.
[Illustration: MEXICAN ARROW-HEADS OF OBSIDIAN.] The family-likeness that exists among the stone tools and weapons found in so many parts of the world is very remarkable.

The flint-arrows of North America, such as Mr.Longfellow's arrow-maker used to work at in the land of the Dacotahs, and which, in the wild northern states of Mexico, the Apaches and Comanches use to this day, might be easily mistaken for the weapons of our British ancestors, dug up on the banks of the Thames.

It is true that the finish of the Mexican obsidian implements far exceeds that of the chipped flint and agate weapons of Scandinavia, and still more those of England, Switzerland, and Italy, where they are dug up in such quantities, in deposits of alluvial soil, and in bone-caves in the limestone rocks.