coast. The coast itself was probably quite devoid of wood: it therefore followed, as a matter of course, that the new comers would fix their dwellings in that quarter.
As the country was then rude and waste, so the first inhabitants also were rude and uncultivated in the highest degree. They did not commonly possess a knowledge of copper, of iron, or of any metals: they formed all their implements and weapons of wood, of the bones of animals, or of stone. As stone is not subject to be destroyed by being deposited in the earth, numerous instruments have been preserved to our own time, from which we can form some idea of the degree of civilization attained by the inhabitants of our native land at that period.
One of the most useful tools, for felling trees, for forming houses, and for executing works in wood generally, was the hatchet. Their hatchets were nearly in the form of the wedges now in use, but somewhat broader, and had no regular neck. Their sizes were very various; they are found from three to fifteen inches in length, and from one to four inches in breadth[1]. With the view to their being as useful as possible, they were formed of the hardest kinds of stone, and in Denmark almost exclusively of flint. They were first rudely struck out, and were then polished. The polishing, however, is by no means alike in every part; some are found polished on all their sides, some on the two broad sides, and some merely at the edge. The edge itself was usually very sharp, yet still of tolerable thickness, which made the hatchet both stronger and more useful for working in
- ↑ The following engraving of a hatchet six inches and a half in length, exhibits a form which is very commonly found both in England and Ireland.—T.
