FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS IN THE UNITED STATESNATIONAL MUSEUM
By Walter HoughHead Curator of Anthropology, United States National MuseumINTRODUCTIONIn the ethnological collections of the United States National Museumat the period of 1886 there were many fire sticks, chiefly from theNorth American Indians, and from the Eskimo, with a few from otherparts of the world. Prof. Otis T. Mason, then curator of ethnologyin the newly organized Museum, observing the interest of his aide inthese curious objects, urged him to take up their study. In this oppor-tune time, 42 years ago, the constant stream of ethnological materialflowing into the Museum from expeditions brought with it other firesticks, until a sufficient basis for their scientific description was assem-bled. From the first in the National Museum organized by G. BrownGoode on the basis of arts and industries it was regarded as a necessityto .practically work out the method by which the aborigine producedthe impedimenta which supplied his needs. Thus before the writercould intelligently handle the subject of aboriginal fire making heshould be able to make fire by all the methods known to man. Thisunexpectedly difficult task accomplished, the first practical monographon the subject appeared.^ It was found possible in the study toclassify the methods and assign them to races and geographic areasand also to give a synopsis of the technical and developmental statusof the methods. The widespread interest in this subject was demon-strated by the demand for the paper, which has been placed out ofthe reach of collectors for many years. The present paper is a revi-sion and extension of the former publication.The following is a classification of the chief methods of fire making,based upon the presumed order of development
:
? Hough, Walter. Fire-Making Apparatus in the IT. S. National Museum, An. Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus.,1888, pp. 531-587.No. 2735.?Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 73, Art. 14.86374?28 1 1
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL 73
I. On wood (reciprocating motion) by.
II. On wood (sawing motion with knifeand thong).
1. Simple two-stick apparatus.?Indiansof North, Central, and South Amer-ica; Ainos, Japan; Somahs, Africa;most Australians, etc. The mostwidespread method.2. Four-part apparatus; moiUh drill andtwo-hand drill.?Eskimo, some Indi-ans, Siberians, Hindus, and Dyaks.
. Compound, weighted drill.?Iroquoisand Chukchis.Malays and Burmese.III. On wood (plowing or planing mo-|poiy,,esians; some Australianstion
IV. Of minerals and bamboo (percus-sion).
1. With pyrites (or stone containing iron)and flint.?Eskimo and Indians ofthe North (Algonkian and Atha-pascan stocks).2. Flint and steel.-?Modern and disusedmethods and appliances.3. Flint or other hard substances on bam-boo.?Malay.V. By compressed air.Besides the lens, mirror, and aerophore there are pyrophores, thehydrogen lamp, matches, and various chemical and electrical methods.FIRE MAKING BY ARTIFICIAL MEANSObservations on the customs of the races of mankind, extending intime and area, show that by one or more of several methods all menknew how to make fire artificially. The origin of fire making isevidentl3^ lost in the past, but there is no valid reason to put theinvention very far back in tune. Sound criticism will place it at theperiod of one of the profound advances marked by new ideas andthe beginnings of the great movement of the dissemination of manover the earth. Several deductions are legitimate concerning thenebulous period when the art of fire production was in the making.The first of these is that fire was carefully preserved when no meansof lighting it again were at hand and fire occurring in nature fromthe lightning and volcano was difficult to obtain. Hence the ancientsof the early world of man learned all there was to know about theguardianship of fire and were also frugal in the use of this "friendof man."Another deduction is that there is more or less uncertainty incarrying fire about, especially to any distance, under primitive con-ditions. If fire was as important to man as has been imagined, hewould not for a long time migrate from his primitive seats.It is not possible to imagine man, undoubtedly a creature of longdevelopment and with a long train of acquired experiences, remaining
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH Jjin one place like other animal groups. With the use of tools, theownership of fire, organization based primarily on instinct and moreimportantly on ideas, man presents himself as a candidate for theconquest of the earth. We know that a very long time ago men inthe fire-preserving stage spread over large areas in Europe, lived therefor millenniums, and passed on. Other areas in western Asia andnorthern Africa were also found to show evidence of the presence ofearly man. The continuing thread that runs through this mass ofmaterial culture of man is progress. The sum is progress, irrespec-tive of the involved and doubtful questions concerning the time andthe man himself. It is not known whether some groups of early manmigrated without fire or whether at times fire was lost and becameforgotten. Our theories that fire is indispensable to all humankindunder all conditions are subject to modification. It is curious thatvery many fire myths recount a stage of firelessness and a wrestingof fire from those having it. Myths are regarded by scientific menas having a substantial basis of fact and it must be concluded thatthe fire myths indicate that some groups of men were fireless. Nosuch condition of things has ever been observed among the tribes ofmodern or historical man. The myths, therefore, may be consideredas portraying conditions of considerable antiquity.It may be assumed, therefore, that for a very long period man, pos-sessed of fire and tending it with skill and care, did not know any methodof making it at will. How the making of fire artificially came to bedeveloped, for it was a development and not a discovery, can neverbe known. Which of the methods takes precedence over the othersis also uncertain, but from the facts presented it would be arguedthat wood methods occurred prior to mineral methods.The first makers of fire may have been confined to a single socialgroup, clan, or tribe. Among observed tribes instances are manywhere the art of generating fire by wood friction was jealouslyintrusted to one or a few individuals. Even among the culturednations of antiquity there is evidence that fire making w^as never gen-erally practiced by the common people. Tribal possessions of land,minerals, animals, and plants, as well as tribal secrets, form a phase ofobserved aboriginal life. They are in the class of village industries orthe arts and industries of smaller social units possessing workers ofskill. Many of these special arts arise on the coalescence of humanunits into larger social aggregations rather than by derivation by themethods of acculturation as usually understood. In this sense firemaking artificially would originate in larger groups where the contactof minds is more stimulating to invention. Such things were at firstkept secret under clan custom, dominance of the priesthood, or forother causes, but in the course of time the technical process became
4 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 73common property and the esoteric sides remained in the care of reH-gious organizations.The thought on the origin of fire making has tended to vision thehuman need, and to consider the need supplied by an inventor, muchas wonder-working inventions are brought out nowadays. It will beshown that nothing could be farther from the facts. In consideringthe difficulties which confronted the inventor of the wood-frictionfire-making apparatus it is pointed out that the proper wood in propercondition must be found. All advanced Boy Scouts will subscribeto this. Evidently the wood was not selected by the early experi-menters before they knew what was to be done with it. Again, thetrap for the fire is a slot or channel cut in the horizontal piece, termedthe "hearth." This slot is, advisedly, a great discovery. Tinder ofa suitable kind in which the spark may be nourished must be found,and this is no small task. Finally the little coal of fire can be broughtto a blaze only with great skill and a knowledge of a number of things.These are the chief matters of difficulty connected with the inventionof fire making brought out in actual experiment, but there are otherminor steps in the process which are seemingly inconsequential yetare vital to efficiency.It is necessary, then, to vision a long preliminary period duringwhich man gained a growing acquaintance with the properties ofvarious substances which were immediately useful to him in variousways. He knew from the first fire that wood was the fuel whichburned on his primitive hearth. He may have thought that fire atewood, but the chief lesson was that wood burned. Other associationsof wood with fire may have come from work with this substance.Friction is a common experience and handling wood or working inwood might give to keen perceptions an odor, a vapor of smoke, sug-gesting that there was fire present. Unconsciously perhaps theseobservations led to more knowledge and gradually to an awakeningto a combination of these experiences into something useful, and thefire drill, let us say, followed. Why the drill was the form the firekindler took is not difficult to imagine. The drill is an ancient andprimitive tool supplying the need for piercing holes in various mate-rials. It is the result of diverse means employed to pierce holes, suchas scraping, punching, grinding, cutting, and breaking, the processesdescribed being variants of the making of holes. From these experi-ences came finally the drill more especially as a tool for piercing hardsubstances requiring abrasive processes. Thus when the culminationof the protracted experiments was about to be reached there was adrill which could be adapted to the service of fire making. TheHindu fire-origin myth most practically states that the carpenterwith his drill first elicited the divine fire. In its present state theAryan Hindu myth places the origin of artificial fire making at a
ART. 14 FERE-MAKING APPAEATUS HOUGH 5period of social organization in which occupations as of woodworkingwere followed, indicating a comparatively late event as suggested.FIRE MAKINO WITH THE TWO-PART DRILLMaking fire with the two-part drill is not difficult. The apparatusis designed to render fire making easy, yet with two sticks in handand no knowledge of the details one is placed practically in the posi-tion of primitive man. The drill is a straight, stiff, dry, slender,smooth rod, the diameter of a lead pencil or larger, as shown in thespecimens used by various tribes, and up to 20 inches long, but rarelyshorter than 12 inches. The hearth admits of far greater variety ofform. The large majority, however, are straight-growing sectionsthicker than the drill and of the same wood. Many of the hearthsappear to have been gathered haphazard as a good piece of wood wasfound, many others are fashioned in a workmanlike manner withflat sides and squared edges, while others are carved and shapedaccording to the fancy of the native artists.Having the two essentials and provided with tinder and accom-paniments for getting a blaze it is possible to describe in detail themaking of fire. We round the lower end of the drill and make aslight holding notch near the border of the hearth in which to startthe drill rotating, and we cut a clean, vertical slot from the notchdown the edge of the hearth. This slot should be cut deep enoughto divide the pit in which the drill operates nearly halfway. Placethe hearth on the floor or on firm ground, kneel on one knee, andhold the hearth firmly with the other foot. Take the drill betweenthe extended hands, set the rounded end in the notch, and roll itbetween the palms, pressing down at the same time. After a fewrotations the drill will have bitten into the wood and the dust groundoff fallen down the slot, which explains its purpose. Remove thedrill and make sure that the slot is central with the hole, also thatthe drill end is not binding, and if so, whittle it a bit to insure itsworking freely. Before beginning again it must be understood thatthe work should be carried on to the finish without displacing thedrill from its socket. Also, when rotating the drill the hands willgradually move to the lower part of the shaft. At this juncturegrip the drill with one hand, bring the other up to the top, grip thedrill with it, and hold it while the other hand can be brought to thefirst position. By practice this can be done so quickly that no appar-ent cessation of the drilling is observable.To resume the effort to make fire it is better to revolve the drillslowly at first, gradually increasing the pressure till the dust darkenssomewhat and smoke arises, then quicken the stroke and pressure tothe extreme till the carbonized wood dust pushes down the slot in acoherent roll. If a thin vapor arises from the dust the work has been
6 PEOCEEDIlSrGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 73
a success. Shortly a little coal of fire will be seen. To get a blazefrom this fragile coal is like Langley's problem in launching the firstairplane; the difficult problem which was hardly visioned in the moreimportant effort.There are, of course, a number of minor variations in the procedure.The coal may be very gently fanned where it lies and finely dividedmaterial added in right amount. Generally, softened inner bark stripsare previously placed under the hearth and shredded grass or barkwith perhaps a bit of tinder placed near the slot. The coal emergesin this material, which is taken up on the strips of bark and gentlywaved in the air. In a little while a flame bursts forth.FIRE MAKING WITH THE FOUR-PART DRILL OR BOW DRILLThe explanations referring to the hand drill also apply to the bowdrill in everything except in the handling of the machine which sup-plants the bare and often excoriated palms of the would-be primitivefire maker. The aboriginal bow is rigid, straight, or slightly curvedand from 10 to 20 inches long. The cord of buckskin or hide is tightlyfastened to one end and can be adjusted at the other to take up slack.The drill is usually of laiger diameter and shorter than the hand drill,and tapered toward the ends from the middle. The nut is a block ofwood, generally carved in form of an animal among the Eskimo, ofconvenient size for holding in the hand, and set with a piece of soft,easily polished stone such as marble or soapstone in which a cavityhas been made. Make one turn of the cord around the drill, leavingthe bow to the right, set the drill in the socket of the hearth, andplace the nut. Make a few turns to ascertain conditions, especiallywhether the cord grips the drill sufficiently to not slip when pressureIs applied on the nut. The position of the driller is over the drill,the left hand holding the nut being brought around the left flexedknee, which aids pressure on the drill. Begin slowly and increasepressure, nicely balancing the pressure with the grip of the cord. Inthe concluding rapid work the cord may be tightened by pinching itup between the thumb and first finger of the right hand. When thedrill is felt to bite strongly into the wood and throws up a little smokeincrease the pressure and rotation until the fire coal is thought to haveappeared. Hold the drill in place till this fact is known, as it is muchbetter to continue with a hot drill than a cold one.With the fire plow we have another idea radically different fromthe drill. In this case a blunt stick is held between the locked fingers,pressed down firmly, and rubbed back and forward on the flat surfaceof a horizonal hearth, cutting a groove and forcing the dust into alittle heap at the end of the groove, and in which the fire rises. Asin the drill, this method requires careful and assured movements,calculated to a nicety lest the accumulation of dust be disturbed. At
ART. 14 riBE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 7the culmination of the effort the rubbing stick is raised to a higherangle so that it will bite more strongly.The fire saw offers another curious method which is nearer to the fireplow than to the drill. The fire saw is almost invariably of bamboo,to which the method conveniently adapts itself. A bamboo joint issplit into halves; from one is fashioned the sawing part in form of astrip with a sharpened edge. In the concave of the other half a fewslivers are raised to hold a piece of tinder. This is set on the groundconvex side up and the saw is swiftly rubbed across at right angles andover the the cage holding the tinder. The saw soon cuts through thewall of the bamboo and at its hottest comes into contact with thetinder, which is ignited.A related form is the fire-thong apparatus, which consists of a stickeither split and wedged apart, as shown in Plate 9, or having a horizontalslot cut through the middle. A bit of tinder is stuck in the slot; thecord, which is a rattan length, is passed under the stick at the tinderand pulled up and down, shortly igniting the tinder.QUALITIES OF WOODIt is found by experience that the qualities rendering wood suitableor not for fire making are as follows: Wood with fine grain, or withoutgrain, as in deadwood, and wood decomposed to a certain extent, andstalks of yucca and other vascular flower stalks are to be chosen;new wood, or wood containing certain products of growth, such asgums, resins, starches, sugars, and tannic acid, will not produce a fine,dry, inflammable powder; and, in general, hardwoods are to berejected.In selecting wood judgment must be exercised after the manner ofaboriginal man, who desired wood that was dry, soft, of proper grain,and inflammable, and as a result his selection was nearly always ofdeadwood. Some woods, however, thoroughly dried and seasoned,will answ^er very well. In many cases wood must be tested with thedrill and discarded if the dust rubbed between the fingers is gritty.Also, one part only of the chosen wood may be good.The following American woods are suggested for fire making.Those queried may be valuable if in proper condition as mentioned.Hemlock, willow, elm, soft maple, sycamore, tulip (?), cedar, cotton-wood, balsam (?) ; poplar, silver, Lombardy ; white pine (?) and yucca,flowering stalk.There are introduced here the explanation of two plates of a seriesexhibited in the United States National Museum illustrating the pre-sumed development of the art of fire making.^
? Extracted from Proceedings, U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 60, No. 2404, 1922, pis. 1 and 2.
8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM tol. 73No. 1. Volcano in action; lava setting fire to forests. Water-color drawing.178157.No. 2. Lightning setting a forest on fire. Water-color drawing. 178158.No. 3. Camp fire; man borrowing fire. Water color drawing. 178159.No. 4. Fire saw. Strip of bamboo drawn across a section of bamboo. Dyaksof Borneo and other Malays. 178152.No. 5. Fire thong. Rattan thong drawn over a grooved piece of wood. Dyaksof Borneo. 178152.No. 6. Fire plow. Blunt stick worked along a groove in a lower stick. Polyne-sians. 178152.No. 7. Fire driU. Slender rod twirled between the hands upon a lower stickhaving a cavity with slot. Indians of the United States and widelydiffused in the world. 176353.No. 8. Fire drill. Rod held in a socket and gyrated by means of a cord. Thelower piece of wood has a cavity with slot opening upon a shelf.Eskimo of Alaska. 127644.No. 9. Fire drill. Rod held in a socket and gyrated with a bow and cord. Lowerpiece with cavities on a central groove. Eskimo of Alaska. 48078.No. 10. Fire drill. Pump drill used specially for sacred fire. Iroquois Indians,Canada.No. 11. Strike-a-light. Flint and iron pyrites struck together as the ordinaryflint and steel. Eskimo of Alaska. 178154.No. 12. Strike-a-light. Flint and steel and box for holding flint, steel, and tinder.Sulphur-tipped splint ignited from the tinder. England. 130436.No. 13. Strike-a-light. Bamboo tube and striker of pottery used as flint andsteel. Two boxes for tinder. Malay.No. 14. Tinder pistol. Gunlock adapted for throwing sparks into tinder. Eng-land. 175712.No. 15. Strike-a-light. Combination of flint, steel, tinder, and extinguisher forcarrying in the pocket. Spain. 178155.No. 16. Fire syringe. Cylinder with closely fitting piston bearing tinder. Driv-ing the piston down smartly kindles the tinder. Siamese and Malays.176091.No. 17. Lens. Used for producing fire by focusing sunlight upon tinder. AncientGreeks. 178151.No. 18. Hydrogen lamp. Hydrogen gas is made to play upon spongy platinum,causing it to glow. Germany, 1824. 165440.No. 19. Match light box. Bottle of sulphuric acid, into which splints tipped withpotassium chlorate and sugar were dipped. Vienna, 1809. 151711.No. 20. Matches. Various kinds of phosphorus matches. 178156.No. 21. Electric gas lighter. Cylinder containing a small dynamo run by pres-sure of the finger, producing sparks between the points at the upperend of the tube. United States, 1882. 200512.The means of applying forces for making fire may be classified asbelow in the order of their utilization:FrictiondL, drilling, sawing, plowing on woods.Percussional, striking pyrites, flint and pyrites, and flint and steel.Physical, compression of air, platinum sponge, lens, mirror.Chemical, chemical combination as matches, sodium, pyrophores,etc.Electrical, electrical energy, sparking apparatus.
AKT. 14 FERE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 9ETHNOGRAPHY OF FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS
I. FIRE MAKING BY EECIPROCATING MOTION1. Simple two-stick apparatus.?This method may be said to havea world-wide distribution and to have had no narrow range in time.It is a very interesting study to observe the many different practicesthat have been superadded to the simple task of twirling two stickswith the design of creating fire. It is also instructive to note howfixed have become tribal characters in so small a thing as the shap-ing of the elements of the fire drill. It has well been said by DoctorSchweinfurth that
:
A people, as long as they are on the lowest step of their development, are farbetter characterized by their industrial products than they are either by theirhabits, which may be purely local, or by their own representations, which (renderedin their rude and unformed language) are often incorrectly interpreted by our-selves. If we possessed more of these tokens we should be in a position to com-prehend better than we do the primitive condition of many a nation that hasnow reached a high degree of culture,*This fact holds good with reference to tribes in a higher planethan the learned writer included in this statement, in this way:There are many little things that have not been subject to the modi-fication of time, intercourse, or environment, but coexist with an art.To particularize: Prof. E. S. Morse has shosvn the value of the sim-ple act of releasing an arrow from a bowstring as a classifier. Closeattention to the minor acts and arts will reveal much more than thenice measurements of man's practically unmodified skeleton.Differences that have become functional in the arts have comedown from an early period; when they can be found they are of thegreatest value as aids in ethnology.The ethnography of the simple fire drill is studied geographically,beginning in North America with the most northerly tribes that useit, and ranging from north to south in the different sections of thecountry, among the tribes from which there are specimens in theMuseum. Other countries are examined from west to east.The Sitkan fire-drill spindle is unusually long and thick. (Fig. 1.)Both hearth and drills are of the Thuja gigantea, a tree that entersso largely into the life of the Indians along this coast. The woodgrinds off very well with much friction; at ordinary speed there issoon a small heap of powder at the bottom of the fire slot. The lat-ter is deeply cut in from the side nearly to the center of the fire hole.The whole hearth has been charred at the fire. This repels moisture,and also renders it easier to ignite the wood, charring being a processsomewhat analogous to the decay of wood by rotting. If kept care-fully in a dry place, this apparatus was perfectly adequate for the
' The Heart of Africa. New York, 1874, vol. 1, p. 257.86374?28 2
10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vor. 73
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Figs. 1-3.?l, Fire-making set. Cat. No. 74379, U.S.N.M. Tlingit Indians, Sitka, Alaska.Collected by John J. McLean. 2, Fire-making set. Cat. No. 20C44, U.S.N.M. Bella-Bella, B. C. Collected by James O. Swan. 3, Fire-making set and slow match.-Cat. No. 127866, U.S.N.M. Quinaielt Indians, Quinaielt, Wash. Collected bt CharlesWiLLOUGHBT
AKT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 11purpose of the Sitkan, and in his skillful hands would no doubt givethe spark in a minute or so. The long drill would indicate that twoworked at it consecutively to keep up a continuous motion.For tinder, the bark of the arbor vitae was used. It is finely frayed,and is much improved by being slightly charred. They also use,preferably, a tinder made from a fungus, because it is "quicker," thatis, ignites more readily than the frayed bark.The hearth is squared and measures 23 inches; the drill is of equallength.The southern Tlingit drill in the American Museum of NaturalHistory, New York City, has the hearth and drill of equal length.The hearth is a block having the head of a raven at one end and ofa bear at the other. The drill is enlarged at the low^er end, and thehearth has three fire holes, (PI. 1, Cat. No. 289100, Alaska; Amer.Mus. Nat. Hist., N. Y.; hearth, 15 inches long (38 cm.); drill, 15.3inches long (39 cm.).)Going southward from Sitka the next fire-making set in the seriesis from Bella-Bella, British Columbia. These Indians are of the Sali-shan stock, and are called Bilhulas. The horizontal is a piece of cedarwood dressed square on three faces. It is apparently a piece of an oaror spear handle. The fire holes are shallow, and the fire slots are quitenarrow. (Fig. 2.) The drills have been scored longitudinally nearthe rubbing end; this may be a device to cause the wood to wear awaymore rapidly and furnish fuel to the incipient fire. Fire has evidentlybeen made with this set. Both parts are 13^ feet long; the drill ismuch thinner than that of Sitka. The tinder is a braided length offrayed cedar bark.From a southern family of the Salishan stock, called the QuinaieltIndians, of Washington, the Museum has a complete set collected bythe late Charles Willoughby. It consists of a hearth, two drills, anda slow match. The hearth is a rounded piece of cedar wood; oppositethe fire holes it is dressed flat, so as to rest firmly on the ground.There are three fire holes with wide notches. The drills taper to eachend; that is, are larger in the middle. (Fig. 3.) The powder, a finebrown dust, collects at the junction of the slot and fire hole, and therereadily ignites. This side of the hearth is semidecayed. No doubtthe slots were cut in that side for the purpose of utilizing this quality.The drills are bulged toward the middle, thereb}'' rendering it possibleto give great pressure and at the same time rapid rotation withoutallowing the hands to slip down too rapidly, a fault in many firedrills. The slow match is of frayed cedar bark, about a yard long,folded squarely together, and used section by section. Mr. Willoughbysays:The stick with three cavities was placed upon the ground, the Indian kneelingand placing a knee upon each end. He placed one end of the smaller stick in one
12 PROCEEDIN-QS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
Fio. 4. ? Fire-mak-ing SET. Cat. No.24096, U.S.N.M.Klamath Indi-ans, Oregon.Collected by L.S. Dtak.
of the cavities, and, holding the other end between the palmsof his hands, kept up a rapid half-rotary motion, causing anamount of friction sufficient to produce fire. With this helighted the end of the braided slow match of cedar bark.This was often carried for weeks thus ignited and held care-fully beneath the blanket to protect it from wind and rain.Fire is easily procured with this set. It takes buta slight effort to cause a wreath of aromatic smoketo cur] up, and the friction easily grinds off a darkpowder, which collects between the edges of theslot. When this ignites it drops down the slot in alittle pellet, and falls upon the tinder placed belowto receive it. Both drill and hearth are 18 incheslong.The Klamaths, of Oregon, of the Lutuamian stock,use a fire apparatus that looks very much like thatof the Utes. The hearth is a rounded piece of soft-wood thinned down at the ends. (Fig. 4.) Thedrill is a long, round arrow stick, with a hardwoodpoint set in with resin and served with sinew. (SeeUte drill, fig. 7). The holes in this hearth are verysmall, being less than three-eighths of an inch in diam-eter. They are in the center, and the fire slot beingcut into the rounded edge widens out below, so thatthe coal can drop down and get draught. The woodis quite soft, apparently being sapwood of yew orcedar, while the drill point is of the hardest woodobtainable. It is probable that sand is used on thedrill. The hearth is 13 inches long, and the drOl 26.The Chinooks, a tribe of Indians of a separate stock,called Chinookan, formerly lived about the mouth ofthe Columbia River, in Oregon, but are now nearlyextinct. James G. Swan, the veteran explorer, inves-tigator, and collector among the northwest coast tribes,says that the Chinooks are the best wet-weather firemakers he ever knew.*To kindle a fire the Chinook twirls rapidly between the palmsa cedar stick, the point of which is pressed into a small hollowin a flat piece of the same material, the sparks falling on finelyfrayed bark. Sticks are commonly carried for the purpose, im-proving with use.^Paul Kane? describes the hearth as a "flat piece ofdry cedar, in which a small hollow is cut with a chan-nel for the ignited charcoal to run over. In a shorttime sparks begin to fall through the channel upon
< Northwest Coast, p. 248.
? Bancroft. Native Races, vol. 1, p. 237.
? Wanderings of an Artist Among the Indians. London, 1859.
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 13finely frayed cedar bark placed underneath, whichthey soon ignite." The Ahts and Haidas also usecedar fire sticks of the usual Indian kind.The Hupa Indians of California are of the Athapas-can stock. Their fire drill is a carefully made piece ofapparatus. (Fig. 5.) The hearth is of a reddish,punky piece, made from the roots of a willow {Salixlaevigata), or of cottonwood roots {Populus trichocar-pus). The drill is made from the root of the willowmentioned. Fire has been made in one of the holes;the others show the rough, frayed cavities which havebeen made to start the drill. The notches at each endof the hearth seem to be to facilitate the tying of thepieces together as a precaution to prevent their lossor separation. They are usually intrusted into thehands of the most skillful fire maker, who wraps themup to keep them from becoming damp. The effec-tiveness of the sticks increases with use and age; astick and hearth that have been charred by the for-mer making of fire in most cases yields the spark inhalf the time required for new apparatus. Anotheradvantage is that the drill is softer from incipientdecay.That this set is in the highest degree efficient isshown by the fact that the writer repeatedly got aglowing coal, the size of a pea, from it in less than20 seconds. The hearth is 18 and the drill 21 incheslong.The Nokum Indians of Lassen County, Calif., use asmall hearth with wedge shape end, probably to steadythe piece against a support while making fire. Smallblock hearths like this are customary among the Utetribes. The drill is a slender rod worked from cedar, asis the hearth. (Cat. No. 131078; Susanville, Calif., L. L.Frost; hearth, 7 inches long (18 cm.); drill, 11 incheslong (28 cm.).)The McCloud River Indians (Copehan stock) makethe drill from the buckeye tree.The Indians of Washoe, Nev., from their languagehave been classed by the Bureau of Ethnology as aseparate stock, the Washoan. Stephen Powersmany years ago collected a rather remarkable hearthfrom these Indians. It has eight rather small holes,in every one of which fire has been made. Thewood is soft, well-seasoned pine. Apparently sandhas been made use of to get greater friction, as is the
.1
Fig. 5.
?
14 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
Fio. 6.?Fire-marINGSET. Cat. No.19640. U.S.N.M.Washoe Indians,Nevada. Col-lected BY Ste-phen Powers
custom of the Zunis and Apaches. This device, in ameasure, obviates the necessity of having tinderlikewood, or wood in a state of partial decay. For thedrill any hardwood cylindrical stick might be employed.A strip of buckskin about an inch wide is passedaround the hearth over the fireholes to keep them dry.(Fig. 6.)At the end of the hearth is a mass of cement made ofthe resin of a pine mLxed with sand, apparently, a kindof material used by the Indians over a large area in theGreat Basin and southward to fix their arrowheads,pitch the water bottles, and for other purposes. It isquite probable that this stick was the property of anarrow m.aker whose need of fire to melt the some-what intractable cement caused him to combine thesefunctions in one tool.It has a better finish and displays greater skill in itsmanufacture than the fire tools of the neighboringtribes of Shoshonian (Utes) and Moquelumnian stocks.In fact, it has a close affinity in appearance to thoseof the very near Athapascan (Hupa, etc.) stock. Itis a matter of very great interest to compare with thisa stick from the Mackenzie River. (See fig. 26.) Theresemblance is striking ; it is as though one found aword of familiar sound and import in an unexpectedplace. The related tribes of the Indians dwelling onthe Mackenzie have a wider range than the distancebetween the localities whence the respective stickscame; in fact, the Athapascans range about 50?in latitude and the southern colonies of this greatfamily are only about 250 miles southeast of the Wash-oans, while, as has been stated, the Hupas are quitenear.It would be presumptuous to say at present thatthis tool is a remnant of the influence of the Atha-pascan wave that swept along the Great InteriorBasin, leaving groups here and there in Californiaand other parts to mark its progress, but there ismore to its credit than a coincidence of form andfunction.The museum is in possession of a complete collectionof fire-making material from the tribes of the Shos-honian stock. They were collected by Maj. J. W.Powell. The native name for the Ute fire set is whu-tuni-weap. While the lower member of the set?the
AUT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 15hearth?differs among the several tribes in point ofmateria], shape, etc., the spliced drill is characteris-tic of the whole stock. It has never been noticedoutside of the southern part of the Great InteriorBasin but in one instance?among the Klamathsof Oregon. The main part of the drill is either areed or a straight sprout, usually the former. Atone end a short piece of very hard wood?grease-wood, Sarcohatus vermiculatus?is set in and lashedwith sinew. It resembles the Shoshonian arrows,which are foreshafted in this way. They also usesand in common with other neighboring tribes.The Pai-Utes, of southern Utah, make theirhearths of a short, rounded piece, usually of thesapwood of juniper. It is tied to the drill with athong of buckskin when not in use. (Fig. 7.) Thedrill is like the usual one, just described. This isthe common form of the Pai-Ute apparatus. Thesmall, two-holed hearth of rounded form and theshortened, spliced drill are for convenience of carry-ing, this kind being used by hunters while awayfrom the lodges. S. J. Hare says that the men donot usually make the fire except when out on ahunting excursion. At the lodge it is the squaw'sduty to make the fire when it is needed.The Pai-Ute is rarely at a loss to get fire; he ismaster of various devices. Mr. Hare, who wasamong the Utes for some time, states that whenthe Indian is in need of a light he uses either theflint and steel, the drill, or, if these are not at hand,he takes two branches and rubs one up and downon the other, soon getting fire. The Australiansare said to have practiced fire making by rubbingin the way mentioned. This is the only observa-tion collected of its occurrence in America. It is,in all probability, a difficult, unusual way, onlypracticed under pressure of necessity among theUtes. They take great pride in their skill; to be aquick fire maker is to achieve fame in the tribe.They are fond of exhibiting their art to white trav-elers in the hope of gain.Another form of hearth (fig. 8) is made of yuccaflower stalk, like those of the Apaches and Navaho.The drill is of tule reed, set with a very hard wood
Fig. 7.?Fire-Mak-ing SET. Cat. No.17230, U.S.N.M.Pai-Ute Indians,Southern Utah.Collected by J. W.Powell
16 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
Fig. 8.
?
Fike-mak-iNG SET. Cat.No. 119 7 6,U.S.N.M. Pai-Ute Indians.SooTHBHN Utah.Collected by J.W. Powell
head. It is suggested that the reason for sphcingthe drill is that the hardwood of the kind used forthe head (grease-wood) can not be procured in pieceslong enough to make the whole drill. This set isapparently one used as a fixture in the Ute domesticeconomy, the squaws having to light the fire. Theduty is mainly relegated to the females in severalother Indian tribes and among the Eskimo. Mr.Catlin says that the Sioux objected to letting thesquaws have their portraits painted, saying thattheir women had never taken scalps nor done any-thing better than make fires and dress skins. ^ Thehearth and drill last figured are, respectively, 20and 23 inches long, while in the hunting set (fig.8) the length is 7 and 18 inches.The Wind River Shoshones are also represented.(Fig. 9.) The hearth is of hardwood, rudely hackedout and rounded. Upon the slanting edge areeight holes or shallow depressions, prepared for thedrill, with notches cut in to meet them from thesides. The drill is a willow branch, 25 inches long,with a hardwood head mortised in, and served withbuckskin. It is most probable that sand was usedwith this set, because, if the parts are not models, itwould be necessary to use it on sticks of equal hard-ness like these. I am inclined to believe that theyare models, from their appearance and from thedifficulty of setting up a pyrogenic friction uponthem even with sand. They were collected morethan 50 years ago by Maj. J. W. Powell.The Hopi are the most differentiated membersof the Shoshonian stock. Mrs. M. C. Stevensoncollected the two excellent fire-making sets in theMuseum from the Hopi Pueblos. The hearth is abranch of the very best quahty of softwood (cotton-wood). In one hearth an end has been broken off,but there still remain 18 fire holes, showing that itwas in use for a long time and highly prized. (Fig.10.) The drill is a roughly dressed branch ofhardwood. It is comparatively easy to make fireon this apparatus. In the set numbered 126694these conditions are reversed; the hearth is toler-ably hard wood and the drill soft wood.The Hopi fire tools are used now principally inthe estufas to light the sacred fire and the new fire
' Smithsonian Report, 1885, pt. 2. p. 723.
ART. 14 FIKE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 17
Fig. 9.?Fire-making Set.Cat. No. 22022, U.S.N.M.Shoshone Indians, WindRiver, Wyoming. Col-lected BY J. W. PoWEIi86374?28
as do the Zunis, and theAztecs of Mexico didhundreds of years ago.They use tinder of fun-gus or dried grass rubbedbetween the hands.By their language theZufii people belong to adistinct stock of In-dians. Their fire sticksare of the agave stalk, asoft, pithy wood withharder longitudinalfibers, rendering it agood medium for thepurpose of making fire.(Fig. 11.)As to the plan pur-sued in grinding out fire,Col. James Stevensoninformed the writer thatthey make a slightlyconcave place where theburnt holes are seen, cutthe notch on the side,sprinkle a little fine sandon the concavity, set theend of the round stickon the sand and roll itrapidly between thepalms of the hands,pressing down hard.The "sawdust," ColonelwStevenson called it,oozes out of the notchand forms a small mass,which on blowingslightly becomes a burn-ing coal, and the appli-cation of a little tindercreates a blaze. Forpreserving the fire forany length of time theyuse a piece of decayedwood. (Fig. 12.) Fig. 10.?Fire-making set. Cat.No. 128694, U.S.N.M. HOPI IN-DIANS, Arizona. Collected btMrs. M. C. Stevenson
18 PKOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
wm
Figs. 11 and 12.?FraE-MAKiNoSET AND BLOW MATCH. CAT.NOS. 127708 AND 69850U.S.N.M. ZuSi Indians, NewMexico. Collected by JamesStevenson
Viewed in another aspect than asan implement of necessary or commonuse, this set is an important cult appa-ratus in the wonderfully complicatedreligious worship of the Zuhis. Thesepeople make the sacred fire that wasused in their ceremonies by friction ofwood that has been wet. New fire ismade at the beginning of their newyear with great ceremony. The houseis swept and everything is moved outof it until the fire is made. Theirregard for fire and their customs withreference to it add them to the list ofpeoples who have held it in similarreverence and have prac-ticed similar customs allover the world, rangingwidely in time. The wet-ting of the drill, increasingtheir labor, may be done toplease their gods.This art must have beenpracticed for a long timein this region, for HenryMetcalf found a hearth (fig.13) with three fire holes ina cave dwelling at SilverCity, N. Mex. It is appar-ently very ancient. Thewood is much altered andhas become heavy by impregnation withsome salt, probably niter. Specimens arefound during nearly every exploration in thecliff dwellings. They show entire uniformityin all parts of the region.The Apache and Navaho belong to thegreat Athapascan stock, that ranges sowidely in North America. Capt. John G.Bourke, United States Arm}^, collected thehearth of yucca wood shown (fig. 14), andsays:With the stick you now see, the Apache Indiansin my presence made fire in not quite eight secondsby the watch, and one asserted that he could make
Fig. 13.?Lower stickOF fire-making set.Cat. No. 35268,U.S.N.M. From aCAVE AT SilverCitt.N.Mex. Col-lected BY HenryMetcalf
i^v^,
ART. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 19
it in a number of motions, which, on the watch, occupiedexactly two seconds?that is, under most favorable cir-cumstances. The experiments, made under my own ob-servation, ran all the way from 8 to 47 seconds. Sandis generally used, although not essential to success.Captain Bourke's observation is very interest-ing, as it records the fact that the Apache is themost skillful fire maker in the world. Manyother tribes can make fire in less than a minute,I think by far the majority of them, but there isno eight-second record, while if he could provehis ability to do it in two seconds he would arriveat the facility of striking a match.William F. Corbusier has noticed the fire mak-ing of the Apache-Yumas of Arizona (Yumanstock).* They use a drill about 2 feet long andone-half inch thick, made of o-oh-kad-je, or " fire-stick bush." Its end is dipped in sand and drilledon a soft piece of agave or yucca stalk held downby the feet. They carry a slow torch of dead-wood (spunk) and also use a flint and steel. Fortinder they use dry grass or bark fiber. Theyuse also a fungus, some species of Polyporus) , forthe same purpose.Another reference to the fire making of this stock(Yuman) is found in the translation by the lateDr. Charles Rau of the writings of Father Baegerton the Californian Peninsula.^ He says:To light a fire, the Californian makes no use of steeland flint, but obtains it by the friction of two pieces ofwood. One of them is cylindrical and pointed at one end,which fits into a round cavity in the other, and by turningthe cylindrical piece with great rapidity between theirhands, like a twirling stick, thej' succeed in igniting thelower piece if they continue the process for a sufficientlength of time.The Navaho fire set looks very much like amere makeshift. The hearth is a piece of yuccastalk and the fire holes have but a shallow sidenotch. The drill is a broken arrow shaft, to whichhas been rudely lashed Avith a cotton rag a smallerpiece of yucca wood. (Fig. 15.) This careless-ness, which it is rather than lack of skill, is char-acteristic of the Navaho in their minor imple-ments. They resemble the crude Apache in this
' American Antiquarian. Mendon, 111., vol. f , September, 1886, p. 283.
' Smithsonian Report, 1865, p. 367.
Fig. 14.?Lower piece ofFIRE-MAKING SET. CaT .No. 130G79, U.S.N.MApache Indians, Ari-zona. Collected bvCapt. John O. BouekeU. S. Army
20 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
1/Fig. 15.?FlEB-MAKINGSET. Cat. No. 9555,U.S.N.M. NavahoIn-DUN3, New Mexico.Collected by EdwardPalmer
One thinks of the Navaho only with regard to theirfine blanket weaving and silver working, so wellpresented by Dr. Washington Matthews in thereports of the Bureau of Ethnology, and does notconsider their arts in other lines,'"Thomas C. Battey, a Friend, long missionaryamong the Indians, kindly gives a description ofthe Kiowan fire-making process, not now practicedamong them but shown to him as a relic of anabandoned art:A piece of very hard and coarse, rough-grained wood, per-haps 8 inches in length, 2 in width, and three-fourths of aninch in thickness is procured. In one side of this and nearone edge several holes are made, about one-half an inch indiameter by five-eighths of an inch in depth, rounded atthe bottom, but left somewhat rough or very slightly cor-rugated. In the edge nearest these holes a correspondingnumber of smaller and tapering holes are made, openingby a small orifice into the bottom of each of the largerones. . These are made very smooth.A straight stick, also of hard, rough-grained wood, about8 or 10 inches in length, about the size they usually maketheir arrows or larger, is provided. Both ends of this arerounded, but one end is made smooth; the other is leftslightly rough. The dried pith of some kind of reed, or moreprobably of the yucca, some fibers of the same loosely pre-pared like hackled flax, some powdered charcoal, I thinkformed by charring the yucca, and a piece of hard, thickleather, similar to sole leather, completes the outfit, whichis carried in a leather bag made for the purpose. The first-described piece of wood is placed upon the knees of theoperator with a quantity of the fibrous substance beneathit which has been powdered with charcoal dust; some ofthe latter is put into one of the holes and the rough end ofthe stick inserted; the other end is put into an indentationof the leather placed under the chin, so that a gentle pressuremay be exerted. The spindle is then rapidly revolved byrolling it one way and the otlier between the hands. Thefriction thus produced by the rubbing of the roughened sur-faces ignites the fine coal dust, which, dropping as sparks offire through the orifice at the bottom of the hole, falls intothe dry fibrous preparation, thus igniting that, then by thebreath blowing upon it a flame is produced and commu-nicated to some fine, dry wood and a fire is obtained. Tliewhole operation occupies but a few minutes.In Mexico a number of the uncivilized tribes ofthe mountains continued the fire drill into recenttimes. It is probably used now as in other parts
10 Doctor Matthews's mountain chant of the Navahos, in the fifth annualreport (1883-84) of the Bureau of Ethnology, gives some very striking cere-monial uses of fire. No ethnologist should fail to read this important con-
'Tibution to science.
AKT. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 21
of the world in religious rites. Thereis abundant data in the pictorial writ-ings of the ancient Mexicans as tothe form and use of the simple firedrill, especially in the codex discov-ered by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall. A modelof a drill after this codex is shown onPlate 2, figure 2a.One of the rudest fire-making ap-pliances in the Museum was collectedby Prof. W. M. Gabb, at Talamanca,Costa Rica. The hearth is a rudebillet of charred, black wood, resem-bling mahogany. It has centralholes, with no gutter usually, thoughsometimes a shallow notch is cut onboth sides of the fire-hole. The drillis a light branch, rather crooked, butdressed down roughly with a knife.Another hearth is of partly decayed,worm-eaten wood; with this a hard-wood drill can be used, the hearthwasting away instead of the drill.(Fig. 16.) The absence of any fireslot?that is, the use of the centralfire hole?is worthy of notice in thislocality. I have only observed itsuse in various parts of the Eskimoarea, from east Greenland to Kodiak;outside of this range I have notnoticed it anywhere else among thepresent tribes of the world. Fromdescriptions given it seems to havebeen practiced by the CaranchuaIndians, a recently extinct tribe inTexas and Mexico.These specimens from Costa Ricaare the crudest fire tools, not to bemere makeshifts, that have come tomy notice or have been described inthe literature examined. The CostaRican Indians are very interesting intheir preservation of several otherarts that may justly be classed amongthe most ancient. One may be men-tioned, that of bark cloth making. Fig. 16.?Fire-making set. Cat. No.15396, U.S.N.M. Natives of Tala-MANCA, Costa Rica. Collected byW. M. Oabb
22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73Professor Gabb made quite a collection from Talamanca, but has notleft any notes on these remarkable people, who are well worthy ofthe careful study of ethnologists.A curious modification of this central-hole plan is figured anddescribed in Oviedo, folio 90, as occurring in Hispaniola?that is, theWest Indies, Haiti, San Domingo, etc. He says that "two dry, lightsticks of brown wood were tied firmly together, and the point of thedrill of a particular hardwood was inserted between the two and thenworked." H. Ling Roth " thinks that if one can judge from the illus-tration (which is a miserable one) in Benzoni's work, the natives ofNicaragua also used three sticks in making fire. Benzoni, how-ever, says : '^All over India they light fire with two pieces of wood; although they had agreat deal of wax, they knew no use for it, and produced light from pieces ofwild pine wood.From Oviedo's description I am inclined to believe that the dustin which the fire starts was allowed to fall below on tinder placedbeneath the hearth. (PL 2, fig. 2.)The drill was sufficient for its time for the reason that there was atthat period rarely necessity for generating fire; the art of fire preser-vation was at its height.The Cherokees, the most southerly of the Iroquois, James Mooneywrites, kept fire buried in the mounds upon which the council houseswere built, so that if the house was destroyed by enemies the fire wouldremain there for a year or so. The Cherokees use the simple rotationapparatus, and, as far as Mr. Mooney can ascertain, never used thethe pump drill. They have a tradition that fire originally came outof an old hollow sycamore tree {Platanus occidentalis)
.
Capt. John Smith tells how the Indians of Virginia made fire.He says:Their fire they kindled presently by chafing a dry pointed sticke in a hole ofa little square piece of wood, that firing itselfe, will so fire mosse, leaves, or aniesuch like drie thing that will quickly burn.^^Writing in the first quarter of the next century, Beverley says:They rubbed Fire out of particular sorts of Wood (as the Ancients did out ofthe Ivy and Baj's) by turning the end of a Piece that is soft and dry, like a Spin-dle on its Inke, by which it heats and at length burns; to this they put some-times also rotten Wood and dry leaves to hasten the Work."Loskiel says of the Delawares:Formerly they kindled fire by turning or twirling a dry stick with great swift-ness on a dry board, using both hands. '^
"The Aborigines of Hispaniola, Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Ot. Britain and Ireland, vol. 16, p. 282.? History of the New World, Hakluyt Society, vol. 21, p. 151.I'The Natural Inhabitants of Virginia. English Scholars Library, No. 16, p. 68."History of Virginia, 1722, pp. 197, 198."History of the Mission of the United Brethren, p. 54. London, 1794.
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKIN"G APPARATUS HOUGH 23The Cherokees used for a drill the stalk of a composite plant(Senecio) and twirled it on a piece of wood. The art has long beenout of common use, but they employed the wooden drill to make fire forthe Green Corn Dance into the present century, though flint and steelwas then in vogue. Sometimes they passed the bow over the drill.The tinder was of a fungus or dried moss. James Mooney collectedthis information from some of the older men of the tribe in NorthCarolina, who have retained the ancient customs and traditions, whichthe part of the tribe removed to the West has entirely lost.The Creeks (Muskogean stock) had a regularly authorized firemaker who early in the morning made fire for the Green Corn Dance.The apparatus that he made use of was four sticks placed end to endto form a square cross. This was oriented, and at the junction ofthe sticks new fire was made by friction. ^^The Choctaws (also Muskogean) of Mississippi, M. F. Berry writes,make fire in the following way: One stick of dry wood that has ahole in it, with a smaller hole at the bottom going through, is placedbetween the feet. Another piece made round and about 3 feet longis made to revolve rapidly back and forth between the hands in thehole, and the fire drops through the small hole below. When newfire was wanted for the Green Corn Dance or other purposes threemen would place themselves so that each in turn could keep the stickrevolving without a stop until fire would drop down through the hole,which was nursed with dry material into a flame.This form of the fire hearth is not represented in the collections ofthe Museum; the only other description of a process closely like itwas given by Thomas C. Battey, who observed it among the Kiowas.It was shown him at that time as a revival of the ancient method.The pierced fire hearth is somewhat impracticable, except in the Malaysawing method. In the rotary drill the small hole would come overthe axis of least friction and heat. Unless provision was made forthe dust to fall freely underneath by a double cone perforation workedfrom both sides the dust is likely to become obstructed and smotherthe fire. It will be seen, too, that it departs very much from thesimplicity of the usual fire drill in the fact that a hole must be madethrough the piece of wood, a matter of some difficulty before theintroduction of iron awls.The Seminoles of Florida, the most southern Muskoki, have neglectedthe art of fire making by simple friction, unless at the starting of thesacred fire for the Green Corn Dance, says Clay MacCauley.^^ Afire is now kindled either by the common matches, ma-tci, or by steeland flint.
'? Benjamin Hawkins' Sketch of the Creek Country, 1798-99, pp. 68-72, cited in Pickett's History ofAlabama, vol. 1, p. 108." Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology for 1883-84, p. 518.
24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 73Thus it is seen that wherever in the earlier period of the explorationin this country the observation has been made, the Indian, almostwith out exception, was found to be using the friction apparatus con-sisting of two sticks of wood. Some tribes had improved on theworking of the invention, while a very few others had perhaps arrivedat the use of the higher invention of the flint and pyrites.Returning to the tribes of the wide central plains of our country,we find that the flint and steel soon displaced the fire sticks, exceptfor religious purposes. The Mandans, of the great Siouan stock,were using flint and steel at the time of Mr. Catlin's visit in 1832.^^There seems to be a great misapprehension among some of thewriters on ethnology as to the general use of the bow drill among theIndians. In mentioning that the Sioux use the bow drill, Schoolcraftis quoted as authority. As a matter of fact the reference is to a"made-up" figure of a bow-drill set, marked "Dacota." On thesame plate there is a representation of an Iroquois pump drill thatis obviously wrong. The lower part of the plate is taken up by apicture of an Indian woman (presumably Californian) poundingacorns in a mortar. To complete the absurdity the whole plate isentitled "Methods of obtaining fire by percussion," and is placed inthe text of a questionnaire on the Californian Indians, opposite adescription of the Californian way of making fire by twirling twosticks.'^Mr. Schoolcraft is not to blame for this state of affairs. In thosedays illustrations were not ethnological; they were "padding" gottenup by the artist. Nowhere in his great work does Mr. Schoolcraftdescribe either the Dakota or Iroquois drill. Among the northernIndians in central and northern Canada, however, the bow is used.Sir Daniel Wilson, in his work on Prehistoric Man, notes that theRed Indians of Canada use the drill bow. In August, 1888, at themeeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,at Toronto, he gave an account of the facility with which theseIndians make fire. He said that at Nipissing, on the north shore ofLake Superior, while he was traveling in a pouring rain, and nothaving the means wherewith to light a fire, an Indian volunteered tolight one. He searched around for a pine knot and for tinder, rub-bed up the soft inner bark of the birch between the hands, got astick from a sheltered place, made a socket in the knot and anotherpiece of wood for a rest for the drill, tied a thong to a piece of abranch for a bow. He put the tinder in the hole and rested hisbreast on the drill and revolved it with the bow and quicklymade fire.
'? The George Catlin Indian Gallery. Smithsonian Report for 1885, vol. 2, p. 456.>? Indian Tribes, vol. 3, pi. 28. 1851-1860.
AfiT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPAEATUS?HOUGH 25It is perhaps true that some of the Dakotas did use the bow attimes, but it is not correct to place it as the customary tool of thewhole stock. On the contrary, there is evidence that they usedthe simple means. Dr. J. Owen Dorsey writes:I was told in 1879 by the late Joseph La Fleche, that the Omahas, prior to theadvent of the white men, made fire by using pieces of the "du-^-du-d-hi," agrass (?) that grows in the Sand Hill region of Nebraska, near the sources of theElkhorn River. One piece was placed horizontally on the ground, and a slightnotch was cut at one end, wherein a few grains of sand were put. The otherstick was held between the palms of the hands, with one end in the notch of thehorizontal stick, and then rolled first in one direction then in the other till firewas produced. A fresh notch was made in the first stick whenever the old onebecame useless, and so on until it became necessary to procure a new stick.In the Green Corn Dance of the Minitaries, another Siouan tribe,the "corn is boiled on the fire, which is then put out by removing itwith the ashes and burying them. New fire is made by desperateand painful exertion, by three men seated on the ground facing eachother and violently drilling the end of a stick into a hard block ofwood by rolling it between the hands, each one catching it in turnfrom the others without allowing the motion to stop until smoke,and at last a spark of fire is seen and caught in a piece of spunk,when there is great rejoicing in the crowd." ^'^ The desperate exer-tion was not necessary, except in imitation of the Zuni fashion ofwetting the drill to create sacred fire.It will be seen from these references given that the Sioux used thecustomary Indian method. Later, they may have used the bow toexpedite the drill when the wood was intractable. The bow mayhave been borrowed from more northern tribes, the Algonquians aresaid to used it; ^^ Thomas C. Battey says that the Sac-Fox Indians(Algonquian stock) used a soft-wood drill and a hard-wood hearth."The drill was worked by a bow and the fire caught on the end ofthe drill and touched to tinder."Throughout South America the art of fire making with two sticksof wood is found to be as thoroughly diffused as it is in NorthAmerica. Many of the tribes still use it; we may say that in alltribes the use of flint and steel was preceded by that of the sticksof wood.From Carib-Arawak tribes of British Guiana come simple jungle-fire drills consisting of peeled and dressed rods of soft-yellow wood.A bit of the black bark is left at the upper end of the drill as anornament. The hearth has a fire pit near the end or in the smallerhearths near the middle. (PI. 2, figs. 1, la, Cat. No. 210445, BritishGuiana, coll. by J. J. Quelch, received from the Field Museum ofM Smithsonian Report, vol. 2, p. 315, 1885." Sir Daniel Wilson. Prehistoric Man, vol. 2, p. 375.86374?28 4
26 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73Natural History, Chicago; drills 15-19 inches long (38-48.3 cm.);hearths 5.5-7 inches long (14-17.7 cm.)-)The Guanchos, a mixed tribe of herders on the pampas of Venezuela,practice a peculiar way of fire getting. They select a pliant rod,place one end against the breast and the other against the blockforming the hearth, held on a line with the breast. By pressingagainst the rod it is bent and turned rapidly around like an auger.This impracticable and no doubt very local method is described byProf. E. B. Tylor.22In Brazil, in the province of Goyaz, the Chavantes, Cayapos, andAngaytes, use the simple fire drill.^^ The Angaytes drill figured lookssomewhat like that of the Hopis. It is usually 28 cm. long for the hearth,and for the drill 20 cm. They use the throat skin of the nandu,Rhea americana, for a tinder sack. The Lenguas of the same Prov-ince use a strike-a-light consisting of a tinder horn, flint, and steel,which is also figured in the cited report. This set is very interesting,because from it we can say with certainty where the Lengua got it.The steel is the English "flourish" and the flint is the oval, old Eng-lish shape, probably broken somewhat by blows. The Lenguas,being on the line of travel, have adopted the method from Englishtraders. In Rio de Janeiro the Indians had an angular recess at theback of their snuff mills for the purpose of making fire by friction.^*The Ainos of Japan formerly used fire sticks, and are said even yetto resort to this method when they have no other means of gettingfire. They use also flint and steel, adopted from the Japanese. Aspecimen (22257) is in the Collections of the Museum.The Japanese formerly used the simple drill; a few are yet pre-served and used in the temples on special occasions. A specimen isexhibited in the Imperial Museum at Tokio. Several years ago Mr.Stewart Culin, after difficult negotiations through Mr. Tsuda of theTokio Museum, secured a specimen for the Smithsonian Institutionfrom Baron Menge of the Idzumo shrine. The specimen is like thatin the Imperial Tokio Museum from the Oyashiro Temple at Idzumo.It is a smooth, most accurately dressed plank 35.5 inches long (90.5cm.), 4.75 inches wide (12 cm.), and 1.2 inches thick (3 cm.), ofOhamaeocyparis obtusa wood. There are 42 fire pits on the two edges,generally 1 inch between centers. The holes are drilled deeply andseveral calibers of drill have been used. The drill is a stem of Deutziascabra with strong walls and large pith. In many of the holes a coreis produced as in the tubular drill. This fire drill was used in theHarvest Festival. The inscription in well written characters is, in
"Darwin. Narrative of the Voyage of the ?eojk. Vol. 3, p. 458. Cited in Early History of Mankind,p. 241.2SDr. Emil Hassler. In Jahrbuch Mittelschweiz. Commerciel. Gesellsch. Arau, 1888, vol. 2, pp.114-115." Harper's Monthly Magazine, vol. 7, p. 745. November, 1853.
ART. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 27part, "fire cuts wood Meiji 35 years November27," the probable date of thft Harvest Festival ofthanksgiving and production of new fire. (PI. 3,Figs. 1, 2.)In the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japanfor 1876 (vol. 2, p. 223) a sacred fire hearth is de-scribed as having a step as observed in some Eskimoforms. This feature has been taken to be a usagerequired by the environment of the high north. InJapan, however, it may refer to the collecting andsaving of the ground-off dust for healing or otheresoteric purposes.In reference to the use of the sacred fire drill, thefollowing data have been supplied by Romyn Hitch-cock :The fire drill is used at the festivals of the Oyashiro to pro-duce fire for use in cooking the food offered to the gods.Until the temple was examined officially in 1872 the headpriest used it for preparing his private meals at all times.Since then it has been used only at festivals and in the headpriest's house on the eve of festivals, when he purifies himselffor their celebration in the Imbidous, or room for preparingholy fire, where he makes the fire and prepares the food.The art of fire making by sticks of wood by themethod of rotation is, or has been, as far as we know,universal on the African Continent as it was in thetwo Americas at the time of the discovery. It ispresumable that the ancient Egyptians who had thebow drill used this implement and previous to itsinvention used the simple drill.The Somalis are a pastoral people of Arab extrac-tion, inhabiting a large maritime country south ofthe Gulf of Aden. Their fire sticks (fig. 17) arepieces of branches of brownish "wood of equal tex-ture, in fact the hearth has formerly been used as adrill, as may be seen by its regularly formed andcharred end. This is another proof that it is not nec-essary that the sticks should be of different degreesof hardness. The grain of the wood, that of thedrill being against and the hearth with the grain,in effect accomplishes what the use of wood of differ-ent qualities results in. The hearth and drill are inthe neighborhood of 12 inches long, the former witha diameter of three-eighths of an inch and the latterone-fourth of an inch. They were collected by Dr.Charles Pickering in 1843.It is possible that the Somalis may have car-ried this method with them from Arabia. They
Fig. 17.
?
Fikb-mak-iNG SET. Cat,No. 12 9 9 7 1,U.S.N.M. Somal-is, East Africa.Collected b tDr. CharlesPickering. LentBT Peabody Mu-seum THROUGHF. W. Putnam
28 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL > MUSEUM VOL. 73conquered this coast, driving back the earlier tribes inhabiting thecountry in the early part of the fifteenth century. Long since thattime, and even now, some Arab tribes practice the drilling of woodensticks to produce fire.In eastern equatorial Africa the Wataveita, says H. H. Johnston,generate fire in the common African way by rapidly drilling a hard-pointed stick into a small hole in a flat piece of wood. An interest-ing bit of custom comes out in connection with this art among thepeople. "It is the exclusive privilege of the men, and the secret ishanded down from father to son, and never under any conditions(as they say) revealed to women." I asked one man why thatwas. "Oh," he said, "if women knew how to make fire they wouldbecome our masters." ^^ The figure (fig. 18) shows how this peopleof the great Bantu stock make fire ; this tribe visited by Mr. John-ston lives on the slopes of the beautiful Kilimanjaro Mountain.
Fig. 18. -Tayeita Africans making fibe. After H. H. Johnston.(See Jodb. Soc. Abts, June 24, 1887)Fire-drill survivals in Asia are now difficult to find. In the ancientwritings of India there are many references to the use of the two-stickapparatus. The collection contains a specimen from the BhUis of theRajputana, India. It consists of a hearth made from half of a splitbranch, while the drill is a slender shoot wuth bark left on. The speci-men was collected by Captain Lovett, of the English Army. (PL 4,fig. 1,1a, Cat. No. 167334; Edward Lovett; hearth, 18 inches long(45.7 cm.); drill, 20.5 inches long (51 cm.).)There was presented to the United States National'Museum by theNatural History Museum of Oxford, England, through Henry Balfour,a replica of a Hindu sacred fire making set. This consists of a squared
? Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 15, p. 10, 1885.
.VHT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH ' 29block of wood 23^ inches thick, a drill in the cutting end of whichcan be set a cylindrical piece of superior wood or bitt and anotherpiece supplied when it is worn down, a supply of such pieces sawedin a block of wood, a nut to be held with two hands and having aninset of stone, and a cord for rotating the drill. These parts arenamed, respectively, " adhararani " ; the lower, " arani " ; "mantha,"the spindle drill; "sauku," set or bitt; and "uttararani," wood forthe bitt. In respect to remarks on the necessity of a slot for collect-ing the fire dust, it may be said that this drill is an exception, as it isfound that a drill spindle of unusual diameter obviates the necessityof a slot, the tendency of the movement on a large periphery beingto roll off masses of the dust which ignite at one or more places.(India, Cat. No. 150887, Natural History Museum, Oxford, England;length of spindle with bitt, 20 inches (51 cm.). (PI. 5, figs. 1-4).)The elaborateness of this fire-making set is an example of the tendencyto complexity in cult apparatus.The turned drill and hand rest, the nut of iron, the iron pin, andbands on the drill naturally mark this set as modern in construction.This sacred fire drill is a model of the apparatus used in BrahmanicIndia by the fire priest, " agnihotrin, " for the daily sacrifices of milkand butter according to the Vedic rituals. The apparatus is set upon an antelope skin.Dr. W. L. Abbott brought from the Jakuns of the Endau River,Johore, a fire-drill set which, on account of the inaccessibility ofthese natives and the little known of them till lately, may be con-sidered rare. The equipment as carried by the Jakuns consists of abundle of little rods of about the same diameter, any one of whichmay be used as a drill or hearth at choice. There is no separationof hearth and drill. This feature is noticed also among the SouthAmerican jungle tribes. It will be seen that in this case there is noneed for a slot, as the working of the drill upon a hearth of equalcaliber cuts a slot in the wall of the hearth automatically. (Cat. No.213441 ; Dr. W. L. Abbott; 12-20 inches long (31-54 cm.).) Anotherbundle of fire sticks, native name, "kooshuk," from the Jakuns ofthe Rumpin River, Pahang, consists of rude rods, but having thesame features mentioned in the Johore set except that the hearthpieces are slightly larger. (Cat. No. 219931; Dr. W. L. Abbott;hearth, 10 inches long (25 cm.); drill, 15 inches long (38 cm.).)The Malays of the islands of Nias, Pagi, and Simalur, East Indies,have the cord drill. Dr. W. L. Abbott procured several sets fromthese islands described as follows:The specimen from Sibabo Bay, Simalur Island, consists of asquare piece of light yellow wood with used fire cavity in the middle,and adjoining a place with channel down the side of the block for anew working of the drill. The latter is a short, cylindrical, tapering
30 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73piece of the same wood. The cord is twisted brown fiber. The topof the drill is smoothed off by wear against the nut, which was apiece of coconut shell. This set is small and compact for carryingon the person. (PI. 6, fig. 4, 4a, Cat. No. 216340; Dr. W. L. Abbott;5.5 inches long (14 cm.).)The apparatus from Pulo Sunalur is larger than the setdescribed above, and the drill is rotated with a strip of rattan. Thewood is yellow, quite firm, and not hard. The hearth is squared andthe drill is tapering as in the Pagi specimen. The native name ofthefiresetis "ludang." (PL 6, fig. 3, 3a, Cat. No. 221833; Dr.W. L. Abbott; hearth and drill 13 inches long (33 cm.).)A general similarity with the Pagi and Simalur fire sticks isobserved in the Nias specimens. It will be seen from the abovethat the fringe of islands off the south coast of Sumatra may becharacterized as an area in which the cord drill is used. The speci-mens brought by Doctor Abbott have been chopped out of light-yellow wood, often showing worm holes. The cord is twisted brownbark. (PI. 6, fig. 1, la, Cat. No. 221831, Lafau, Nias; Dr. W. L.Abbott; hearth, 15 inches long (38 cm.); drill, 11 inches (28 cm.).)The north Pagi specimen is cut from very light wood, the hearthis squared and grooves cut in the regular way, and the drill appearsto have been used in the hands. (PL 6, fig. 2, 2a. Cat. No. 221830;Dr. W. L. Abbott; drill, 10 inches (25.5 cm.); hearth 12 inches (30.5cm.).)Dr. Jesse R. Harris, United States Army, collected a fire hearthfrom the river district up the Rio Grande de Mindanao, P. I., pre-sumably of Mandayan origin. Doctor Harris says: "The fire drillworks with a bow and is a good one." The hearth is of soft worm-eaten wood and has three rather large cavities with slots. It is likethe Malay drills of Simahir, Pagi, and Nias, and much extends therange of the machine drills in these regions. The native name isCol-in-sung-an. (Cat. No. 247525; 12 inches long (30.5 cm.).)The Museum collection has a specimen from the Battaks of Pala-wan, P. I., which consists of a cleft stick held open at one end by asmall stone and deeply sawed where fire has been made. The thongis of rattan one-eighth inch in diameter formed by spiral turnsinto a ring which is worn as a bracelet by the Battaks when it is notneeded for fire making. (PL 9, fig. 2, Cat. No. 326012, collected byMrs. E. Y. Miller.)Mr. R. W. Felkin, -^ in a study of the Maidu or Moru negroes ofCentral Africa, 5? north latitude, 30? 20' east longitude, describes thefire making of that tribe. He says that one piece of wood about thesize and shape of a large pencil is rotated in a hole in a flat piece ofhard wood. One man holds the wood steady whilst two others take
29 Proc. Royal Soc. Edinburgh. Session of 1883-84, p. 309.
AKT. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 31
it in turn to rotate the stick. This article of Mr. Felkin's is com-mended to ethnologists as a model ethnologic study in method andresearch.That veteran and renowned explorer, Doctor Schweinfurth, givesthe following
:
The method of obtaining fire, practiced alike by the natives of the Nile landsand of the adjacent country in the Welle system, consists simply in rubbingtogether two hard sticks at right angles to one another till a spark is emitted.The hard twigs of the Anona senegalensis are usually selected for the purpose.Underneath them is placed either a stone or something upon which a little pileof embers has been laid; the friction of the upper piece of wood wears a hole inthe lower, and soon a spark is caught by the ashes and is fanned into a flamewith dry grass, which is swung to and fro to cause a draught, the whole proceed-ing being a marvel which might well nigh eclipse the magic of my lucifermatches."The Gaboon negro fire set is one of the few observed having nodust channel cut on the hearth. The wood, however, is light andapparently first class for fire making with least effort. It resemblesthe hibiscus wood used by the Hawaiians and other Polynesians, amost admirable material in which fire could be raised without thepresence of the usual slot. The hearth is a peeled stem 1 inch indiameter, with large cavity midway. The drills are smaller stemspared down at the end, as is usual. (PI. 7, Fig. 1, la, Cat. No.164671; Gaboon River, West Africa; A. C. Good; hearth 23 inches long(58.5 cm.), drills, 21.5 and 24.5 inches long (55 cm. and 62 cm.).)Dr. W. L. Abbott collected specimens from the Wa Chaga negroes.Mount Kilimanjaro, East Africa, years ago. The hearth is a smallworked-out block carefully shaped or rough, as shown in the figures.The hearth has a cord at one end for tying to the drill for con-venience in carrying. The drill is a straight, slender rod, with neatlycut hole at top for the hearth string. (PI. 7, fig. 4, Cat. No. 161824,Dr. W. L. Abbott; drill, 20.5 inches long (52 cm.); hearth, 5 incheslong (13 cm.).)The use of worm-eaten wood is shown in the Wa Chaga hearth(pi. 7, fig. 2) and is evidence that wood is often conditioned for firemaking by insects and fungi. Wa Chaga tinder is macerated bark.(Fig. 2h.) The drill is a peeled branch. (Fig. 2a, Cat. No. 151823.)Collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott in 1891.The Somali drill is a workmanlike tool consisting of two smoothedrods of equal length, the drill hole at one end of the rod of largerdiameter. It will be noticed that the cut of the drill opens the rodinto two V-shape cuts, insuring the perfect collection of dust. Theowner of the set pierced the two rods and drew through a slenderleather thong to bind them together when not in use. (PI. 7, Fig. 3
;
J' The Heart of Africa, vol. 1, pp. 531, 532. New York, 1874.
32 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73Cat. No. 167094, Somalis, East Africa; William Astor Chanler; 24)4inches long (61.5 cm.).)It is an anomaly that the African, to light the fire to smelt the ironout of which he forges his remarkable weapons, should use sticks ofwood.An Australian fire set from New South Wales, collected in 1890 byWilliam Villiers Brown, is an example of the careful manner with whichthe natives prepared and conserved their fire tools. The hearth is cutfrom soft, worm-eaten wood in a presumably human outline. Threesticks with vascular pith are tied to the hearth. The cut of such sticksleaves a core in the center of the drilled cavity. (PI. 4, fig. 2, Cat.No. 168116; hearth, 14)^ inches long, drills, 21 inches long.)2. Eslcimo four-part apparatus.?The arts of the Eskimo yield moresatisfactory results to students of comparative ethnology than thoseof any other people.In all their range the culture is uniform; one finds this fact forcedupon his observation who has examined the series of specimens in theNational Museum, where they are arranged in order by localities fromLabrador to southern Alaska. Prof. Otis T. Mason's paper on Eskimothrowing sticks ^^ gave a new interpretation to this fact and powerfullyforwarded the study of ethnology by showing the classificatory valueof the distribution of an art.Professor Mason points out that though the Eskimo culture is uni-form in general, in particular the arts show the modification wroughtby surroundings and isolation?tribal individuality, it may be called
?
and admit of the arrangement of this people into a number of groupsthat have been subjected to these influences.The Eskimo fire-making tools in the Museum admit of an ethno-graphic arrangement, but in this paper it is not found necessary tomake a close studj^ of this kind. From every locality whence theMuseum possesses a complete typical set it has been figured anddescribed.The Eskimo are not singular in using a four-part apparatus, but aresingular in the method of using it. The mouthpiece is the peculiarfeature that is found nowhere else.The drilling and fire-making set consists of four parts, as follows:The mouthpiece, sometimes a mere block of wood, ivory, or eventhe simple concave vertebra of a fish or the astragalus of a caribou.More often, they show great skill and care in their workmanship, beingcarved with truth to resemble bear, seals, whales, and walrus. Theseal is the most common subject. The upper part is almost alwaysworked out into a block, forming a grip for the teeth. The extent towhich some of these are chewed attests the power of the Eskimo jaw.
" Throwing sticks in the National Museum. Smithsonian Report, vol. 2, p. 279, 1884.
ART. 14 FmE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 33Frequently the piece is intended to be held in the hand, or in bothhands, hence it has no teeth grip. In the under part is set a piece ofstone, in which is hollowed out a cup-shaped cavity to hold the headof the drill . These stones seem to be selected as much for their appear-ance as for their antifriction qualities. They use beautifully mottledstone, marble, obsidian, and ringed concretions.The drill is always a short spindle, thicker than any other drill inthe world. It is frequently of the same kind of wood as the hearth.The thong is the usual accompaniment of the fire drill. It is raw-hide of seal or other animals. The handles have a primitive appear-ance; they are nearly always made of bears' teeth, hollow bones, orbits of wood. Sometimes handles are dispensed with. Warren K.Moorhead found some perforated teeth in an Ohio mound that in everyrespect resemble the Eskimo cord handles. They have also been foundin caves in Europe decorated with concentric circles like those on theEskimo specimens.The bows are among the most striking specimens from this people.They are pared down with great waste from the tusks of the walrus,taking the graceful curve of the tusk. The Museum possesses one24^/^ inches long. It is on their decoration that the Eskimo lavisheshis utmost art. The bow does not lend itself well to sculpture as doesthe mouthpiece, so he covers the smooth ivory with the most graphicand truthful engravings of scenes in the active hunting life in theArctic, or he tallies on it the pictures of the reindeer, whales, seals andother animals that he has killed.Professor Baird was interested more with these bows than with anyother Eskimo products, and desired to have them figured and studied.The distribution of the bow is remarkable. It is not found southof Norton Sound, but extends north and east as far as the Eskimorange. The Chukchis use it,^? but the Ostyaks use the ancient breastdrill.30The bow is used by individuals in boring holes. It is presumed thatits use as a fire-making tool is secondary, the cord and handles beingthe older. The difficulty of making fire is greatly increased when oneman attempts to make it with the compound drill; at the criticalmoment the dust will fail to ignite; besides, there is no need of oneman making fire; a thing that is for the common good will be sharedby all. Hence the cord with handles, which usually requires thattwo men should work at the drill, is as a rule used by the Eskimo.Though the Sioux, and some other North American tribes, madeuse of the bow to increase the speed of the drill, they did not use thethong with handles, nor was the bow common even in tribes of the
"Nordenskiold. Voyage of the T^ejfo, vol. 2, p. 121, London, 1881. '.i-ri) -^li i .1/1?"Seebohm. Siberia in Asia, p. 109.86374?28 5
34 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73Siouan stock that had attained to its use. (See remarks, p. 25.)The bow may be termed a more advanced invention, allowing one manwith ease to bore holes.The hearth is made of any suitable wood. It is commonly steppedand has slots. The central hole with groove is also found. Thesehearths are preserved carefully, and fire has been made on some ofthem many times.The distribution of the central-hole hearth (see fig. 19) and theslot-and-step hearth (see fig. 32) is rather striking. The central holesare found in the specimens observed from the north coast of Alaska,insular British America, and Greenland, exclusively. The steppedhearth with edge holes and slots is by far the more common in west-ern Alaska, though the other method crops out occasionally; bothways are sometimes used in the same tribe. More often the centralholes are bored on a groove (fig. 30), which collects the ground-offparticles and facilitates ignition. Rarely fire is made by working thedrill on a plane surface, in single, nonconnecting holes.The difference between these features is that it is found to be moredifficult to get fire by a single hole without groove or slot than whenthe latter features are added. The powder forms a ring around theedge of the hole, is liable to be dispersed, and does not get togetherin auflBcient amount to reach the requisite heat for ignition. Of coursethis is obviated when a second hole is bored connecting with the first,when the latter becomes a receptacle for the powder.It is found that these different ways are due to environmentalmodification, showing itself as remarkably in fire making as in anyother Eskimo art. Both the stepped and central-hole hearth are dif-ferent devices for the same end. The step on the hearth is to keepthe pellet of glowing powder from falling off into the snow, so universalin Eskimo land; hence, the simple hearth of primitive times andpeoples of warmer climates has received this addition. The samereason caused the Eskimo to bore the holes in the middle of theblock.By following the distribution of the center-hole method a clew mayperhaps be gotten to the migrations of the Eskimo.From Labrador to Norton Sound, by the collections in the Museum,the center hole is alone used; south of Norton Sound both methodsprevail, with a preponderance of the stepped-hearth species. Thestep seems to be an addition to the Indian hearth ; the center is anindependent invention.The operation of the drill is well told in the oft-quoted descriptionby Sir E. Belcher. The writer can attest to the additional statementthat the teeth of civilized man can scarcely stand the shock. Hesays:
AET. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 35The thong of the drill bow being passed twice around the drill, the upper endis steadied by a mouthpiece of wood, having a piece of the same stone embedded,with a countersunk cavity. This, held firmly between the teeth, directs the tool.Any workman would be astonished at the performance of this tool on ivory; buthaving once tried it myself, I found the jar or vibration on the jaws, head, andbrain quite enough to prevent my repeating it.''The ethnographical study of the Eskimo fire drill begins withLabrador, including Greenland and following the distribution of the
Figs. 19-21.?Fire-making set and extra hearth. Cat. No. 10258, TJ.S.N.M. Frobisher Bat.Collected by C. F. Hall. 20, Moss m a leathern case. Cat. No. 10191, U.S.N.M.Collected by C. F. Hallpeople among the islands and around the North American coast toKodiak Island and the Aleutian chain. The following is an interest-ing account from Labrador, showing what a man would do in theexigency
:
He cut a stout stick from a neighboring larch, and taking out the leather thongwith which his moccasins were tied, made a short bow and strung it. He then
?> Trans. Ethnol. Soc, p. 140, London, 1861.
36 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL. MUSEUM VOL. 73
searched for a piece of dry wood, and having found it, cut it into shape, sharp-ened both ends, and twisted it once around the bowstring; he then took a bit offungus from his pocket and put it into a little hole which he made in anotherdry piece of wood with the point of the knife. A third piece of dry wood wasfashioned into a handle for his driU.^^Eskimo in other localities often use such makeshifts. Cup cavitiesare often observed in the handles of knives and other bone and ivorytools where they have used them for heads of the fire drill.Cumberland Gulf is the next locality to the northward. There areseveral specimens in the collection from this part of Bafl&n Land,procured by the famous explorer, Capt. C. F. Hall, and the lessknown, but equally indefatigable Kumlein. The fire-making imple-ments from Cumberland Gulf have a markedly different appearancefrom those of any other locality in the Eskimo area. They have acrude look, and there is a paucity of ornamentation unusual amongthis people. The di'ill bow is one of the things which the Eskimousually decorates, but these bows have not even a scratch.
Fig. 2:; Buui.No SET. Cat. No. 34114, U.S.N.M.Gulf. Collected bx L. Kumlein CUMBBKLANDIt can be inferred that in Bafl&n Land more unfavorable condi-tions prevail than in southern Alaska. It must be this cause, cou-pled with poor food supply, that have conspired to make them themost wretched of the Eskimo.The hearth (fig. 19) is of drift oak. It was collected at FrobisherBay by Captain Hall. It has central holes, and appears to be veryunfavorable wood for fire making. A skin bag of moss (fig. 20) isfor starting the fire. The block hearth is also from Frobisher Bay.(Fig. 21.) It is an old piece of hemlock, with two central communi-cating holes. The mouthpiece is a block of ivory. Another mouth-piece is a bit of hardwood soaked in oil; it was used with a bonedrill having an iron point. A very small, rude bow goes with thisset. (Fig. 22.)
?? Hind. Labrador, vol. 1, p. 149.
ABT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 31Our knowledge of eastern Greenland has been very much increasedby the explorations of Holm and Garde, who reached a village onthe east coast never before visited by a white man. Extensive col-lections were made, both of information and specimens. In refer-ence to fire making, Mr. Holm reports :They make fire by turning a hard stick, of which the socket end is dipped intrain oil, very rapidly around by means of a sealskin thong with handles. Thisstick is fixed at one end into a head set with bone, and the other end is presseddown into a cavity on the lower piece of wood- (Fig. 23.) Therefore theremust be two persons in order to make a fire. One turns the drill with thecord while the other presses it down on the hearth ; both support the blockwith their feet. As soon as the dust begins to burn they fan it with the hand.When it is ignited they take it and put it into dried moss (sphagnum), blow it,and soon get a blaze. In this waythey make a fire in an incrediblyshort time. ''In the preliminary report,Mr. Holm gives the time atalmost less than half a min-ute. It was made by theEskimo, Illinguaki, and hiswife, who, on being presentedwith a box of matches, gaveup their drill, saying thatthey had no further use for it.In the same report Mr.Holm gives an interestingnote. He says:This fire apparatus is certainly better developed than that which has beendescribed and drawn by Nordenskiold from the Chukchis." The principle is thesame as the Greenlander's drill, which they employ for making holes in wood andbone, and which is furnished with a bow and mouthpiece.*' (Fig. 24.)The central holes of this hearth are worthy of note, occurring inthe farthest eastern locality of. the Eskimo, and in Labrador.
" Western Greenland.?The material in the Museum from western;Greenland is very scanty. The southern coast has been settled forso long a time that the Eskimo and many of their arts have almostbecome extinct. No view of fire making in Greenland would be com-plete without Davis's quaint description of it, made 300 years ago,but it was the upper end of the spindle that was wet in trane. AGreenlander "begaune to kindle a fire in this manner: He tooke aM Danish Umiak Expedition to Eastern Greenland, 1888, p. 28. PI. 14 contains the figure.. ' '
'* Voyage of the Vega, vol. 2, p. 126. '
'
?* Danish Umiak Expedition. Preliminary Report, p 208. This seems scarcely what would be inferredfrom the development of these inventions.
Fia. 23.?FiRE-MAKINQ SET. ANQMAQSALIKEastern Qeeenland. Copied from Q,ETHNQLOaiSE AF ANaMAGSALIKERNE, 1887 Eskimo,Holm's
38 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73piece of boord wherein was a hole half thorow ; into that hole he putsthe end of a round sticke like unto a bedstaffe, wetting the end thereofin Trane, and in a fashion of a turner with a piece of lether, by hisviolent motion doeth very speedily produce fire." ^*Eskimo graves and village sites yield evidence also that the fire-making tools were not different from those at present used highernorth along the coast and on the east coast.Doctor Bessels, speaking of Itah Eskimo of Foulke Fiord in SmithSound, says: ''The catkins of the Arctic willow are used as tinder tocatch the sparks produced by grinding two pieces of stone. Also thewidely diffused 'fire-drill' is found here; the spindle is held betweena piece of bone and a fragment of semi-decayed wood, and is set in
Fig. 24.?Boeing SET. (ANGMAGSALIK ESKIMO, EASTERN GREENLAND.Ethnologick of Angmagsalikerne) G. HOLM'8motion by the well-known bow, and is turned until the wood beginsto ignite.""The "fire bag" is an accompaniment to all sorts of fire-makingapparatus. The fire bag shown (fig. 25) was collected by CaptainHall, at Holsteinberg, western Greenland in 1860. It is made ofsealskin, and is a good specimen of the excellent needlework of theseEskimo. It was used to carry, more especially, the fire drill andtinder which require to be kept very dry.There is a wide gap in the collections of the Museum between thelocality of the specimen just mentioned and the fire hearth from theMackenzie River. (Fig. 26.) This specimen is from Fort Simpsonpresumably, where B. R. Ross collected. It is said to be difficult todiscriminate the Eskimo from the Indian on the lower Mackenzie.This hearth may be Indian, as it has that appearance; besides, no
?? Hakluyt Society, vol. 3, p. 104.*i Die amerikanlscbe Nordpol-Expedition, p. 358, Leipzig.
AKT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 39Eskimo hearth yet observed has side holes and slots like this with-out the step. The Indians of this region are of the great Athapascanstock of the North. The close resemblance of this stick to the onefrom the Washoans of Nevada has been commented upon. (See fig.6, p. 14.)There is a very fine old central-hole hearth from the Macken-zie River, collected also by Mr. Ross. It is a rough billet of branchwood, cut apparently with an ax, or hatchet. (Fig. 27.) It is semi-decayed and worm eaten. It has 10 central holes where fire has
Fig. 25.
?
Fieb bag. Cat. No. 10128, U.S.N.M. Eskimo of Holsteinberg, WESt Green-land. Collected by Capt. C. F. Hallbeen made; they are quite deep, forming a gutter in the middle ofthe hearth. There is, as can be seen, no need of a groove, as thedust falls over into the next hole, collects in a mass, and ignites.The Anderson River set is a very complete and interesting outfit.It was collected many years ago by C. P. Gaudet. The parts aresmall for convenience of carrying. It is the custom of those who livein snow-covered regions to wrap the drill and hearth together verycarefully to keep them dry, as these are the essential parts of theapparatus. It does not matter about the mouth-piece or bow. Inthis example there is a groove cut along the bottom of the hearth inorder to facilitate tying the drill and hearth securely together. The
40 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
!i il
im
Fig. 26.?L o w B Bpart of pibb-making set (onone end is gumfob cement).Cat. No. 1978,U.S.N.M. Mac-kenzie R I V E B,British Colum-bia. CollectedBx B. R. Ross
hearth' is a square block of soft wood with threecentral holes. (Fig. 28.)The other parts of this set are also worthy ofconsideration. The mouthpiece is set with a squarepiece of black stone. The part held in the mouthis very much chewed. One of the wings has a holefor tying, as has the hearth.This is an imusual Eskimo precaution to preventsmall objects from being lost in the snow. The drillis short, being only 7 inches long. The bow is thefibula of a deer, pierced at each end for the frayedthong of sealskin. It has a primitive look, but itadmirably serves its purpose.The Point Barrow set was collected by the mostsuccessful expedition under charge of Lieut. P. H.Ray, United States Army. Theknucklebone of a deer serves as amouthpiece, the cup cavity and itsgeneral shape fitting it for the pur-pose admirably.The drill is regularly made oflight pine wood; it is slightlysmaller in the middle . The hearthis a rudely rounded piece of pine.A fragment has been split off, andon this surface a groove has beencut and three fire holes boredalong it. The thong is withouthandles; it is used to tie the partstogether when they are not in use.A bunch of willow twigs, the downof which is used as tinder, is alsoshown. (Fig. 29.)This set is especially interesting,because it shows the degenerationof an art. The fire drill is so rarelyused at Point Barrow, John Mur-doch says, that it was not possibleto get a full set devoted to thatpurpose. Those here shown are amakeshift . The method only sur-vives by the conservatism of a fewold men of the tribe, who still clingto old usages. One of these madethe drill for Lieutenant Ray, tell-ing him that it was the kind used in
Fig. 27.
?
Lower partOF fire - MAKINGSET. Cat. No.19 6 3, U.S.N.M.Eskimo of Mac-kenzie River, Brit-ish C OLU m BI A.Collected by B.R. Ross
AET. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 41
old times. It seems primitive enough; the knucklebone might wellhave been the first mouthpiece. The Eskimo farther east sometimesuse a fish vertebra for the same purpose; one from the AndersonRiver has this. The cord without handles is undoubtedly the earliestform also.The small wooden and bonemouthpieces of the Eskimo eastof Point Barrow to CumberlandGulf seems to be copies of thedeer knucklebone. Another prim-itive adaptation is found in anAnderson River bow, which ismade of the fibula of a deer. (Seefig. 28.)The fire-making drill collect-ed from the Chukchis b}^ theVega expedition in the Cape Wan-kerem region, in northeasternSiberia, about the same latitudeas Point Barrow, is figured inNordenskiold's report.^^ It isworked by a bow, and the drillturns in a mouthpiece of a deerastragalus like the Point Barrowspecimen. The block has centralholes, with short grooves runninginto each one.Nordenskiold's description ofthe manner of making fires isvery detailed. He records thatthe "women appear to be moreaccustomed than the men to theuse of this implement."He gives also a most interest-ing observation on the use of aweighted pump drill among theChukchis. The Chukchis also useflint and steel. ^^The drilling set from Point Bar-row shows the appearance of theparts of the fire drill if we substitute the round stick for the flintdrill. Some of the old drill stocks are pointed, with finely chippedflint heads. The length of these points varies from 2 to 4 inches;
Fig. 28.
?
Fire-making set. Cat. No. 1327,U.S.N.M. Eskimo of Anderson River,British Columbia. Collected byC. P. Qaudet
" Voj'age of the Vega, London, 1881, vol. 2, pp. 121, 122.?' Idem, vol. 2, pp. 120, 121.
42 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
Fig. 29.?Firk-making set (with mouthpiece ofdeer's knucklebone, thong, and tinder of wil-low CATKIN). Cat. No. 89822, U.S.N.M. ESKIMOPoint Barrow, Alaska. Collected by P. H.Bay
the transverse section of onewould be a parabola. They arein general more finely wroughtthan any of the prehistoric drillsfound in various localities allover the world. Prehistoricman was an adept in the art ofdrilling stone, bone, and shell;the stone tubes, some of them18 inches long, bored very truly,are triumphs of the AmericanIndians. Without doubt theprehistoric drill points weremounted like the Eskimo spec-imen, and were, perhaps, twirledbetween the hands, the almostuniversal method of using thefire drill. Japanese carpentersdrill holes in this way.The winged mouthpiece isalso a good example of work-manship. It is set with a mot-tled, homogeneous stone that istolerably soft, which gives aminimum friction. This stoneis much affected by the tribesover quite an extent of coast forlabrets, etc. It is probably anarticle of trade as are flints.The bow is of walrus tusk, accu-rately made, but poorly engrav-ed in comparison with the life-like art work of the southernEskimo.Another drilling set is fromSledge Island. The Museumhas no fire-making specimenfrom this locality. The drillstock is set with a point of jade-ite lashed in with sinew cord.The bow is of walrus ivory; itis rounded on the belly and flaton the back. All Eskimo bowsof ivory have a like curve, nodoubt determined by the shape
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 43
of the walrus tusk. In another, the most common form of the bow,its section is nearly an isoceles triangle, one angle coming in the cen-ter of the belly of the bow.The head is intended to beheld in one or both hands;it agrees in form with therude St. Lawrence Islandheads.Dr. E. W. Nelson collectedat Unalakleet, in NortonSound, a fire drill, and thenative names of the parts.The name of the set is "66-j66-gutat"; the mouthpiece,
"na-gh66-tuk"; the drill,
" 66-j66-ga-tuk " ; the hearthof tinder wood, "athl-uk";the bow, " arshu-l6w-shuk-pish-ik-sin-uk."This is a complete set (fig.30) in first-rate order. Thehearth has central holes alonga deep median groove. Itsbottom is flat, and it isrounded off on the sides andends. All the parts are ofpine wood, decorated inplaces with red paint. Thedrill is quite long, muchlonger than in any Eskimoset observed. It resemblesmore the Indian drill forrubbing between the hands.The bow is of wood, whichalso is quite the exceptionin other Eskimo regions,where it is of ivory. Thereare many bows of antlerfrom Norton Sound in theMuseum, some of themskillfully and truthfully en-graved. The mouthpiece is plain; not very well made. It is setwith a square block of marble. It has the usual hole in one of thewings for the passage of a thong.
Fig. 30.?Fire-making set (hearth showing medianGROOVE). Cat. No. 33166, U.S.N.M. Eskimo of Nor-ton Sound, Alaska. Collected by E. W. Nelson
44 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL. MUSEUM VOL. 73
"j^^Wl
FIG. 31.?Lower piece of fire-makingSET (hearth). Cat. No. 39601,U.S.N.M. Eskimo OF Cape Vancou-ver, Alaska. Collected by E. W.Nelson
Cape Vancouver is represented by afine old hearth. This object has evidentlybeen prized by its owner; it has had tworows of fire holes (fig. 31), one row boredon the step in front of the first holes made
;
some of the holes are bored clear through.The reason why this was valued is becausethe wood is so tindery that it is easy tomake fire upon it.Chalitmute, in the Kuskokwim region,on the northern side of the bay of thatname, opposite Nunivak Island, is the nextlocality southward to be considered. Theparts of this set are exceptionally well fin-ished. The hearth (fig. 32) is stepped. Ithas four holes prepared for use ; on one, firehas been made. The drill is unusuallythick. The mouthpiece has no teeth grip,and there is no evidence that it was everheld in the mouth. It is intended to beheld in the hand. This mouthpiece is setwith an oval socket stone of black obsid-ian, ground down into facets and polished.The cord handles are fine, large teeth ofthe sea lion. The centers of the circles socharacteristic of Eskimo art are inlaidwith wood. The holes for the drill cordare narrow; they must have been dugthrough with a sharp, narrow instrument.As before remarked, this is the regionwhere the hand rest is more used than themouthpiece, and the bow is not used at all.The fire-making set from the TogiakRiver was collected in 1886 by Sergt. I.Applegate, of the United States SignalCorps, Kassianamute, from which villageit comes, is in the Bristol Bay region, butthis set has a different appearance fromthe former outfits. (Fig. 33.) The hearthis a block of wood worked out at one endinto a handle. It is remarkable in havingcentral holes not connecting, and with noconnecting grooves. In this it closelyresembles the block from east Greenland.(Fig 23.) This hearth is of soft, tinderywood, and doubtless when the holes be-came too deep to allow the powder to mass
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 45
Fia. 32.?FiBK-MAKiNO SET. CAT. No3. 36325 AND 37961. Eskimo of Chalitmute, KuskokwimBEGiON, Alaska. Collected by E. W. Nelson
46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM TOL. 73around the edge the upper part of hearth was scraped down. Themouthpiece is large and is in the form of a seal. It has only a shallow,crescentic teeth grip ; from the size of the mouthpiece, its shape, andthe absence of a block to fasten between the teeth it must have been
Fig. 33.- -Fire-making SET. Cat. No. 12750, U.S.N.M. Eskimo of KAS.siANAMrTE,ToGiAK region,Alaska. Collected by I. Applegatenearly always held in the hand of one of the operators. It is setwith a round pebble, mottled with green. The cord is a thong ofrawhide with handles of wood.The next locality is Koggiung, on the southern shore of BristolBay, near its head. Two sets are shown from this locality.From the hearths it will be seen that both fire slots on the side and
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 47
center holes are used here. These sets are called "nu-tshun."(Fig. 34.) The apparatus shown in Figure 34 has the stepped hearth.
Fig. 34.?Fire-making set (hearth with step and five slots). Cat. No. 127819a,U.S.N.M. KoGGiuNG, Bristol Bay, Alaska. Collected by W. J. FisherBoth drill and hearth apparently have been made for sale. The mouth-piece is a good one, set with a large socket piece of a black stone withgreen mottlings. This stone is tolerably soft. It is much used bythe Bristol Bay Eskimo for making labrets, etc. The teeth grip is
48 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73very shallow. The hearth (fig. 35) is of a very peculiar shape; onlyone other has been noticed like it. The wood is of the best kind,and fire has been made on it a number of times. In several placesthe holes have been bored clear through. The mouthpiece bears no
Fig. 35.
?
Fike-makinq set (hearth with centkal holes and endSTEP). Cat. No. 127819b, U.S.N.M. Koggiung, Bristol Bat,Alaska. Collected by W. J. Fisherevidence that it has been held between the teeth. It is highly prob-able that fire was made on these outfits more often by two persons,one holding the mouthpiece, or rest, and fanning the flame, the otherpulling the cord. This must be the method in Bristol Bay. Neither
ABT. 14 PIBE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 49the true mouthpiece nor any bow has been procured by the Museumfrom this interesting region, from whence there are copious collec-tions of ethnological objects. The cords without handles are worthyof notice.Another set from Bristol Bay is said by its collector, Charles McKay,to be used by both Eskimo and Indians. It is a very valuable outfitbecause of its completeness. (Fig. 36.) The hearth is a roundedpiece of wood wdth four large holes opening by slots onto the step.The drill is a thick, tolerably hard piece of close-grained wood likethe hearth. The mouthpiece has no regular block for the teeth grip,but has a crescentic gash on each side instead. It is set with a socketof a rock resembling marble. Nearly all the mouthpieces south ofNorton Sound are in the shape of seals or other long animals. Cordhandles are used attached to a thick thong of buckskin. Fungus isused for tinder and a blaze is started with cones of the larch. Theseare kept in the box, the lid of which is tied on with a thong.Kodiak, the lowest limit of the western Eskimo, is as far south asthe four-part fire drill extends by specimens in the Museum. (Fig.37.) The hearth is of cedar wood with three central holes with aconnecting groove. It is neatly finished. The drill is also of cedarand bears the marks of the use of a thong; the top has also been usedin the socket of a rest. The drill approaches in length those usedfor twirling between the hands by the Indians.While the Aleutians use flint and steel, or a stone containing quartzand pyrites, struck against another stone, they still make use of thefour-part drill at certain times. Hunting parties, says L. M. Turner,carry the drill to use when their matches run out. It takes two mento work it, one holding the hand rest and the other pulling the thong.The spindle is made of harder wood, so as to wear the light dust whichignites, from the hearth. A moment only is necessary to get fire;this is fed with tinder made of willow catkins and powdered charcoal.Sometimes, in order to get fire, they hold tinder at the mouth of agun and ignite it by firing off a light charge of loose powder.Possessed of four methods of getting fire, the Aleutian is superiorto more fortunately situated people who depend wholly on matches.Pump drill,?It appears probable that the pump drill is of Asiaticorigin as there are frequent occurrences of this implement in Asia.There is also a pretty uniform distribution of the pump drill acrossSiberia. Some western Eskimo and Indians use the pump drill forfire making, and it is possible that it was disseminated in NearcticCanada and the United States at an early period and surviving nowin only a few places, as among the Iroquois.
50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vot. 73The Iroquois are unique in the United States in making fire withthe pump drill. It is well known that several American tribesused the pump drill for drilling beads and for othor light, fine work
Fig. 36.?Fire-making set. Cat. No. 55938, U.S.N.M. Eskimo of Bristol Bat, Alaska.Collected by Charles McKayrequiring little friction and pressure. To render the pump drilleffective for fire making it was necessary to increase the size and add aheaver balance wheel. Even then the pump drill is a clumsy fire
AKT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 51producer and hardly a practical tool forthe purpose.How long the Iroquois have had thefire drill is conjectural, but observers asearly as 1724 do not mention its use,speaking only of the simple two-stickdrill.
II. FIRE MAKING BT SAWINGProf. Alfred Russell Wallace in hiswork entitled ''The Malay Archipelago,"(p. 332) has noted the method by sawingtwo pieces of bamboo; a sharp-edge piecelike a knife is rubbed across a convexpiece in which a notch is cut, nearlysevering the bamboo (fig. 38) ; after saw-ing across for awhile the bamboo ispierced, and the heated particles fall belowand ignite. The Ternate Malays and theTungaras of British North Borneo ^? haveimproved upon this by striking a piece ofchina with tinder held with it against theoutside of a piece of bamboo, the siliceouscoating of the latter yielding a spark likeflint. Both of the methods mentionedare in use at different points in the areaaffected by Malay influence.The Chittagong hill tribes, on the east-ern frontier of British India, use sand onthe sawing knife to increase the friction.*'The Karens of Burma, Dr. R. M. Lutherinforms the writer, hollow out a branch ofthe Dipterocarpus tree like the lower pieceof bamboo spoken of, cut a transversenotch, and saw across in it with a rubberof ironwood. The wood fibers ground oft'form the tinder; the coal is wrapped up ina drj" leaf and swung around the head tillit blazes. It takes only two or threeminutes to get a blaze this way.Bearing upon the origin of this methodof sawing in these localities, nature is
?? D. D. Daly.? Capt. T. H.cutta, 1869. Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, p. 10, 1888.Lewis. Hill tribes of Chittagong, p. 83. Cal-
FiG. 37.?Lower piece and spindlkOF FIRE-MAKING SET. CAT. NO.72514, U. S.N. M. Eskimo ofKoDiAK Island, Alaska. Col-lected BY W. J. Fisher
52 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
alleged to suggest the way and to repeat the process that wouldgive to fireless man the hint. Dr. W, T. Hornaday relates thatmany fires are started in the jungle by bamboo rubbing together ina high windstorm. The creaking is indiscribable; the noise of therasping and grinding of the horny stems is almostunendurable.
I In many tribes it is found that often there is more
I than one method of fire-making practiced. Fori instance, in Borneo, as we have seen, the Tungaras
I use the sawing method, the Saribus Dyaks the
II "besiapi," or fire syringe, a most interesting fact,^^i other Dyaks the rotary drill, *^ while the Rev. Dr.
I Taylor says that the Dyaks are acquainted with? the use of the bow and string and the upright stick
I and cord (pump drill) . In connection with all these
I methods probably flint and steel were used.
i So in Australia, while the rotary drill is the usual
i way, some tribes have acquired the art of produc-
i;i ing fire with knife or rubber?that is, the sawing
^ method presumably under foreign influence. *^
I The specimens of fire saws in the Museum comei from the Philippines, collected 25 years ago. Theyindicate that a node of bamboo from 13 to 15 inches
l< ...
I long was sectioned longitudinally for the lower piece
; and the saw made by splitting off a narrower piece
j and sharpening one or both edges. In the middle
I of the hollow of the lower piece fibers are torn up,forming a groove which reduces the thickness of
1 the wall of the bamboo, allowing the saw to cut
i through to the tinder affixed in the groove and
I held in place by loose fibers. The saw is workedacross the bow of the bamboo hearth at right anglesover the spot where the tinder had been previouslylocated. Sometimes this is reversed bj^ holding thesaw firmly edge up and rubbing the hearth on it.The use of the fire saw was quite general in the Phil-ippines among all the tribes, while the hand drill oror plow were not used so far is known in the entirearchipelago. The specimens shown are from Min-danao and Luzon. (PI. 8, figs., 1,1a, 2, 2a, Cat. No.216,716; Col. F. F. Hilder ; 13.5 inches long and 15 inches long (34.5cm. and 38 cm.).
Fig. 38.?Malay fireSTICKS. Cat. No. 129775,U.S.N.M. Models inBAMBOO MADE BY DOC-TOR Hough after a. R.Wallace's descrip-tion. The MalayArchipelago, p. 332.
" The American Anthropologist, vol. 1, No. 3, p. 294. Washington, 1888." J. Q. Wood. The Natural History of Man, vol. 2, p. 602." R. Brough Smyth. The Aborigines of Victoria, vol. 1, p. 393. London, 1878.
ART. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 53
III. FIRE MAKING BY PLOWINGOne of the most marked of fire-making methods in its distributionis that pursued by the Pacific Islanders, confined ahnost entirely tothe Polynesian cultural area. It has spread to other islands, however,being met with among the Negritos of New Britain:They rub a sharpened piece of hard stick against the inside of a piece of driedsplit bamboo. This has a natural dust that soon ignites. They use softwoodwhen no bamboo can be procured, but it talies longer toignite. The flame is fed with grass. ''^There is a close connection between the Malaysawing method and this, as there is a decidedMalay preponderance in the make-up of the pop-ulation of the islands.The fire sticks shown (fig. 39) were procured byHarold M. Sewall, at Samoa, and deposited in theMuseum by him.The wood is a light corky variety, characteristicof the Parite tiliaceum, which is used for this pur-pose at Tahiti and many other islands. The rub-ber may be of some hardwood, although fire maybe made by means of a rubber of the same kind ofwood as that of the hearth, though no doubt itrequires a longer time to make fire if this is done.In the Sandwich Islands, Franklin Hale Austin,secretary of the King at that period, says that therubber is of "koh" or "ohia"?that is, hard-wood?and the hearth of "koh," or softwood, andthe friction is always in softwoods; this is true, Ibelieve, everywhere this method is practiced, is inspite of the fact that a soft rubber on hardwoodwill asnwer as well.Lieut. William I. Moore, United States Navy,gave the writer a complete description of themanipulation of theSamoan fire-getting apparatus.The blunt-pointed stick is taken between theclasped hands, somewhat as one takes a pen, andprojected forward from the body along the grooveat the greatest frictional angle consistent with theforward motion which has been found to be from40? to 45?. Kneeling on the stick the man forces the rubber forward,slowly at first, with a range of perhaps 6 inches, till the wood beginsto be ground off and made to go into a little heap at the end of thegroove; then he gradually accelerates the speed and moves with ashorter range until, when he pushes the stick with great velocity, the
Fig. 39.?Fire-makingSTICKS (O showingGroove). Cat. No.13067 5, U.S.N.M.SoMOA. Deposited byHarold M. Sewall
?5W. Powell. Wanderings in a Wild Country, p. 206.
54 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 73brown dust ignites. This is allowed to glow and if it is required tobe transferred to dry leaves or chips of wood it is done by means ofa tinder made of frayed or worn tapa cloth.The groove (fig. 39a) is the most characteristic feature of thisapparatus, there being apparently no definite form of implements forthis purpose. Fire is made on any billet of dry wood that is avail-able. It is not necessary to cut a slot, or even a groove; the hard-wood rubber will form one, so that there is no more need of apparatusthan among the Navahos, where two bits of yucca stalk collectednear by form the fire tools.That making fire by this way is difficult to those inexperienced init is not strange. Mr. Darwin found it quite so, but at last suc-ceeded. The Samoan gets fire in 40 seconds, and so great is thefriction and the wood so Well adapted that Mr. Austin, before quoted,says it sometimes actually bursts into flame.The Australians in some parts use a method very much like theone described. They rub a knife of wood along *^ a groove made inanother stick previously filled with tinder.'*^Fire thong.?While there is no apparent connection between thefire drill and the fire saw, plow, and thong, there is an approximationin method of operation among the three latter?that is, the fire sawand thong are in close relationship, the plow is related but standsfarther away, while the drill is unrelated.Henry Balfour has most successfully monographed the fire thong.*^The method has been found in use in southeastern Asia and the Asiaticislands; in New Guinea; West Africa, and western Europe.At first sight it would seem necessary to limit the fire thong methodto the area of the distribution of the rattan, whose strong textureadmits of the hard usage required in making fire. This is generallythe case, as it is difficult in other parts of the world to supply thethong material. Some thongs of bark, however, or strips of flexiblebamboo, are used in areas where the rattan does not occur.Matthew W. Stirling, on his expedition to Central New Guinea inconjunction with the Dutch Government, found the fire thong in useamong the Pygmies and the fringing Pygmy-Papuan tribes. Curi-ously enough he found the method employed in sawing down trees.This is quite suggestive of a way by which the fire thong may havebeen discovered.The Battaks of the island of Palawan in the Philippines use thethong fire kindler. The thong of rattan is wound into a wristlet andworn till needed. The stick is cleft and held open by a bit of stone.M. W. Stirling brought from the hitherto unvisited Pygmies of New
? This Is perhaps across the groove.<' R. Brough Smyth. The Aborigines of Victoria, vol. 1, p. 394. London, 1878.
** Frictional fire making with a flexible sawing thong. Joum. Roy. Anthrop. Inst., vol. 44, January-June, 1914, pp. 32-64.
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 55Guinea specimens of the thong apparatus identical with the Palawanset described and showing an interesting connection-survival. (PI. 9,fig. 2, Cat. No. 326012; Mrs. E. Y. Miller; 11.5 in. (29.5 cm.).)
IV. PERCUSSION1. Flint and pyrites.?The art of fire making by striking two stonysubstances together was begun in the far past, having originated inexperiences connected with the working of stone. Since by strikingflint against flint no live spark can be gotten to start a fire, it is nec-essary to infer that by striking two pieces of pyrites together or sub-stituting for one piece a flint, a rather hot spark would be observedto follow the impact. The pyrites strike-a-light was found in use ina number of localities, which seems to indicate a survival of formerusage, while in other localities pyrites was used with flint, this arrange-ment being more workmanlike, obviating the breaking of the fragilepyrites. This ancestor of the flint and steel was in use in the Euro,pean neolithic age and remained current far into the iron age, beingused on guns after the invention of gunpowder.Presumably the neolithic equipment was a flint scraper, a lump ofiron pyrites, tinder, and a bag to contain them. Many of the scrapersof the sort believed to have been those used in fire making are foundin European neolithic deposits, but pyrites rarely, as it tends to decayrapidly. (Fig. 40a.)The workuig of the flint and pyrites in fire making was differentfrom that pursued with the flint and steel. The steel is struck onthe edge of the flint with a sharp scraping blow, while the neolithicscraper was chopped on the surface of the pyrites somewhat as ascraper is ordinarily used, shown in Figure 40. The pyrites lump,therefore, being scraped around the sides assumed a cylindrical form.(See fig. 42.)Dr. Thomas Wilson calls my attention to a discovery of a pyritesnodule by M. Gaillard, in a flint workshop on the island of Guiberonin Brittany. The piece bore traces of use. Doctor Wilson thinksthat the curved flakes of flint like the one figured, found so numerousl}^,were used with pyrites as strike-a-lights. The comparative rarity ofpyrites is, perhaps, because it is easily decomposed and disintegratesin unfavorable situations in a short time, so that the absence of pyritesdoes not militate against the theory that it was used. A subcylindricalnodule of pyrites 2^ inches long and bruised at one end was foundin the cave of Les Eyzies, in the Valley of V^z^re, Perigord, mentionedin Reliquae Aquitanicae (p. 248). This is supposed to have been astrike-a-light.Prof. W. B. Dawkins thinks that:In all probability the cave man obtained fire by the friction of one piece ofhard wood upon another, as is now the custom among many savage tribes. Some-times, however, as in the Trou de Chaleux, quoted by M. Dupont (Le Temps
56 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73Prehistorique en Belgique, second edition, p. 153), he may have obtained a lightby the friction of a bit of flint against a piece of iron pyrites, as is usual with theEskimos of the present day.*'Professor Dawkins also says that fire was obtained in the bronze ageby striking a flint flake against a piece of pyrites, sometimes foundtogether in the tumuli. He figures a strike-a-light from Seven Barrows,
Fig. 40.?a Strike-a-light. Seven Barrows, Berks Countt, England.From Dawkins Early Man in Britain, p. 358. (See Dr. JohnEvans Ancient Stone Implement, pp. 284, 288, for a similar figure);6 Strike-a-ught. Cat. No. 1861, U.S.N.M. Indians of Fort Simpson,Mackenzie River district, British Columbia. Collected bt B. R.RossLambourne, Berks, England, an outline of which is reproduced herefor comparison with the one from Fort Simpson, British Columbia.(Fig. 40a and h.) Pyrites has been found in a kitchen midden atVentnor, in connection with Roman pottery ^? Chambers's Encyclo-
?? Early Man in Britain, p. 210. London.
?? Idem, p. 258.
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 57paedia, article, "Pyrites,"?^ is authority for the statement that pyriteswas used in kindling powder in the pans of muskets before the gunflint was introduced.It is thus seen that this art has a high antiquity and that on itsancient areas its use comes down nearly to the present day, the flintand steel being its modern or allied form.In North America this art is distributed among the more northerlyranging Indian tribes and the Eskimo of some parts. Its use wasand is yet quite prevalent among the Indians of the Athapascan (for-merly Tinne) stock of the north. By specimens in the Museum andnotes of explorers it is found to range from north of Dixon's Soundto Labrador, the following localities being represented : Stikine River,Sitka, Aleutian Islands, Kotzebue Sound, Point Barrow, the MackenzieRiver district, at Fort Simpson, and probably Hershel Island, PellyBay, Melville Peninsula, Smith Sound, and Labrador. The Canadianand Algonquins strike two pieces of pyrites {pierres de mine) togetherover an eagle's thigh, dried with its down, and serving instead of tin-der.*^ From other sources we know that the extinct Beothucs ofNewfoundland did the same.^^As far as can be ascertained, the Eskimo and Indians both use themethod, so that it is not characteristic of either, as the four-part drillis of the Eskimo, as contrasted with the simple rotation sticks of theIndians. A description of a flint and pyrites outfit, as at presentused, will give a general idea of the status of the invention. In dif-ferent localities the manipulation differs somewhat, as will be notedfarther on.The strike-a-light (No. 128405) was collected by Capt. E. P. Heren-deen from natives who told him that it came from Cape Bathurst,hence he assigned the specimen to this locality on the evidence.John Murdoch has, with a great deal of probability, questioned thisand thinks that it came from Herschel Island with the rest of Mr.Herendeen's collections and did not come from as far east as CapeBathurst. While there is no improbability that this method is prac-ticed at Cape Bathurst, yet the specimen has the appearance of theMackenzie River strike-a-lights, hence it is deemed advisable to locatein the Mackenzie River district at Herschel Island.The essential parts of the apparatus are a piece of pyrites, a pieceof flint, and tinder. In the more northern parts of the Eskimo areatinder is made from the down from the stems and catkins of variousspecies of dwarf arctic willows. At present the natives often soakthe tinder in a strong solution of gunpowder and water to make itquick; an older way was to mix powdered charcoal with it. This
?' Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 7, p. 83." Lafitau. Moeurs des Sauvages Amerirjuains, p. 272. An earlier account is found in Le Jeune, Rela-tion de 1C34, p. 24. Quebec, 1858.
"Journ. Anthrop. Inst., GreatJBritain and Ireland, vol. 5, p. 225.
58 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73plan is like the charring of the linen rags used in the old-fashionedtinder boxes of 40 years ago. The Eskimo then puts the tinder intoa little round, flat pouch, with a flap in the middle. (Fig. 41, 1.)The pyrites (fig. 42, 3) looks like a short pestle, to much of whichappearance the repeated scraping has no doubt given rise. The up-per end is concave, while the lower end has the original smooth sur-face of the concretion. Pyrite is found at Point Barrow in sphericalmasses of various sizes up to several pounds in weight. These spheresare nearly always cracked in two and scraped on the plane surfacefor very obvious reasons. Thisgives the shape seen in FortSimpson and Long Barrowsspecimen. Mr. Murdoch saysthat the Eskimo think thatP3'rites comes down from abovein meteors. They^ call it " fire-stone. " A native related thatin old times they did not useflint, but two pieces of pyrites,and got "big fire. "The flint (fig. 42, 4) is an ob-long piece of chert, square atthe base and rounded at theforward end. It is more elab-orately made than the flakesso numerous in Europe, one ofwhich was found with the pieceof pyrites in the English Bar-rows. The Mackenzie Riverscraper is more like the curvedancient one. In most cases theflints used are not mounted ina handle; this specimen, however, is fixed in a handle made oftwo pieces of wood held together by a thong of seal skin. (Fig. 42,4a.)The bag (fig. 41, 2) is made of reindeer skin. The little bag thathangs from the larger has a double use ; it is a receptacle for reservetinder, but its chief use is for a toggle; being passed under the belt itprevents the loss of the outfit, which is said to be carried by thewomen.An oblong pad, stuffed with deer hair, is sewed to the mouth of thefirebag to protect the hand from sparks and blows of the flint.
Fig. 41.? 1. Tinder pocket. 2. Fire bag.(Part of strike-a-light set.) Cat. No. 128405,U.S.N.M. Mackenzie River District, BritishColumbia. Collected by E. P. Herendeen
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 59
J^a
To get a spark, the Eskimo places (fig. 43) the piece of pyrites onthe pad held in the left hand over the curved forefinger, the large enddown and the thumb set in the cup-shaped cavity in the top. Theflap of the tinder pocket is turned back and held on the forefingerunder the protecting pad. The flint is held in the right hand and bya scraping motion little pieces of pyrites at a dull red heat fall downinto the tinder. The pellet that glows is transferred to the pipe orfire, and the flap of the tinder ^^^^.-.^pocket is turned down, servingto keep the tinder dry and toextinguish it if necessary.^*There comes in here appro-priately a note of B. R. Rosson the burial customs of theKutchin Indians of the easternAthapascan stock. He says:They bury with the dead a flintfastened to a stick, a stone to strikeit on (pyrites) to make fire, and apiece of the fungus that grows onthe birch tree for tinder and sometouchwood also.^*There is no mention of thisprocess of firemaking by theolder writers of Greenland,Cranz and Egede, though theycarefully note and describe theplan by wood boring. Laterexplorers going higher north inwestern Greenland have foundit. Dr. Emil Bessels, writingabout the ItahEskimo of SmithSound, says
:
Fig. 42.-3. Pyrites. 4, 4a. Flint striker andHANDLE. (Part of strike-a-light set shown inFIG. 41.) Cat. No. 128405, U.S.N.M. MackenzieRiver District, British Columbia. CollectedBY E. P. HerendeenThe catkins of the Arctic willow are used as tinder to catch the sparks whichhave been produced through the grinding of two pieces of stone.^sDr. E. K. Kane gives a more complete account from nearly thesame locaHty, the Arctic Highlands of northwest Greenland. Hesays that the Eskimo of Anoatok struck fire from two stones, one aplain piece of angular miJky quartz, held in the right hand, the other
?? Extracted from an article by the author in Smithsonian Report, vol 2, 1888, pp. 181-184.
?? Smithsonian Report for 1866, p. 326.
?? Die amerikanische Nordpol-Expedition, p. 358. Leipzig, 1879.
60 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73apparently an oxide of iron [pyrites or iron ore ?]. They were strucktogether after the true tinder-box fashion, throwing a scanty supplyof sparks on a tinder composed of the silky down of the willow cat-kins {Salix lanata) which he held on a lump of dried moss.^^Very much farther west on Melville Peninsula Parry gives a com-plete and interesting description of the primitive way. This accountgives us a link between the western and eastern Eskimo. He writes
:
For the purpose of obtaining fire the Eskimo use two lumps of commonpyrites, from which sparks are struck into a little leathern case (see fig. 25, pi.LXXIV) containing moss well dried and rubbed between the hands. If this tinderdoes not readily catch, a small quantity ofthe white floss of the seed of the groundwillow is laid above the moss. As soonas a spark has caught it is gently blown tillthe fire has spread an inch around, whenthe pointed end of a piece of wick beingapplied, it soon bursts into a flame, thewhole process having occupied perhaps twoor three minutes.*^The Museum was in possession ofa specimen catalogued, "Moss bagand lumps of pyrites used by Innuitfor getting fire," collected by Capt.C. F. Hall at Pelly Bay, in latitude69?, longitude 90?, several degreeswest of Melville Peninsula.The only other record of the processunder consideration among the Es-kimo is found in the Aleutian Islands.There is absolutely no evidence hadby the writer that the Eskimo southof Kotzebue Sound (western Eskimo)use the pyrites and flint for making fire. The latest informationabout the Aleutian Islanders is given in a manuscript of the carefulexplorer, Lucien M. Turner. His observation will serve to explainthe description of striking a light by earlier travelers.They use the four part drill but they also use pyrites. A stone containingquartz and pyrites is struck against another similar one, or a beach pebble, intoa mass of sea-bird down sprinkled with powdered sulphur. This ignites and isquickly caught on finely shredded blades of grass or beaten stalks of wild par-snips. This method prevails to this day on the islands west of Unalashka.The people told Mr. Turner that this was the ancient way. Thereis a doubt in the writer's mind that Sauer's (Billing's Expedition,p. 59), and Campbell's (Voyage, p. 59,) observations, brought
" Arctic Explorations, vol. 1, p. 379.?? Second Voyage, p. 504. London, 1824.
Fig. 43.
?
Method osteike-a-light. cat.U.S.N.M. DrawingBurger USING THENo. 128405,BY W. H.
ART. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPAEATUS HOUGH 61together by Bancroft,^'' were accurate with regard to the stones used.All the other details are correct, but they say they took two pieces ofquartz, rubbed them with sulphur, and struck them together. It iswell known that pieces of quartz even when rubbed with sulphurwill not strike a spark of sufficient heat to cause ignition. Thepieces used must have been pyritiferous quartz as noticed by L. M.Turner.To summarize, the following facts arise out of the foregoing con-siderations of the flint and pyrites method:(1) It is very ancient, inferring from the few reliable finds ofpyrites and flint in juxtaposition.(2) Its distribution is among high northern tribes, both Eskimoand Indian.(3) As far as known, its range is limited to this area, only oneother instance coming to our notice, that of the Fuegians.2. Flint and steel.?The flint and pyrites method is the ancestor ofthe flint and steel. The latter method came in with the iron age.It is found in the early settlements of that period. A steel for strik-ing fire was found in the pile dwellings of the Ueberlingen See.^? TheArcheological Department of the Museum has a specimen of astrike-a-light of the early age of iron in Scandinavia. It is a flat,oval quartz stone with a groove around the edge; it is thought to befor holding a strap by which it could be held up and struck along theflat surface with the steel. It is scored on these surfaces. The spec-imen in the Smithsonian is from the national museum at Stockholm,In Egypt it is believed to have been used for a long period, thoughthere is no data at hand to support the conclusion.^^ In China ithas been in use for many centuries. Chinese history, however, goesback to the use of sticks of wood. The hriquet must have been car-ried nearly everywhere by early commerce from the ancient countriesaround the Mediterranean, as it was into new lands by later commerce.Many persons remember the tinder box that was taken from itswarm nook beside the fireplace whenever a light was wanted; thematches tipped with sulphur used to start a blaze from the glowingtinder are also familiar to the older generation. The tinder boxes inuse in this country were just like those in England from time imme-morial down to 50 years ago. (Fig. 44.) Edward Lovett, of Croydon,England, who has studied this matter thoroughly, calls attention tothe resemblance of the old English tinder flints to the neolithic scrap-ers. These scrapers, picked up at Brandon, can scarcely be discrim-inated from those made at the present time at that place, and there
?? Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. 1, p. 91.
?? Keller. Swiss Lake Dwellings, pi. 28, flg. 29.
?'Sir J. W.Dawson gives an interesting account of the strike-a-light flints used in Egypt in 1844, inModem Science in Bible Lands, p. 30
62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73
is a suspicion that the present tinder flint has come down directlyfrom neolithic times. The old English steel, or "flourish" (fig. 44)is the characteristic shape, and has been carried by English commerceinto many places. A picture of a strike-a-light used by the Lenguasof Brazil seen lately, shows the unmistakable old "flourish."J
Fig. 44.
?
English tindek box (with flint, "flourish," axd bundle of spunks).Cat. No. 75516, U.S.N.M. England. Cou-ected by Louis and MauriceFakmerThe tinder boxes had also a damper to extinguish the tinder ofburnt linen and to keep it dry. The lids were furnished often with acandle socket. This feature, says Mr. Lovett, has led to theirpreservation as candlesticks long after they were superseded bymatches.
Fig. 45.?Wheel tinder box. Cat. No. 130431, U.S.N.M.Hawley Broadalbin, N. Y. Presented by F. S.Many devices were invented in order to improve on the crude wayof holding the flint and steel in the hands to strike the spark into thetinder box. One of these was the wheel tinder box. (Fig. 45.) Thecompartment near the wheel held the tinder. The flint was placedin a socket on the sliding lid and the wheel was turned by unwinding
ART. 14 FIKE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 63
a string from off its axle with a sharp pull as in spinning a top. Theflint was pressed against the rapidly revolving wheel, and a shower ofsparks fell into the tinder. The tinder pistol, whose name suggestsits use, was another device.^^Other devices were intended to be carried in the pocket and wereprobably brought out by the introduction of tobacco and the need ofsmokers for a convenient light.The pocket strike-a-light is still used. The one shown (fig. 46) wasbought in 1888 by E. Lovett, at Boulogne-sur-Mer. They are stillused by the peasants and workpeople of France. An old specimen inthe Museum of this character is from Lima, Peru. The roll of tinder,or "match," is made of the felt lining of an ant's nest {Polyrachushispinosus) .Among many of our North American tribes the flint and steel super-seded the wooden drills as effectually as did the iron points the stonearrowheads.
Fig. 46,?Strike-A-LiGHT (briquet). (Cat. No. 129693, U.S.N.M. Boulogne-sur-Mer. France.Collected by Edward Lovett)Some of these tribes were ripe for the introduction of many moderncontrivances. Civilized methods of fire lighting appealed to them atonce. Among the Chukchis,Nordenskiold says, matches had the honorof being the first of the inventions of the civilized races that have beenrecognized as superior to their own.^^ It was so among our Indiantribes; the Mandan chief "Four Bears" lighted his pipe by means ofa flint and steel taken from his pouch when George Catlin visitedhim in 1832.?*The Otoes (Siouan stock) made use of the flint and steel shown inFigure 47. The flint is a chipped piece of gray chert, probably anancient implement picked up from the surface.The steel is a very neatly made oval, resembling those of the Alban-ian strike-a-lights,^^ or the Koordish pattern. (Fig. 52.) Here arisesone of the perplexities of modern intercourse; perhaps both of thesesteels were derived from the same commercial center.
" See figure in D. Bruce Peebles's address on Illumination, in Trans. Roy. Scottish Society of ArtsEdinburgh, vol. 12, pt. 1, p. 96." Voyage of the Vega, vol. 2, p. 122.?The George CatHn Indian Gallery. Smithsonian Report for 1885, vol. 2, p. 456??See figure in Journ. Anthrop. Inst., Great Britain, vol. 16, 1886, p. 67.
64 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 73The flint, steel, and tinder were always carried in a pouch, usually-suspended from a belt as in specimen No. 8481 from the Assiniboins(Siouan stock) of Dakota. This is a buckskin waist belt, beaded andfringed, ornamented with bells of tin. It supports a flapped pouchfor the flint, etc. The tinder used was fungus.The pouch of the Cheyennes (Algonquian stock) is compact, andneatly made of leather. (Fig. 48.) The equipment is complete andof a superior order. The bone cup is used to hold the tinder whilestriking a spark into it. It is the tinder horn of early days, a cow'shorn which was used to hold tinder before sheet-iron boxes came into
Fig. 47.?Flint and steel. Cat. No. 22431, U.S.N.M. OtoeIndians, Kansas and Nebraska. Collected by J. W. Qriest
use. The Lenguas of Brazil use a horn for the same purpose.^^ Inthe Aino set (fig. 54) can be seen this feature. The tinder with thisset is rotten wood. Nearly all Indians know the value of fungustinder.The Comanche Indian strike-a-light is a similar pouch to the onedescribed, but much poorer in equipment. (Fig. 49.) A broken rasp,a piece of chert, and a piece of spunk is enough for the purpose, and abag made from a saddle skirt to hold them completes the outfit.The flint and steel is still used nearly all over Mexico, DoctorPalmer informs me. There is at present a manufacture of gun andstrike-a-light flints at Brandon, England, whence they are shipped toSpain, Mexico, Italy, and other civilized countries. Doubtless this
?? See figure in Jahrbuch Mittelschweiz. Commercial. Qesellsch. Arau, vol. 2, 1888, pp. 114-U5.
ART. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS?HOUGH 65
flint from Guadalajara (fig. 50) came from Brandon. It is real cal-careous flint, such as does not exist in this country. The steel is the
"swallowtail" pattern. The tinder is of prepared fungus sold mlittle packets.
FIG. 48.-STRIKE-A-UGHT (FLINT, STEEL. TINDER HORN, SPUNK, AND ^^VCU) C^^'^O- 22104, U.S.N.M.Cheyenne Indians, Arkansas. Collected by Dr. J. H. BarryThe Koords of Bhotan, eastern Turkey, carry a pipe pouch con-taming besides flmt, steel, and tinder, a pipe pick and a pair of pin-cers, to transfer the lighted tinder to the pipe. (Fig. 52 ) The tinderis prepared from a fungus, probably a species of polyporus. ihe
66 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73
steel, shaped like an old-fashioned bell pull, is a very good form forholding in the hand.The Chinese strike-a-light is the customary appendage to the pipepouch. It is a very ingenious way for combining the steel with a
Fig. 49.?Strike-a-light. (Pouch foe holding flint and steel.) Cat. No. 6972,U.S.N.M. Comanche Indians, Texas. Collected By Edward Palmerpouch in which to keep the flint and tinder. (Fig. 51.) In Tibetthey are made very large and are finely decorated. One owned byMr. W. W. Rockhill has a curving steel between 5 and 6 inches long,finely carved. The pouch was trimmed with encrusted silver setwith jewels.
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 67The Ainos of Japan use flint and steel for striking a light, thismethod having supplanted the generation of fire by sticks (p. 26.)This outfit shown (fig. 54) is complete. The shoe-shaped steel
Fig. 50.?Flint and steel. Cat. No. 126576,U.S.N.M. Guadalajara, Indians, Mexico.Collected by Edward Palmer Fig. 51.?Strike-a-light. Cat. No. 130311,U.S.N.M. China. Gift of George O. Fryeb
-1
Fig. 52.?Smokers' pipe-lighting outfit showing flint, steel, pipe pick, andpincers). Cat. No. 130607, U.S.N.M. Koords of Bhotan, eastern Turkey.Collected by Rev. A. N. Andrus.is attached by a piece of sinew to the cork of a small wooden bottlecontaining the soft charcoal used as tinder. The flint is a smallpiece of ferruginous silex. With this set is a piece of stick which
68 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.73
Figs. 53-54.-53, Rush fire set pouch. 54, Strike-a-ught. Flint, steel, and tinder box. Cat.No 222.57, U.S.N.M. AiNOS OF Yezo, Japan. Collected by n. S. Lyman
AKT. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 69
retains fire for a long time. It is the root of the Ulmus campestris,or laevis, formerly used for the fire drill, but has come into a second-ary place since the introduction of the flint and steel.To strike a light the Aino takes out the cork with the steel attachedand stirs up the tinder with the sharp point. He then holds up theflint in his hand over the box and strikes a spark down into it. Hethen transfers the coal to his pipe, or material for fire, or fire stick,with the point of the steel. These articles are kept in a rush pouchof twined weaving. (Fig. 53.) A much ruder pouch of fishskin is inthe Museum.The Japanese tinder box has two compartments, one with a damperfor the tinder and the other larger one for the flint and steel. Thisbox is a familiar object in Japanese kitchens. The mounting of thesteel in wood is an improvement on holding it between the fingers.(Fig. 55.) No one, it seems, ever thought of so mounting thesteel in western countries. The matches are broad shavings tippedat both ends with sulphur, and are the Japanese rendering of the"spunks" used with our tinder box.Smokers in Japan carry a very small strike-a-light. (Fig. 56.)The cloth pouch with a long flap that can be rolled around several timesand tied contains the three essentials, flint, steel, and tinder, thelatter of burnt cotton.3. On bamboo?Under percussion is classed the bamboo and porce-lain strike-a-light first described by Sir Alfred Russell Wallace asused by the natives of Ternate, Malay Archipelago. Sir Alfredremarks that the Ternate people make great use of bamboo in theirdaily life and describes a particular method by which fire is struckfrom the flinty surface of the bamboo with a small piece of brokenchina, producing a spark which is caught on tinder. This apparatusvies with the fire piston as fire-making curiosities. Necessarily themethod is confined to the bamboo area strictly, but has never beenfound in the Western Hemisphere. The bamboo selected and fromwhich the specimens in the United States National Museum aremade has a rough surface layer feeling like fine sandpaper. Thiscoating is in the form of a flinty layer about one-half millimeterthick which is chipped away in small bits under the stroke of thechina. The material of the layer is probably a combination ofsilica with some organic substance rendering it capable of taking upthe force of the blow and converting it into heat sufiicient to ignitetinder. The specimens in the Museum consist of a joint of bambooor cane, a tinder box of bamboo with cap lid, and hooped withbraided rattan. A cord passes through holes at the bottom, throughholes in the cap, and forms a loop to pass around the bamboo joint.Some of the Battak tinder boxes are decorated with incised patterns.The Battak specimens usually have two tinder boxes.
70 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL MUSRUM VOL 7:?
Fig. 55.?Tinder box (showing mounted steel, flint, and bundle of shaving matches; boiONE-THiED natural SIZE). Cat. No. 127137, U.S.N.M. Japan. Gift of the JapaneseDepartment of Education, Tokio
ART. 14 FIRE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 71The specimens are as follows:Cat. No. 326011, a set from the Battaks of Palawan, collected byCapt. E. Y. Miller. The bamboo tube is 14 inches long (35.5 cm.),three-fourths inch deep (2 cm.); the boxes are 534 inches long (13.5cm. and 3.1 inches deep (5.25 cm.). (PI. 10, fig. 1.) One of the boxescontains tinder and a bit of flint. Cat. No. 326012, Battaks, Palawan,P. I. Mrs. F. G. Miller has a bamboo tube 17.6 inches long (44.5cm.), 1 inch deep (2.6 cm.). One tinder box is 5.5 inches long (14cm.) and 1.7 inches deep (4.5 cm.). The box contains tinder and apiece of flint. (PI. 10, fig. 4.)Cat. No. 232283, Malays ofBalabac, an island south ofPalawan, P. I.; collected byCapt. E. Y. Miller. CaptainMiller has two tinder boxesnot matched as to size. Thebamboo tube is 17.45 incheslong (44 cm.), 1.1 inches deep(2.5 cm.). The larger tinderbox is 7 inches long (18 cm.),2.4 inches deep (6 cm.). (PI.10, fig. 2.) The tinder isbrown and appears to be thescurf of a palm. The strikeris a gunflint. Two well-dec-orated tinder boxes broughtfrom Palawan by CaptainMiller are Figure 3, Plate 10,and measure 5.5 inches long(14 cm.), 2.4 inches deep (6cm.) ; 5.5 inches long (14 cm.),2 inches deep (5 cm.). Cat. No.326013.Plate 9, Figures 1, 3, showboxes open exposing tinder.Above Figure 3 is a pistol flint found in one of the boxes. Ordinarilya bit of broken dish is employed, since flint is not local in a vastPacific area.There is evidence that the bamboo strike-a-light had a considerablerange in Malaysia, and notices of it have come from Cochin China,southern Philippines, Ternate, and Waigiou, an island off the north-west point of New Guinea, all on a line running southeast fromCochin China.
Fig. 56.?Smokers' strike-a-ught. Cat. Nc. 128138,U.S.N.M. ToKio, Japan. Gift of the JapaneseDepartment of Education
72 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 73, art. 14
V. BY COMPRESSION OF AIRThe fire syringe, as it is called, consists of a piston and plunger.Generally the piston is a smooth circular canal drilled in hardwoodor horn. The plunger fits the cavity with exactness. In practice abit of tinder is placed in a slight cavity at the end of the plunger; thelatter is set in the orifice and driven down with a sharp blow. Quicklywithdrawing the plunger the tinder is found alight.The principle is that in being compressed to a smaller volume airgives up heat. In the case of the fire syringe this is enough to ignitetinder. This is a method which has been employed by many tribesof men in Malaysia, and it appears to be a native invention. Plate1 1 shows three specimens from various parts of the Philippines, Figures1, 3, and 4, Cat. No. 235261, Mindoro, Philippine Commission; 5 incheslong (12.5 cm.); Cat. No. 215659, Luzon, Dr. Charles E. Woodruff,United States Army, 33^ inches long (10.75 cm.); Cat. No. 216736,Luzon, Col. F. F. Hilder, 5 inches long (13 cm.). Figure 2 is of horn,Cat. No. 176007, Lower Siam, Dr. W. L. Abbott, 3.5 inches long (9cm.). Figure 5 is of hard palm. Cat. No. 175270, Java, M. F.Savage, 83^ inches long (21 cm.).VI. TINDEBIt is no doubt true that acquaintance with tinderlike substanceswas forced on man by the behavior of the camp fire in consuming atdifferent rates such material. Tinder is also implied in preparingand arranging the fuel for starting a new fire.From these considerations it seems probable that this featureinvolved in the invention of the fire drill had been prepared in a meas-ure long previously.The collection of tinder in the Museum is almost exclusively ofvegetal substances, but in many cases these have been improved bythe addition of charcoal, gunpowder, and niter. Animal substancesare necessarily rare and so far as observed consist of the down ofbirds and the nest lining spun by an ant {PolyracMs hispinosus), thelatter from South America. Vegetal substances used as tinder areclassified as follows: (a) Bark, especially the outside spent layers oftrees with stringy bark in the first stages of decay; (b) scrapings ofinflammable wood; (c) scurf down from leaves and about the flower-ing areas of certains plants; (d) downy catkins or down from seedheads out of bloom ; (e) dry leaves rubbed fine or grass treated in thesame manner; (/) rotten wood also used for retaining fire; (g) fungi,either natural as in the sheet fungi or worked into condition for useas by boiling in solution of potassium nitrate or saltpeter; (h) imper-fectly charred cotton or linen cloth or thick, soft cords impregnatedwith a chemical. The Chinese use soft paper prepared in a similarmanner. The Japanese so far as known are unique in using mixedtinder composed of several of the substances mentioned above.o
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. 14 PL. 1
Southern Tlinkit DrillFor description of plate see page I I
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. 14 PL. 2
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British Guiana, West Indian, and Mexican DrillsFor description of plate see pages 21. 22. and 25
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. 14 PL. 3
Japanese Sacred Fire Drill, Full View and SectionFor description of plate see page 27
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. U PL. 4
BHILS, INDIA, AND AUSTRALIAN DRILLSFor description of plate see page 28 and 32
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. H PL. 5
Hindu Sacred Fire Drill (Replica)For description of plate see page 29
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. 14 PL. 6
East Indian Fire DrillsFor description of plate see page 30
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 78, ART. U PL. 7
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AFRICAN Fire DrillsFor description of plate see page 31
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. 14 PL.
Bamboo Fire Saw, PhilippinesFor description of plate see page 52
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. 14 PL. 9
Bamboo Strike-a-lights and Battak (Negrito) Fire ThongFor description of plate see pages 30. 65. 71
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 73, ART. 14 PL. 10
Bamboo Strike-a-lights, MalaysiaFor description of plate see page 71
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM PROCEEDING, VOL. 73 ART. U PL. 11
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