244 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



his mother, that the old man, however, was not his father. In general 

 he speaks of them with reluctance. His reasons for this are not at all 

 mysterious. These people are dead, and to the Indian that is ample 

 cause for avoiding all mention of them. In the first place, if, in the 

 world of spirits, they hear their names being mentioned, they may take 

 it (horror of horrors !) for a summons. Hence to taboo their names or 

 any conversation about them is mere commonplace caution. Moreover, 

 to speak of them and their life makes the survivor sad. At worst, to 

 mention the dead is dreadful ; at best, it is a serious disrespect. For all 

 of these reasons our surviving tribesman avoids talking of his own per- 

 sonal history. It is all mixed up with that of these other, deceased 

 persons. It is impossible to discuss recent events without bringing in 

 their names, so he usually prefers to talk of other things. He is always 

 ready to talk at length about the general mode of life of his people — 

 anything in fact that does not have personal details in it. He is anxious 

 and enthusiastic in explaining his religious and mythical ideas. As a 

 general thing, the more ancient the lore, the more volubly he discourses. 

 We expect some day to insinuate ourselves behind his reserve, and learn 

 the real history of his movements during the last three or four years 

 before his " capture." His particular secretiveness in certain matters 

 may be illustrated by the fact that he has never told us his own name. 

 We address him usually in his own tongue as " Ishi," which means 

 simply "man." His actual personal name is still unknown, and pos- 

 sibly always will be. 



Two pictures are reproduced which were taken on the visit that he 

 made in our company to his old haunts on Deer Creek. He was in 

 familiar surroundings, thoroughly at home, told us details concerning 

 the mode of life and enlarged in many directions on hunting and other 

 tribal pursuits. Thus he named for us several hundred species of 

 plants, and described in detail the uses to which his people put them. 

 He is a very remarkable man, aside from his extraordinary personal 

 history, and after all his hard life, very communicative and lovable. 

 He is quite possibly, of all the Indians of North America to-day, the 

 one who has most nearly the primitive viewpoint. His impressions of 

 our civilization when we finally understand them will probably bring 

 out many curious and interesting points. He will be able, moreover, 

 to give us, from the primitive standpoint, information about a little- 

 known chapter of history. 



From time to time reports come in of evidence pointing to Indians 

 who are still hiding away in the mountains east of the Sacramento. It 

 is very hard in many cases to say just what the basis of these reports is. 

 It is not absolutely impossible that there are one or more members of 

 the Yahi group still wandering about in the wilderness. Let us hope 

 that if there are any others of this group still alive we may ultimately 

 succeed in bringing all of them together. 



