40 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



distributed, is most abundant in the shallows of our chain of Great 

 Lakes. In some places many thousand acres are occupied by it, and 

 it resembles fields of grain. The stalk is often seven or eight feet in 

 height, projecting four or five feet above the water. In the autumn, 

 when the seeds are ripe, such localities are now thronged with water- 

 fowl, which are very fond of it. In early days, while the Indians were 

 numerous about the Great Lakes, the wild-rice harvest was an important 

 epoch in their year. As usual, the labor of collecting the seed fell to 

 the lot of the women. These, pushing their canoes into the thickest 

 growth, bent the heavily-laden tassels down and beat off the seeds 

 with sticks. In this way their boats were soon loaded, and the grain 

 became their most important resource during the long winter that fol- 

 lowed. The shores of the west end of Lake Erie are still occupied by 

 the wild rice, just as in ancient times, for it gi'ows where man can 

 neither cultivate the soil nor navigate the water. Here, where it was 

 gathered in greater quantities than anywhere else by the Indians, it 

 still feeds great flocks of water-fowl, but not a human being. The 

 grain is small, with great difficulty separated from its envelopes — is, 

 in fact, a poor kind of oat, which was superseded by the wheat of 

 the white man in the estimation of the Indian long before he took his 

 departure to the happy hunting-grounds. 



Mescal. The different species of Agave have played a most impor- 

 tant part in the economy of the native population of Northern Mexico 

 and our Southwestern Territories. From them they have obtained 

 food which, though not to our taste, is in their estimation a luxury. 

 They have also distilled from them intoxicating liquors which, for the 

 time being, have made them happier than the food they ate, and from 

 some of the species they have obtained fibei's of great strength, of 

 which they have made varied use. At least two species {A. Parryi 

 and A. Palmeri) are known by the popular name mescal among the 

 Indians and Mexicans. Of these the central bud from which the 

 flower-stalk springs is, at certain seasons, charged with a sweet, gummy 

 substance which is prepared beforehand to supply the rapid drain of 

 material in the growth of the flower-scape, flowers, and fruit. When 

 cut out at this time it looks somewhat like a small cabbage ; this is 

 roasted in the ashes, and is considered by some of the Indian tribes a 

 great delicacy. It is very sweet, but is a mass of fibers, and I can 

 only compare it to oakum dipped in molasses. Probably its sweetness 

 commends it to those who get very little sugar in other forms. Some- 

 times this central bud when roasted is distilled, and furnishes a fiery 

 kind of whisky, which is also known as mescal. 



The maguey, or century-plant {Agave Americana), throughout 

 Northern ^Mexico sujiplies both fermented and distilled liquors. It is 

 sometimes cultivated for this purpose, but over large districts is so 

 common as to be the most striking feature in the vegetation, and the 

 demand is fully supplied from this spontaneous growth. The Indian 



