FIBE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTUEE 3 



parts of the world among uncivilized peoples. One of the most 

 suggestive is practiced by the Andamans, who are regarded as 

 belonging to the lower races. In the Andaman Islands they hollow 

 out a large trunk of a tree, then set it on fire and leave the wood to 

 consume Uttla by little. The ashes accumulate and the fire remains 

 there covered up.* 



The Cherokees buried fire in the ground and kept it for indefinite 

 periods. They secured a tindery log and buried it in the mounds 

 under the council house. ^ The fire cache was also found among the 

 Natchez and Creek Tribes, and was probably general among the 

 eastern and southern Indians. 



Primitive methods were also adopted in carrying about small por- 

 tions of fire, the principal being the slow combustion of wood or fiber. 

 The natives of Matabut Islands, New Guinea, press a quantity of the 

 soft fibrous husk of the ripe coconut into a coconut shell and then 

 place a red-hot ember in the center. This will smoulder for three or 

 four days, and from it the natives obtain light for their cooking fires 

 at any place they may land on their voyage. " 



The Osage Indians carried fire in fungus tinder from the inside of 

 a hollow tree inclosed in earth and placed between the two valves of 

 a mussel shell. The shell was wrapped up carefully and bound with 

 cord. In this way fire could be kept for several days. ^ 



A modern instance was communicated by F. S. Dellenbaugh, of 

 New York, who stated that the fishermen of Concarneau, off Cape 

 Finisterre, carried in their fishing boats a fire horn. This consists of 

 a cow's horn having a stopper in the open end. When the fisherman 

 desires a light he removes the stopper, blows for a moment in the horn, 

 when a blaze appears, from which he lights his pipe. He stops the 

 horn again and throws it under the bow of the boat, where it remains 

 until again needed. Mr. Dellenbaugh did not ascertain what sub- 

 stance retained the fire in the horn, but it is supposed to be decayed 

 wood or material of a fungus. The fire horn is an interesting example 

 of the methods of fire preservation in the period before matches, or 

 possibly even before flint and steel were devised. 



The Tehuelche of Patagonia carried fire on the march in earthen- 

 ware pots having holes in the bottom.* This method seems to indi- 

 cate a crude idea of ventilation of the fire, which will be noticed in 

 the section on stoves. 



Another widespread method is observed in the slow match. Among 

 the Pueblos, ancient and modern, cedar bark tied in bundles was 



* Monat's Adventures and Researches, London, 1863. 



'Information by James Mooney. 



« Wilfred Powell. Wanderings in a Wild Country, London, 1883, p. 196. 



' Information by Francis La Fle.'che, June 9, 1921. See also 27th Ann. Rep., Bur. Amer. Ethnol., p. 457. 



8 John B. Hatcher. The Indians of Patagonia, Nat. Oeog. Mag., vol. 12, 1891, No. 1. 



