54 BULLETIN 139, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



digging furze roots for fuel in the barren mountains, " and the people 

 along the Mexican border digging mesquite roots, which biu-n very 

 well and make a hot fire. In deforested areas, as in Cliina, the people 

 are forced to use every available material, and grass, bound or twisted 

 up into compact masses for more economic firing, is found to be the 

 most abundant and best substitute for wood. Along the Columbia 

 River the Skilloot fuel was straw, southern wood, and small willows. ^^ 

 The Eskimo at Igloolik, where there is no driftwood, used the dwarf 

 willow as fuel." Driftwood of rivers or seashores is a source of fuel. 

 Wood carried into high latitudes by ocean currents and deposited on 

 the shores of Alaska is of great importance in the arts and industries 

 of the Eskimo. During the gold rush the deposits of driftwood were 

 exhausted hj miners and the Eskimo seriously inconvenienced. 



When the Tinne from the MacKenzie River make excursions into 

 Barren Grounds they carry firewood enough to last for the trip. 

 Some of this wood is taken in the form of tent poles, which are used 

 for their normal purpose until the Indians begin the return journey, 

 when the poles supply fuel. The Eskimo will not take advantage of 

 a fire for drying or warming when they have opportunity. ^^ 



It has happened often in many parts of the world that towns lo- 

 cated with regard to accessible wood fuel supply have been forced 

 to remove to another location when the wood was exhausted within 

 cariying distance. Parkman says that villages of the Hurons moved 

 w^hen the ground was exhausted for corn, and firewood distant.-^ A 

 similar state of affairs is noticed among the ancient Pueblos in the 

 Southwest. Modern Pueblos have extended the range of fuel col- 

 lecting, due to the possession of burden animals. Among a number 

 of the American Indian tribes women were the wood gatherers, and 

 among the Pueblos it was a man's work. Choctaw women perhaps 

 still carry baskets of "lightwood" split, resinous, interior wood of 

 the pine tree, into New Orleans for sale. 



Charcoal. — As a by-product of fire, charcoal is always in evidence 

 and its value would be quickly apprehended (p. 22). When charcoal 

 began to be manufactured for a definite purpose is conjectural, but 

 this industry can be safely assigned to the Bronze Age, where its 

 connection with metallurgy is evident. Its use, however, coincides 

 with the employment of the early portable braziers of uncertain 

 date. 



Dr. W. Matthews states, regarding the Navaho, that "their man- 

 ner of preparing charcoal is much more expeditious than that usually 

 employed by our charcoal burners, but more wasteful. * * * 



25 Isabella Bird Bishop. Among the Thibetans, p. 137. 



S5 Lewis and Clark Expedition, New York, 1893, vol. 3, p. 957. 



" Parry. Second Voyage, 1824, p. 453. 



"From E. A. Preble. 



w Francis Parkman. Jesuits in North America, 1867, p. xxx. 



