200 BULLETIN 139^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Strabo remarks that torches, pitch, resin, and wax, among other 

 things, were supphed by the mountaineers of the Alps to the plains 

 peoples." Strabo also quotes Pindar, in his Dithyramb us: "For 

 thee, O Mother, the large circles of the cymbals, and the ringing cro- 

 tala; for thee blaze the torches of the yellow pine." *^ Pindar referred 

 in this quotation to the Curetes or Rhea (or origin) rites of ancient 

 Greece, in which primitiveness was studied. The actors dressed in 

 archaic style, and among other games races were run by men bear- 

 ing torches, and the musical instruments were of the most ancient 

 kind. 



The torch was used in many ancient feasts and ceremonies, not as 

 a form of illumination, but as a symbol. The torch is a well-defined 

 symbol current to this day. It is conceived as not only a bearer of 

 light but as a carrier of fire of destruction, thus connoting the fire- 

 brand and light producer. 



NORTH AMERICA 



In North America the torch takes on environmental phrases, as in 

 other parts of the world. It will also be found to vary from quite 

 simple to elaborated forms in accordance with the culture status of 

 the tribes. 



The Eskimo are said to have used a variant of the torch, consisting 

 of a bone dipped in fat. The Eskimo of Jakobshavn, Greenland, used 

 a similar torch described as a bit of wood charred at one end where 

 it has been dipped in oil and burnt for temporary light. (Specimen 

 in the U. S. National Museum, collected by P. Sorensen.) Along the 

 northwest coast of America north of the Columbia River immense 

 shoals of the eulachon or candlefish occur, running up the river to 

 spawn as the salmon. The eulachon is a deep-sea salmonoid fish, 

 ThaleicMJiys 'pacijicus, resembling the smelt and so fat that it makes 

 an excellent torch, and is so used by many tribes in British Columbia 

 and Alaska. It burns well without a wick, but some tribes insert a 

 wick of bark. The candlefish is also an important food resource 

 of the Indians. 



"I have never seen any fish half as fat and as good for Arctic 

 winter food as these little candlefish. It is next to impossible to boil 

 or fry them, for they melt completely into oil. Some idea of their 

 marvellous fatness may be gleaned from the fact that the natives use 

 them as lamps for lighting their lodges. The fish, when dried, has a 

 piece of rush pith or a strip from the inner bark of the cypress tree 

 ( TTiuga gigantea) drawn through it, a long, round needle made of hard- 

 wood being used for the purpose; it is then lighted and burns steadily 

 until consumed. I have read comfortably by its light ; the candlestick, 



*« Book 4, ch. 4, p. 9. « Strabo Causab. 468. Book 93, 613. 185. 



