CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. (57 



fisliery, the menhaden, the mackerel, &c. The report on the •wlcJc- 

 fishery will include a list of all the vessels, as far as practicable, tiiat 

 have ever been fitted out from the several whaling ports of the United 

 States, to,';ether with the yield of oil, bone, and s|)crm for each year, 

 and their respective prices. 



Tlie menhaden report will contain similar data I'or that fish, together 

 with an exhaustive account of the yield in 1874 and 1875. Steps liave 

 also been taken to obtain a list of all the vessels used in these fisheries, 

 arranged as to their tonnage, names of owners, captains, and the nature 

 of the service perfornu'd by them. 



Y. 



The fiftli division of the exhibition of the National IMuseum is 

 intended to illustrate the past and present condition of the native tribes 

 of tlie United States, or its anthropology, and in view of the very great 

 interest in subjects of this character, it was determined to make a 

 special effort to render the display exhaustive and complete. As, how- 

 ever, the Indian Bureau of the Interior Department contemplated a 

 somewhat similar exhibition, it was thought best to unite the two, and 

 to conduct the efforts of each upon a systematic plan, and so as to avoid 

 duplication. This was specially proper, as any collections made by the 

 Indian Bureau would, under the law of Congress, be turned over to the 

 Smithsonian Institution for safe-keeping, as soon as their temporary 

 functions had been fuKilled. 



For the better presentation of the subject to collectors and corre- 

 spondents. Prof. O. T. Mason, of Columbian University, was requested 

 by you to draw up a systematic schedule of the various articles of 

 clothing, ornaments, household utensils, implements of agriculture, 

 weapons of war and the chase, tools of trade, the apparatus used for 

 the ])ursuit and capture of game, &c., and a pamphlet was accordingly 

 prepared by this gentleman, embracing over six hundred subjects. 

 Copies of this pamphlet were then sent by the Indian Bureau to all its 

 agents, and by the Smithsonian Institution to its correspondents, with 

 the request that they would indicate by a mark on the list the articles 

 that could be obtained, and return them to Washington. This was done 

 to a considerable extent, and authotity was given in many cases to 

 proceed in making the collection. SeveraU gentlemen of much experi- 

 ence in ethnological researches were also emi)loyed by the Bureau to 

 secure complete collections from the tribes within their reach. Among 

 those appointed for this purpose were Mr. James G. Swan, for the 

 Alaska and Paget Sound tribes; Maj. J. W. Powell, for those of ll^tah 

 and Wyoming; and Mr. Stephen Powers, for those of Nevada and Cali- 

 fornia, all of whom have been diligently occupied in carrying out their 

 instructions. 



Pcsearches in the department of archaeology proper, or the ancient 

 implements of stone, metal, and earthenware, were also prosecuted on 



