ETHNOLOGY. 11 



liardly necessary to say that collections of such plants and their seeds 

 should be made for cultivation and experiment at home. 



Literature. — Have they any thing- partaking- of the nature of a lit- 

 erature among them ; that is, have they any songs, tales, fables, and 

 especially any historical legends? If they have, an endeavor should 

 be made to record and preserve them ; not so much for the informa- 

 tion they may directly convey, as for the insight they must necessarily 

 afford into the mental idiosyncrasy of the people. If thei'e is any one 

 capable of writing the language, it is much to be wished that these 

 things should be set down in the original words, as well as an Englisli 

 translation. 



If the Indians, like many tribes in the older States, use pictorial im- 

 ages for the purpose of recalling to memory the themes and general 

 tenor of their songs, &c., specimens should be collected and delineated, 

 and accompanied by copies of the documents they are intended' to il- 

 lustrate. 



Calendar and Astronomy. — What divisions of time are in use among 

 the Indians? How many days do they reckon to a month, and how 

 many rnonths to the year? What names are given to these days, and 

 to the months ; and what are the literal meanings of the names ? 

 Have they any length of the natural year ? What names do they 

 give to individual stars and constellations, paiticularly to those of the 

 zodiac ; and how do they account for eclipses ? How do they ascer- 

 tain and name the points of the compass? Have tljey any theory re- 

 specting the nature and motions of the stars, and respecting- the causes 

 of wind, rain, hail, snow, thunder, &c. ? 



History. — Have the tribe, as far as their knowledge extends, always- 

 lived on their present territory ; if not, from what direction did they 

 come, and to what other tribes do they state themselves to be related ? 

 What changes have been introduced among them by intercourse with 

 the whites ? With what tribes have they been, and are they now, at 

 war? Give the name of. their principal chief, and of any other emi- 

 nent men among them, and of their predecessors, as far as they are 

 remembered. 



Antiqnities. — Earthworks, of various forms and dimensions, and for 

 various purposes, as for defence against enemies, for watch-towers, for 

 funeral monuments, have been found in great numbers in the valley of 

 the Mississippi and elsewhere ; and an examination of their structure 

 and contents has disclosed a variet}' of the most interesting facts re- 

 specting the races that erected them. If time and opportunity be 

 afforded of properly examining one of them, it is highly desirable that 



