REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 51 
written in the Cherokee language and alphabet, which he had ob- 
tained from the native priests and their surviving relatives some 
years ago, and about one-third of which he had already translated, 
with explanatory notes. In connection with this work a large num- 
ber of plants noted in the formulas as of medicinal or other value 
were collected and transferred to the division of botany of the Na- 
tional Museum for scientific identification. In this collection were 
several specimens of the native corn of the Cherokee, still cultivated 
as sacred by a few of the old conservatives. On examination by the 
experts of the Department of Agriculture this corn was found to be 
a new and hitherto undescribed variety of special food importance 
under cultivation. Return was made from the field early in Octo- 
ber, 1913. . 
In June, 1914, a brief trip was made into Prince Georges and 
Charles Counties, Md., for the purpose of investigating the status 
and origin of some persons of supposedly Indian descent, con- 
cerning whom several inquiries had come to the bureau. Mr. 
Mooney found, as he had supposed, that these people, numbering in - 
all several hundred, were, like the Pamunkey of Virginia and the 
so-called Croatan of North Carolina, a blend of the three races, In- 
dian, Negro, and White, with the Indian blood probably predominat- 
ing. They constitute and hold themselves a separate caste, distinct 
from both white and negro. They probably represent the mongrel- 
ized descendants of the Piscataway tribe, and are sometimes locally 
distinguished among themselves as “ We-Sort,” that is, “Our Sort.” 
On June 22, 1914, Mr. Mooney again started for the East Cher- 
okee to continue work on the sacred formulas, with a view to speedy 
publication. 
His time in the office during the winter and spring was occupied 
chiefly with the extended investigation of former Indian population, 
together with routine correspondence and replies to letters of in- 
quiry. On request of the Department of Justice he prepared an 
extended deposition on tribal ranges and Indian depredations in 
northern Mexico and along the Rio Grande, which was officially 
characterized as one of the most important and interesting that had 
ever come before the department. 
In pursuance of his investigations of the Creek Indians and allied 
tribes, Dr. John R. Swanton, ethnologist, proceeded to Oklahoma 
early in July to attend the busk ceremonies, and was present at those 
of the Eufaula, Hilibi, Fish Pond, and Tukabachi Creeks. Notes 
were taken on all of these and photographs obtained of various 
features of all but the last. At the same time, with the valued as- 
sistance of Mr. G. W. Grayson, of Eufaula, Dr. Swanton gathered 
further ethnological information from some of the old people, and 
continued this work after the ceremonies ceased. Somewhat later 
