12 



PROCEEDIN-QS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



VOL. 73 



Fio. 4. — Fire-mak- 

 ing SET. Cat. No. 

 24096, U.S.N.M. 

 Klamath Indi- 

 ans, Oregon. 

 Collected by L. 

 S. Dtak. 



of the cavities, and, holding the other end between the palms 

 of his hands, kept up a rapid half-rotary motion, causing an 

 amount of friction sufficient to produce fire. With this he 

 lighted the end of the braided slow match of cedar bark. 

 This was often carried for weeks thus ignited and held care- 

 fully beneath the blanket to protect it from wind and rain. 



Fire is easily procured with this set. It takes but 

 a slight effort to cause a wreath of aromatic smoke 

 to cur] up, and the friction easily grinds off a dark 

 powder, which collects between the edges of the 

 slot. When this ignites it drops down the slot in a 

 little pellet, and falls upon the tinder placed below 

 to receive it. Both drill and hearth are 18 inches 

 long. 



The Klamaths, of Oregon, of the Lutuamian stock, 

 use a fire apparatus that looks very much like that 

 of the Utes. The hearth is a rounded piece of soft- 

 wood thinned down at the ends. (Fig. 4.) The 

 drill is a long, round arrow stick, with a hardwood 

 point set in with resin and served with sinew. (See 

 Ute drill, fig. 7). The holes in this hearth are very 

 small, being less than three-eighths of an inch in diam- 

 eter. They are in the center, and the fire slot being 

 cut into the rounded edge widens out below, so that 

 the coal can drop down and get draught. The wood 

 is quite soft, apparently being sapwood of yew or 

 cedar, while the drill point is of the hardest wood 

 obtainable. It is probable that sand is used on the 

 drill. The hearth is 13 inches long, and the drOl 26. 



The Chinooks, a tribe of Indians of a separate stock, 

 called Chinookan, formerly lived about the mouth of 

 the Columbia River, in Oregon, but are now nearly 

 extinct. James G. Swan, the veteran explorer, inves- 

 tigator, and collector among the northwest coast tribes, 

 says that the Chinooks are the best wet-weather fire 

 makers he ever knew.* 



To kindle a fire the Chinook twirls rapidly between the palms 

 a cedar stick, the point of which is pressed into a small hollow 

 in a flat piece of the same material, the sparks falling on finely 

 frayed bark. Sticks are commonly carried for the purpose, im- 

 proving with use.^ 



Paul Kane® describes the hearth as a "flat piece of 

 dry cedar, in which a small hollow is cut with a chan- 

 nel for the ignited charcoal to run over. In a short 

 time sparks begin to fall through the channel upon 



< Northwest Coast, p. 248. 



• Bancroft. Native Races, vol. 1, p. 237. 



« Wanderings of an Artist Among the Indians. London, 1859. 



