ART. 14 



FIKE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 



17 



Fig. 9.— Fire-making Set. 

 Cat. No. 22022, U.S.N.M. 

 Shoshone Indians, Wind 

 River, Wyoming. Col- 

 lected BY J. W. PoWEIi 



86374—28 



as do the Zunis, and the 

 Aztecs of Mexico did 

 hundreds of years ago. 

 They use tinder of fun- 

 gus or dried grass rubbed 

 between the hands. 



By their language the 

 Zufii people belong to a 

 distinct stock of In- 

 dians. Their fire sticks 

 are of the agave stalk, a 

 soft, pithy wood with 

 harder longitudinal 

 fibers, rendering it a 

 good medium for the 

 purpose of making fire. 

 (Fig. 11.) 



As to the plan pur- 

 sued in grinding out fire, 

 Col. James Stevenson 

 informed the writer that 

 they make a slightly 

 concave place where the 

 burnt holes are seen, cut 

 the notch on the side, 

 sprinkle a little fine sand 

 on the concavity, set the 

 end of the round stick 

 on the sand and roll it 

 rapidly between the 

 palms of the hands, 

 pressing down hard. 

 The "sawdust," Colonel 

 wStevenson called it, 

 oozes out of the notch 

 and forms a small mass, 

 which on blowing 

 slightly becomes a burn- 

 ing coal, and the appli- 

 cation of a little tinder 

 creates a blaze. For 

 preserving the fire for 

 any length of time they 

 use a piece of decayed 

 wood. (Fig. 12.) 



Fig. 10.— Fire-making set. Cat. 

 No. 128694, U.S.N.M. HOPI IN- 

 DIANS, Arizona. Collected bt 

 Mrs. M. C. Stevenson 



