

AN INDIAN WOMAN. 159 



besides being calculated for real service, showed 

 great taste, and even variety of ornament. 



Her hours of leisure from hunting had been 

 employed in twisting the inner bark or rind of 

 willows into small lines like twine, of which she 

 had prepared several hundred yards ; and of this 

 she intended, as the spring advanced, to have made 

 a fishing net, after the manner of her country. 



One of her greatest difficulties was to make a 

 fire. She had no instruments for that purpose 

 but two hard stones; - but by rubbing or striking 

 these together, after a great many attempts, she 

 obtained a few sparks, and at last succeeded in 

 kindling some touchwood. 



EDWARD. 



Is that the wood of the anotta tree ? 



MOTHER. 



No; touchwood is not the produce of any 

 particular tree, but dried decayed wood, of almost 

 any kind, which in England is used to catch the 

 sparks struck from steel or iron by a flint. When 

 I rub this metal button very quickly on the cover 

 of the table, you perceive that it becomes hot; 

 and if I could rub it hard enough, it might even 

 be made to set fire to the cloth. The same effect 

 is actually produced when a piece of steel is 

 struck against a flint ; for the scraping or rubbing 



