66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



where they meet, which a common person would call the corner of a square. 

 They also make designs of the same style on the mantles and coverings which 

 they fashion out of mulberry bark.*^ 



In another place Du Pratz describes the manufacture of their red 

 and yellow dyes as follows : 



The bois-ayac is a tree which is ordinarily small and does not grow larger 

 than the leg. perhaps because it is cut very often. * * * -pj^^ natives use it in 

 making [yellow] dyes. They cut it into little bits, crush it, and then boil it in 

 water, after which they drain off this water and put the feathers and hair, which 

 they customarily dye yellow before dyeing it red, into this to steep. In perform- 

 ing this operation they take care to cut the wood in winter, but when they wish 

 to give only a slight color to their skins, for they are not very fond of yellow, 

 they pay no attention to the season and cut the wood at all times.'' 



It is of the root of this plant (aehrtchy) that the natives make their red dyes. 

 After having dyed an object yellow and a beautiful citron color with dois-aycw, 

 as I have said before, they boil the roots of the achetchy in water and squeeze 

 them with all their strength. Then they steep what they wish to dye in this 

 boiling water. What was naturally white before having been dyed yellow takes 

 on a beautiful poppy color, and what was brown, as bison hair, which is chestnut 

 colored, becomes red-brown. «" 



The only canoe in common use on the lower Mississippi was the 

 dugout, called by the French pirogue. The manufacture of these 

 required single trees of enormous size, which demanded great skill 

 and patience even to cut down. This is said to have been accom- 

 plished as follows: 



These [native] axes * * * could not cut wood neatly, but only bruise it. 

 For this reason they always cut a tree close to the ground so that the fire that 

 they built at the foot of the tree would more easily consume the filaments and 

 fibers of the wood which the axe had mashed. Finally, with much trouble and 

 patience, they managed to bring the tree down. This was a long piece of work, 

 so that in those times they were much busier than at present, when they have 

 the axes we sell them. From this it happens that they no longer cut a tree 

 down at the base, but at the height which is most convenient.'^ 



After having felled the tree, which for this purpose was usually a 

 cypress, but in the case of very large canoes poplar was used, it was 

 cut off to the required length in the same manner, and fire was also 

 used in hollowing it out. Du Pratz says : 



This occasions them an infinite amount of labor, since they have no other 

 utensils in this work than wood for making fire and wood for scraping, and 

 only small wood is required to burn. In order to set fire to this tree destined 

 for making a pirogue, a pad of clay, which is found everywhere, has to be 

 made for the two sides and each end. These pads prevent the fire from passing 

 beyond and burning the sides of the boat. A great fire is made above, and when 

 the wood is consumed it is scraped so that the insides may catch fire better 

 and may be hollowed out more easily, and they continue thus until the fire 

 has consumed all of the wood in the inside of the tree. And if the fire burns 

 into the sides they put mud there which prevents It from working farther than 



° Du Pratz, Hist, de La Lpuisiaue, ii, 99-100, 184-185. " Ibid., 63. 



"Ibid., 44-45. <«Ibid., 166-167. 



