346 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [niLL. 43 



Tbo tisbiiiix in tlic lakes and l)iiy()iis was dime hy tlic women, men, and hoys; 

 not with nets, l)nl only witli lioolc and line. They lished at ni^;lit Jnst as often 

 as during daytime." 



The '' woman's potatoes " ^ve^o prol)ably wild potatoes. The large- 

 leaved Scujittaiia is probably what was described to the writer as 

 " a kind of grass that grew like a cabbage." To the above list must 

 of course be added wild berries, such as strawberries, blackberries, 

 raspberries, mulberries, and a white berry growing near Plaquemine 

 bayou, also the fruits of certain trees, the seeds of a species of cane, 

 and at least two varieties of turtles. Salt was obtained by boiling 

 sea water. Three kinds of native' corn are remembered — white, yel- 

 low, and blue or black. The first w\^s of the kind called " flint corn," 

 and would grow easier than any other variety, but nobody grows it 

 nowadays. The yellow corn was also a variety of " flint corn." The 

 blue or black variety also grew easily, and the old Indians used to 

 say that they found it growing wild when they entered the country. 

 The whites used to grow it for their hogs. There is said to have 

 been still another kind, of Avhich the finest flour Avas ground. It 

 was perhai)s from this that the M'sutdpa was made, a kind of corn- 

 meal prepared by parching corn and then grinding it fine, after 

 which the husks were sifted out by means of a flat basket-work sifter. 

 The seeds of all these varieties have been lost by the natives, and only 

 modern ones are now planted. It is said that several kinds of pump- 

 kins and melons Avere found wild in olden times. 



Instead of being left long all over, as Gatschet's description ap- 

 pears to imply, the hair was shaved oiT by both sexes at the sides and 

 in front, a single ridge remaining, extending from the middle of the 

 top of the head to the neck. This was tied with strips of deerskin 

 and ornamented with feathers. 



A decided exception must be taken to Doctor Gatschet's statement 

 that the hook and line was the only method employed for taking fish. 

 It is in the first ])lace unlikely in view of the fish nets knoAvn to have 

 been employed by neighboring peoples of less piscatorial habits. 

 Moreover, the writer was told of two devices, both of which were 

 asserted to have been always in use. One was a net made of a vine, 

 called by the Chitimacha " rabbit vine." strung over a round frame 

 and placed at the mouths of bayous. The other was a trap of a type 

 found the world over. It was made of slats and provided with a 

 funnel-shaped entrance. The last of these seen by Mr. Paul Avas 

 about t feci in diameter, but others Avere largei'. Anciently bears 

 Avere killed in dead falls, and small game by means of blowguns, nuide 

 of cane hollowed out. The bloAvgun arroAvs Avere made of slender 

 l)ieees of cane fealiiered with lliistledoAvn (pi. ilO). 



" 'I'riiiis. Anilu-op. Soc. AA'asll., II, 4—5. 



