﻿HOFFMAN.] 
  PICTOGRAPHY. 
  287 
  

  

  of 
  a 
  mnemonic 
  song 
  showing 
  characters 
  as 
  thus 
  drawn. 
  The 
  speci- 
  

   men 
  was 
  obtained 
  at 
  White 
  Earth, 
  and 
  the 
  entire 
  song 
  is 
  presented 
  

   on 
  PI. 
  xvi, 
  C. 
  A 
  piece 
  of 
  bark 
  obtained 
  at 
  Red 
  Lake, 
  and 
  known 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  incised 
  more 
  than 
  seventy 
  years 
  ago, 
  is 
  shown 
  on 
  the 
  

   right 
  lower 
  corner 
  of 
  PI. 
  xix. 
  The 
  drawings 
  are 
  upon 
  the 
  outer 
  

   surface 
  and 
  are 
  remarkably 
  deep 
  and 
  distinct. 
  The 
  left 
  hand 
  speci- 
  

   men 
  is 
  from 
  the 
  last 
  named 
  locality, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  period, 
  and 
  

   presents 
  pictographs 
  drawn 
  upon 
  the 
  inner 
  surface. 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  majority 
  of 
  songs 
  the 
  characters 
  are 
  drawn 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  read 
  

   from 
  left 
  to 
  right, 
  in 
  some 
  from 
  right 
  to 
  left, 
  and 
  occasionally 
  one 
  is 
  

   found 
  to 
  combine 
  both 
  styles, 
  being 
  truly 
  boustrophic. 
  Specimens 
  

   have 
  been 
  obtained 
  upon 
  which 
  the 
  characters 
  were 
  drawn 
  around 
  

   and 
  near 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  an 
  oblong 
  piece 
  of 
  bark, 
  thus 
  appearing 
  in 
  

   the 
  form 
  of 
  an 
  irregular 
  circle. 
  

  

  The 
  pictographic 
  delineation 
  of 
  ideas 
  is 
  found 
  to 
  exist 
  chief! 
  y 
  among 
  

   the 
  shamans, 
  hunters, 
  and 
  travelers 
  of 
  the 
  Ojibwa, 
  and 
  there 
  does 
  

   not 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  recognized 
  system 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  any 
  one 
  

   person 
  is 
  fully 
  intelligible 
  to 
  another. 
  A 
  record 
  may 
  be 
  recognized 
  

   as 
  pertaining 
  to 
  the 
  Mide' 
  ceremonies, 
  as 
  a 
  song 
  used 
  when 
  hunting 
  

   plants, 
  etc. 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  impossible 
  for 
  one 
  totally 
  unfamiliar 
  

   with 
  the 
  record 
  to 
  state 
  positively 
  whether 
  the 
  initial 
  character 
  was 
  

   at 
  the 
  left 
  or 
  the 
  right 
  hand. 
  The 
  figures 
  are 
  more 
  than 
  simply 
  

   mnemonic; 
  they 
  are 
  ideographic, 
  and 
  frequently 
  possess 
  additional 
  

   interest 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  several 
  ideas 
  are 
  expressed 
  in 
  combina- 
  

   tion. 
  Col. 
  Garrick 
  Mallery, 
  U. 
  S. 
  Army, 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  entitled 
  "Re- 
  

   cently 
  Discovered 
  Algonkian 
  Pictographs," 
  read 
  before 
  the 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  Association 
  for 
  the 
  Advancement 
  of 
  Science, 
  at 
  Cleveland, 
  1888, 
  

   expressed 
  this 
  fact 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  words: 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  desirable 
  to 
  explain 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  using 
  the 
  Mide 
  and 
  other 
  bark 
  records 
  of 
  

   the 
  Ojibwa 
  and 
  also 
  those 
  of 
  other 
  Algonkian 
  tribes 
  to 
  be 
  mentioned 
  in 
  this 
  paper. 
  

   The 
  comparison 
  made 
  by 
  Dr. 
  E. 
  B. 
  Tylor 
  of 
  the 
  pictorial 
  alphabet 
  to 
  teach 
  

   children 
  "A 
  was 
  an 
  archer," 
  etc., 
  is 
  not 
  strictly 
  appropriate 
  in 
  this 
  case. 
  The 
  

   devices 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  mnemonic, 
  but 
  are 
  also 
  ideographic 
  and 
  descriptive. 
  They 
  are 
  

   not 
  merely 
  invented 
  to 
  express 
  or 
  memorize 
  the 
  subject, 
  but 
  are 
  evolved 
  therefrom. 
  

   To 
  persons 
  acquainted 
  with 
  secret 
  societies 
  a 
  good 
  comparison 
  for 
  the 
  charts 
  or 
  

   rolls 
  would 
  be 
  what 
  is 
  called 
  the 
  tressel 
  board 
  of 
  the 
  Masonic 
  order, 
  which 
  is 
  printed 
  

   and 
  published 
  and 
  publicly 
  exposed 
  without 
  exhibiting 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  secrets 
  of 
  the 
  

   order, 
  yet 
  is 
  not 
  only 
  significant, 
  but 
  useful 
  to 
  the 
  esoteric 
  in 
  assistance 
  to 
  their 
  

   memory 
  as 
  to 
  degrees 
  and 
  details 
  of 
  ceremony. 
  

  

  A 
  more 
  general 
  mode 
  of 
  explaining 
  the 
  so-called 
  symbolism 
  is 
  by 
  a 
  suggestion 
  

   that 
  the 
  charts 
  of 
  the 
  order 
  or 
  the 
  song 
  of 
  a 
  myth 
  should 
  be 
  likened 
  to 
  the 
  popular 
  

   illustrated 
  poems 
  and 
  songs 
  lately 
  published 
  in 
  Harper's 
  Magazine 
  for 
  instance, 
  

   "Sally 
  in 
  our 
  Alley," 
  where 
  every 
  stanza 
  has 
  an 
  appropriate 
  illustration. 
  Now, 
  

   suppose 
  that 
  the 
  text 
  was 
  obliterated 
  forever, 
  indeed 
  the 
  art 
  of 
  reading 
  lost, 
  the 
  

   illustrations 
  remaining, 
  as 
  also 
  the 
  memory 
  to 
  many 
  persons 
  of 
  the 
  ballad. 
  The 
  

   illustrations 
  kept 
  in 
  order 
  would 
  supply 
  always 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  the 
  stanzas 
  and 
  also 
  

   the 
  general 
  subject-matter 
  of 
  each 
  particular 
  stanza 
  and 
  the 
  latter 
  would 
  be 
  a 
  re- 
  

   minder 
  of 
  the 
  words. 
  This 
  is 
  what 
  the 
  rolls 
  of 
  birch 
  bark 
  do 
  to 
  the 
  initiated 
  

   Ojibwa, 
  and 
  what 
  Schoolcraft 
  pretended 
  in 
  some 
  cases 
  to 
  show, 
  but 
  what 
  for 
  actual 
  

  

  