HOLMES] BURIAL MATS. 21 



in the mat from a rock shelter in Tennessee, hiter to be described, and 

 the IndiaTis of the east and nortli practiced the same art. 



Speaking of the ceremony of smoking the calumet among the Iroquois, 

 De la Potherie says : 



The ceremony is held in a large cabin in winter and in summer in an open field. 

 The place being chosen, if is surrounded with tjranchos to shade the company. In 

 the center is spread a large mat of canes dyed in A'arious colors, which serves as a 

 carpet.' 



Frequent mention is made of the use of mats in burial. Two brief 

 extracts will serve to illustrate this use. Butel-Dumont makes the 

 following statement regarding tribes of the lower Mississippi: 



The Paskagonlas and Billoxis do not inter their chief when he dies, but they dry 

 the corpse with fire and smol<e in such a way that it becomes a mere skeleton. 

 After it is reduced to this state they carry it to the temple (for they have one as 

 well as the Natchez) and put it in the place of its predecessor, which they take from 

 the spot it occupied and place it with the bodies of the other chiefs at the bottom of 

 the temple, where they are arranged one after the other, standing upright like 

 statues. As for the newly deceased, he is exposed at the entrance of the temple 

 on a sort of altar or table made of cane and covered with a fine mat very neatly 

 worked in red and yellow squares with the skin of the canes.- 



Brackenridge' says that a few years ago, in the state of Tennessee, 

 "Two human bodies were found iti a copperas cave in a surprising 

 state of preservation. They were first wrapped up in akind of blanket, 

 supposed to have been manufactured of the lint of nettles, afterwards 

 with dressed skins, and then a mat of nearly 60 yards in length." 



PLIABLE FABRICS. 

 Development of Spinning and Weaving. 



The use of simple strands or parts in textile art precedes the use of 

 spun threads, but the one use leads very natuially up to the other. In 

 employing rushes, stems, grasses, etc., the smaller strands weredoubled 

 to secure uniformity of size, and when a number of parts were used 

 they were combined into one by twisting or plaiting. In time the 

 advantage in strength and pliability of twisted strands came to be 

 recognized, and this led to the general utilization of fibrous substances, 

 and finally to the matiufacture of suitable fibers by manipulating the 

 bark of trees and plants. Spinning was probably not devised until 

 the weaver's art had made considerable advance, but its invention 

 opened a new and bi'oad field and led to the development of a mag- 

 nificent industry. Semi-rigid fabrics served for a wide range of uses, 

 as already described, but soft and pliable cloths for personal use and 

 ornament were made possible only by the introduction of spinning. 



On the arrival of the whites the native art was well advanced; 

 thread, cordage, and even ropes of considerable weight were made with 



' Hist, de r Amfir. Sept., vol. ii, p. 17. 



^Meni.Hur fa Loiiisianc. vof. I. pp. 240-241. 



3 Viewa of Louisiana, H. M. Brackenridge. 1817, p. 178. 



