368 PICTURE-WRITING OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 
In calling people together for the ceremonies of Wilyaru or Mindari the messengers 
were painted with diagonal stripes of yellow ocher, and had their beards tied tightly 
into a point. They carried a token shaped like a Prince of Wales feather, and made 
of emu feathers tied tightly with string. 
The sending of a handful of red ocher tied up in a small bundle signifies the great 
Mineari or peace festival. In giving notice of the intention to ‘* make some young 
men” the messenger takes a handful of charcoal and places a piece in the mouth of 
each person present without saying 1 word. This is fully understood to mean the 
“making of young men” at the Wilyaru ceremony. 
The following is a description of a Turkish love letter, which was 
obtained by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (a) in 1717: 
Thave got for you a Turkish love letter. * * * The translation of it is literally 
as follows. The first piece you should pull out of the purse is a little pearl, which 
must be understood in this manner: 
Pearlen a peceea eee Fairest of the young. 
loves eee sso ee nee ee You are as slender as the clove. 
You are an unblown rose. 
Thave Jong loved you and you have not known it. 
Jonquil Ve. Sashes =e Have pity on my passion. 
Paper: .5 22a. aac eae eRe I faint every hour. 
Beal sjo22 4 cheer eee Give me some hope. 
SER Qereccssce tancnetessece Tam sick with love. 
Coal jase. esas = aco masses May I die and all my years be yours. 
(ASTOSE Sa. heen eee cee May you be pleased and your sorrows mine. 
ASS TLAW 55 tesa ee eae Suffer me to be your slave. 
Clotheeete a eae eee Your price is not to be found. 
Cinnamon ee-2--=-22es- 2-4 But my fortune is yours. 
A match............----*--I burn, J burn! My flame consumes me. 
Gold thread _............-. Don’t turn away your face from me. 
1S hee Ce per eeer egeg Se fa Crown of my head. 
Grape) ct cane asceccseee eee My two eyes. 
Goldiwitere essen eee I die; come quickly. 
And, by way of postscript: 
Peppereisns. see eens _--- Send me an answer. 
You see this letter is all in verse, and I can assure you there is as much fancy 
shown in the choice of them as in the most studied expressions of our letters, there 
being, I believe, a million of verses designed for this use. There is no color, no 
flower, no weed, no fruit, herb, pebble, or feather that has not a verse belonging to 
it; and you may quarrel, reproach, or send letters of passion, friendship, or civility, 
or even of news without ever inking your fingers. 
The use by Turks and Persians of flower letters or communications, 
the significance of which is formed by the selection and arrangement 
of flowers, is well known. A missive thus composed of flowers is called 
sélam, but the details are too contradictory and confused to furnish 
materials for an accurate dictionary of the flower language, though 
dictionaries and treatises on it have been published. (See Magnat.) 
Individual fancy and local convention, it seems, fix the meanings. 
A Japanese girl who decides to discourage the further attentions of 
a lover sends to him, instead of the proverbial “mitten” of New England, 
a sprig of maple, because the leaf changes its color more markedly than 
any other. In this connection it is told that the Japanese word for love 
also means color, which would accentuate the lesson of the changing leaf. 
