325 



rt'iit of smoke, tlie ludiau simply takes his bhiiiket and by spreading it 

 over the small pile of weeds or grass from which the smoke takes its 

 source, and properly controlling the edges and corners of the blanket, 

 he confines the smoke and is in this way able to retain it for several 

 moments. By rai)idly displacing the blanket, the operator is enabled 

 to cause a dense volume of smoke to rise, the length or shortness of 

 which, as well as the number and frequeucy of the columns, he can reg- 

 ulate perfectly, simply by a proper use of the blanket. (Ciisfer\s Life on 

 the riuiiis, loc. cit., p. 187.) 



They gathered an ai-mful of dried grass and weeds, which were placed 

 and carried upon the highest point of the peak, where, everything being 

 in readiness, the match was applied close to the ground ; but the blaze was 

 no sooner well lighted and about to envelop the entire amount of grass 

 collected than it was smothered with the uulighted portion. A slender 

 column of gray smoke then began to ascend in a perpendicular column. 

 This was not enough, as it might be taken for the smoke rising from a 

 simple camp fire. The snioldering gi-ass was then covei'ed with a blanket, 

 the corners of which were held so closely to the ground as to almost 

 completely confine and cut off the column of smoke. Waiting a few mo- 

 ments, until the smoke was beginning to escape from beneath, the blanket 

 was suddenly thrown aside, when a beautiful balloon-shaped column 

 pulled upward like the white cloud of smoke which attends the discharge 

 of a field-piece. Again casting the blanket on the pile of grass, the 

 column was interrupted as before, and again in due time released, so that 

 a succession of elongated, egg-shaped pufts of smoke kept ascending 

 toward the sky in the most regular manner. This bead-like column of 

 smoke, considering the height from which it began to ascend, was visi- 

 ble from points on the level plain fifty miles distant. {lb., p. 217.) 



SMOKE SIGNALS OP THE APACHES. 



The following information was obtained by Dr. W. J. Hoffman, 

 from the Apache chiefs named on page 15, under the title of Tinnean, 

 Apache I : 



The materials used in making smoke of sufficient density and color 

 consist of pine or cedar boughs, leaves and grass, which can nearly 

 always be obtained in the regions occupied by the Apaches of ^STorthern 

 New Mexico. These Indians state that they employ but three kinds of 

 signals, each of which consists of columns of smoke, numbering from one 

 to three or more. 



Alarm. 



This signal is made by causing three or more columns of smoke to 

 ascend, and signifies danger or the approach of an enemy, and also 

 requii-es the concentration of those who see them. These signals are 

 communicated from one camp to another, and the most distant bands 

 are guided by their location. The greater the haste desired the greater 



