86 PICTURE-WRITING AND WORD-WRITING. 



familiar with, the course of events in those circles^ as an Indian 

 record of a war-party would be to an ordinary Londoner. 



Though^ however, familiarity with the picture-wi'iting of the 

 Indians^ as well as with their habits and peculiarities, might 

 enable the student to make a pretty good guess at the mean- 

 ing of such documents as the above, which are meant to be 

 understood by strangers, there is another class of picture- 

 writings, used principally by the magicians or medicine-men, 

 which cannot be even thus interpreted. The songs and charms 

 used among the Indians of North America are repeated or sung 

 by memory, but, as an assistance to the singer, pictures are 

 painted upon sticks, or pieces of birch-bark or other material, 

 which serve to suggest to the mind the successive verses. 

 Some of these documents, with the songs to which they refer, 

 are given in Schoolcraft, and one or two examples wiU show 

 sufficiently how they are used, and make it evident that they 

 can only convey their full meaning to those 

 who know by heart already the compositions 

 they refer to. They are mere Samson's rid- 

 dles, only to be guessed by those who have 

 ploughed with his heifer. Thus, a drawing of 

 a man with two marks on his breast and four 

 on his legs (Fig. 5) is to remind the singer that 

 ^^' at this place comes the following verse : — 



" Two days must you fast, my friend, — 

 !Four days must you sit still." 



Fig. 6. 



Fig. 6 is the record of a love-song — (1) represents the lover 

 in (2) he is singing, and beating a magic drum ; in (3) he sur- 



