320 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



escape any blows of its antlers or forefeet, which however happens sometimes in 

 spite of all their precautions. 



Having seized the deer, they present it to the great Sun, if he is present, or to 

 the one he has sent to enjoy the sport. When he sees it at his feet, and says 

 "It is good," the hunters cut the deer open and bring it back in quarters to the 

 cabin of the great Sun, who distributes it to the leaders of the hunting band. 

 (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, pp. 71-73; Swanton, 1911, pp. 70-71.) 



This last is quite different in purpose from the regular hunt and lacks 

 certain marked elements of it such as the use of fire, so that it may have 

 had an entirely independent origin. On the other hand, it may rep- 

 resent a survival or may have been suggested by the surround as 

 observed among other tribes. The silence of our authorities regarding 

 the use of the true surround south and west of the Algonquian and 

 Siouan territories has been interpreted by Speck to mean that it was 

 a northern institution which had not yet penetrated other portions of 

 the Gulf region. This is not improbable, but it must be remembered 

 that in some parts of this territory, notably among the Choctaw, 

 game was so scarce that the results would probably have been scanty. 

 However, that hardly explains its absence throughout the section. 

 Another possibility is that it originated in connection with the bison 

 hunt and spread from that to the pursuit of other game. While it 

 is true that, at one time, bison ranged through most of the Southeast, 

 it is not certain that they were ever numerous in that country and their 

 invasions may have been sporadic. 



Speck says : 



The Yuchi do not seem to have used the deer fence so common in many parts 

 of America. They have been known, however, to employ a method of driving 

 game from its shelter to places where hunters were stationed, by means of 

 fire. Grassy prairies were ignited and when the frightened animals fled to 

 water they were secured by the band of hunters who were posted there. 

 (Speck, 1909, p. 23.) 



Burning of the "deserts" to rouse game is mentioned by Bartram 

 (1940, p. 139). 



None of my own informants remembered having heard of the com- 

 munal hunt. An Alabama Indian said that they sometimes used 

 dogs, but this was denied by Jackson Lewis in speaking of the Lower 

 Creeks generally and it probably represented an innovation. True, 

 Speck (1909, p. 22) says that among the Yuchi "dogs . . . have 

 always been the invariable companions of the hunters, whether alone 

 or in bands, their principal office being to track game and hold it at 

 bay," but I think it highly improbable that any of the old Indian 

 dogs would have been of use to a man trying to stalk deer and they 

 were quite unnecessary in a surround. Elsewhere I have spoken 

 of the employment of dogs in hunting turkeys and bear. 



When they were getting ready to set out on a hunt, the women put 

 up a quantity of parched meal and a quantity of bread strung to- 



