SWANTON] miDIANS OP THE SOUTHEASTERN UNlITED STATES 423 



Smith says of the Virginia Indians : 



Their fire they kindle presently by chafing a dry pointed sticke in a hole 

 of a little square peece of wood, that firing it selfe, will so fire mosse, leaves, 

 or anie such like drie thing that will quickly burne. (Smith, Tyler ed., 

 1907, p. 101.) 



According to Beverley (1705, bk. 3, p. 49), the punk was "a sort of 

 soft Touchwood, cut out of the knots of Oak or Hiccory Trees, but 

 the Hiccory affords the best." 



As usual Lawson does not miss this subject: 



Before the Christians came amongst them, not knowing the use of steel 

 and flints, they got their fire with sticks, which by vehement collision or rub- 

 bing together, take fire. This method they will sometimes practice now, 

 when it has happened through rainy weather, or some other accident, that 

 they have wet their spunk, which is a sort of soft, corky substance, generally 

 of a cinnamon colour, and grows in the concave part of an oak, hiccory, and 

 several other woods, being dug out with an ax and always kept by the Indians, 

 instead of tinder or touch-wood, both of which it exceeds. You are to under- 

 stand that the two sticks they use to strike fire withal are never of one 

 sort of wood, but always differ from each other. (Lawson, 1860, p. 331.) 



Near Sugartree Creek, N. C, Byrd saw many trees of the kind used 



to make firesticks. 



We also saw in this Place abundance of papa Trees, the Wood whereof the 

 Indians make very dry on purpose to rub Fire out of it. Their Method of doing 

 it is this : They hold one of these dry Sticks in each hand, and by rubbing them 

 hard and quick together, rarify the Air in such a Manner as to fetch Fire in ten 

 Minutes. Whenever they offer any Sacrifice to their God, they look upon it as a 

 Profanation to make use of Fire already kindled, but produce fresh Virgin Fire 

 for that purpose, by rubbing 2 of these Sticks together that never had been us'd 

 before on any Occasion. (Bassett, 1901, pp. 314-315.) 



This was in territory but recently vacated by the Saponi Indians, 

 and most of Byrd's information was derived from the Saponi or some 

 of the other Siouan remnants then settled at Fort Christanna. From 

 Byrd's description it seems doubtful whether he had actually seen fire 

 made. 



Adair's account of fire making is among the best and it also gives 

 some idea of the religious attitude toward the firey element, for it is 

 in connection with the kindling of the sacred fire on the ceremonial 

 ground. It applies to the Chickasaw or Creek custom, probably both : 



The former [i.e., the fire-maker] takes a piece of dry poplar, willow, or white 

 oak, and having cut a hole, so as not to reach through it, he then sharpens another 

 piece, and placing that with the hole between his knees, he drills it briskly for 

 several minutes, till it begins to smoke — or, by rubbing two pieces together, for 

 about a quarter of an hour, by friction he collects the hidden fire ; which all of 

 them reckon to immediately issue from the holy Spirit of fire. The Muskohge 

 call the fire their grandfather — and the supreme Father of mankind, Eskata- 

 Emishe, the "breath master," as it is commonly explained. When the fire ap- 

 pears, the beloved waiter cherishes it with fine chips, or shaved splinters of 

 pitch-pine, which had been deposited in the holiest ; then he takes the unsullied 



