SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 425 



The most convenient fireplace arrangement is to have a large, not too dry 

 backlog with the fire maintained along one side according to the number of pots 

 to be heated. When the backlog burns away in one place the fire is moved to 

 another, or the log itself is pushed along. (Speck, 1909, pp. 42-43.) 



An ultra modern method of fire making, short of the use of matches, 

 was thus described to MacCauley by a Florida Seminole Indian : 



"Tom Tiger" showed me how he builds a fire when away from home. He held, 

 crumpled between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, a bit of paper. In 

 the folds of the paper he poured from his powder horn a small quantity of gun- 

 powder. Close beside the paper he held also a piece of flint. Striking this flint 

 with a bit of steel and at the same time giving to the left hand a quick upward 

 movement, he ignited the powder and paper. From this he swn made a fire 

 among the pitch pine chippings he had previously prepared. (MacCauley, 1887, 

 p. 518.) 



In his description of the method of making fire on the lower 

 Mississippi, Du Pratz' remarks are too general to throw much light 

 on the subject. He says that the fire-maker selected a small limb, 

 dead but still adhering to the tree, and about as big as one of the 

 fingers, removed it, and twirled it violently in a cavity in a second 

 stick until a little smoke was seen coming out. 



Then, collecting in the hole the dust which this rubbing has produced, he 

 blows upon it gently until it takes fire, after which he adds to it some very 

 dry moss and other inflammable material. (Le Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, 

 p. 165; Swanton, 1911, p. 57.) 



He also mentions the use of flints for this purpose, but it is not 

 certain that he actually saw them in use among the Indians (Le 

 Page du Pratz, 1758, vol. 2, p. 165; Swanton, 1711, p. 58). 



An additional note relative to tinder appears in Dumont's work; 



Mulberries, as I have remarked, are very common in this province, and 

 along the trunks of the largest specimens knobs or swellings form. It is from 

 these swellings that the savages obtain a soft, dry, and light wood, which 

 takes fire like true touchwood, and it is this which is called tinder. (Dumont, 

 1753, vol. 2, pp. 203-204.) 



Mention of Spanish moss for this purpose has been made already 

 (pp. 247,318). 



According to the origin legend of the Chitimacha, the supreme 

 being communicated to them "the art of drawing fire from two 

 pieces of wood, the one flat and the other pointed, by turning one 

 upon the other with force" (Swanton, 1911, pp. 356-357). 



Firewood was usually of oak or hickory, and for the sacred fires, 

 or those which it was desired to keep for a long time, the sticks were 

 laid down flat with their ends brought together and the fire was 

 kindled at that point. In the sacred fires four main sticks were used 

 pointing in the direction of the four cardinal points, or sometimes the 

 points half way between. Pine was generally used merely for 



