18 HUNTING AND FISHING IN FLORIDA. 
with white leather moccasins and leggings and a white deerskin 
on his shoulders, went at daybreak to the center of the village and 
started a fire, which he did only after considerable difficulty, by 
rubbing two dry sticks together. Four young men then approached 
from the four corners of the square, each carrying an oak log. 
They advanced towards the fire with great ceremony, and deposited 
their logs end to end, pointed to the four points of the compass. 
After these logs had become well ignited four other young men 
came forward, each carrying an ear of new corn, which the medi- 
cine man took from them and placed upon the fire, where they were 
consumed. Then four other young men approached carrying a 
quantity of the ‘‘ cassina” plant, from which the black drink is 
manufactured. Some of the leaves were placed on the fire and 
consumed, after which the remainder was immediately dried and 
cooked for use. 
The warriors and other males of the tribe having assembled, they 
proceeded to drink the black drink in the usual manner. During 
the first day’s ceremony no women were allowed to approach the 
fire, and it is a question whether they were allowed admittance on 
the second or third days. The third day was spent by the young 
men in hunting and fishing. On the fourth day the whole town 
assembled, including men, women, and children, and the game 
killed on the previous day was cooked and served for a great feast, 
and the day was spent in eating, drinking, and dancing. Large 
pots of sofkee were placed about and a wooden spoon was constantly 
at its side so that any one wishing to partake of it could do so. 
The method of making sofkee in the old days was to boil a quantity of 
pounded corn until it formed a soup of the consistency of rather thin 
gruel; to this was added a small quantity of lees made from ashes of 
hickory wood. The soup thus made kept for several days in cov- 
ered pots. At the present time sofkee is made of boiled corn 
and hominy, without the addition of the lees made from hickory 
wood. The Indians squat about the kettle, each one drinking 
a spoonful of the mixture in turn, using the same large wooden 
spoon. 
