ANTHROPOLOGY AT WASHINGTON. 787 



of their handiwork, and in a few cases by living captives. The 

 stimulated curiosity regarding America, and the feeling that there 

 could be nothing too unusual to come from this almost fabulous 

 land, prompted men to weave a large amount of fiction into their 

 statements concerning the people of the New World, and by skill- 

 ful alterations to make the work of these savages appear more 

 startling or ingenious. Hence, many early books describing the 

 aborigines of America are of no value, and the illustrations of in- 

 dustrial arts are unreliable. The meeting with new customs did 

 not cease with the thorough acquaintance with the first tribe who 

 greeted the foreigners, nor was all of interest known at the time 

 when an independent government was established for the infant 

 colonies. Almost each day's journey westward brought the ex- 

 plorer, if not into the center of a new tribe, at least into a new 

 community, whose customs differed from those of the people who 

 had surrounded him the day before. Should the wanderer be per- 

 mitted to return to the seat of his government, his tales of strange 

 scenes and adventures would be listened to with as much interest 

 as the Spanish or English reader had given to the written stories 

 a century previous. Thus, during the most advantageous period 

 for careful observation of the unaffected customs of the Indians, 

 the visitors were hunters or traders who used their opportunities 

 in collecting miraculous stories for the ears of those who awaited 

 their return, and the number of such stories required of each new 

 one, as the price of its acceptance, that it be more exciting than 

 its predecessors. 



When an intelligent foresight suggested the systematic ex- 

 ploration of new territories, the first step was taken in the estab- 

 lishment of institutions which are now the pride of America. 

 Though it was the desire to know more of the mineral and agri- 

 cultural resources of the undiscovered portions of our country 

 that started the first expeditions westward, still the intelligent 

 men who were in charge brought back much of interest and value 

 to the ethnologist. These expeditions increased in number and 

 usefulness, and their reports are still sources of interesting infor- 

 mation. The objects which were brought back to serve as models 

 for the illustrations soon formed a nucleus for collections which 

 are now studied by anthropologists of all countries. 



The wisdom of investigating the customs of the Indians of 

 North America, and of preserving specimens of their work, has 

 made itself so apparent that we have in the United States three 

 institutions doing more toward collecting information about its 

 native people than is or has been done by any other country of 

 the world. These are, the Smithsonian Institution and the allied 

 National Museum, the Bureau of Ethnology, and the Army Medi- 

 cal Museum. 



