222 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[AritiL 19, 1888. 



A MOST important problem has been submitted to us, 

 -*- and we have preferred to make it the mabjecl of the 

 following remarks to answering !* in the " su »l wl W on 

 account oi the labor we have expended in order lo reach a 



correct understanding of it. The inquirer writes: 

 Editor For,*) and Streams 

 A question has i n«n as to UiB pt"l" t tnodB-6i placing k salt m '. 

 0) n ater bo 09 to freshen it quickly, or. In other R ords. 

 | tctthB! lit. Now, J maintain thai the comm.m-sensemr.de 

 ,.r skin side, it having been split, while my 

 ..,, ,, i i i should be laid witnffioimsiae flat on 1 



and consequently skin upiM.a-mc.st. 1 do not applj I i a edoli 



book, but no an authority on llsh, and by solving this knotty ijtt© I 



you will greatly oblige, eta 



Taking down "Magufnn'B Principles of Compiirulive 

 Physiology" we learned the sub-cutaneous areolar tissue 

 « it'h its papilla? is peculiarly adapted to throwing ofl all 

 saline excreta, and from this fact we temporarily adopted 

 the theory thai the proper way to place the mackerel in the 

 pan was with the skin side up. in order that the re/ 

 could perform its functions as In life. Further investiga- 

 tion showed, however, that the epidermis, with ils inner 

 layer of polyhedral cells and pigment granules is eminently 

 Btted to absorb saline particles, and we then concluded that 

 if the fish should throw off salt by one set ol cells and 

 absorb them 1 ry another set, there would be a sort of balanct 



, blished whereby there would be no visible result when 

 the'skiu side was placed uppermost, 



It ii possible that geographical influences night affect the 

 Eresheurng process. In the salt-laden air known to extend 

 I arete of a Imadred miles about Syracuse. N. Y., nil 

 aright be reversed, and a formula designed for that 

 district would then be valueless to toe rest of mankind. In 

 this emergencj we wrote to our friend Mr. Reuben Wood, 

 of the city Of salt, and asked him how mackerel and codfish 



re freshened tiiere. He replied: "My Dear Sir— I never 

 beard of such a thing in Syracuse. We always add more 

 i all fish which are alleged to be salted by the fisher- 

 men of Gloucester, Mjttas." litre light dawned upon us. 

 Either the Gloucester fishermen, from motives of economy, 

 did not salt their fish sufficiently, or the saline air of Syra- 

 cuse has developed an abnormal appetite iu its inhabitants 

 who crave vast quantities of salt; if it does not prove to 

 be a fact that they are trying to force the fishermen of 

 Gloucester to use more salt in order to sell them more. 

 Thi- trip]. -horned dilemma only complicated matters, and 

 we despaired of a solution of the question by our appeal to 

 Syrauua ill solutions appeared to contain more or 



less salt. 



One sleepless night, while we were struggling with this 

 problem, we chanced to remember that the learned Trichiu- 

 rushad referred to the freshening of salt mackerel iu his his- 

 tory of Galeocerdo. But the work was rare, no copy being 

 round in anyof the public libraries of New York. The 

 only volume of litis ancient work that we knew of was in 

 the' possession of Mr. William Florence, the celebrated ac- 

 tor, who was not in town. That gentleman, however, 

 kindly sent us the following from Vol. XC'IX.. which tells 

 ,.f the origin of an eight years' civil war among the Galco- 

 cerdons. We quote: "This disastrous war had a sin- 

 gular origin. It had been the custom of the people to 

 freshen their salt mackerel by laying them in a pan of water 

 with the skin of the fish down, or next to the pan; but the 

 present Emperor, Ilypsobienuius. when a lad of ten years, 

 was.sentby his mother, who was fryingsome liver and bacon 

 for his Majesty's breakfast, to bring a No. 2 Gloucester 

 salt mackerel from the cellar and lay it in water to freshen 

 for the family dinner. The prince brought the fish and laid 

 it in the pan "with the skin side up, whereupon his mother 

 ordered him to reverse it, and in doing so a sharp bone ran in 

 his thumb. The court physician was summoned, and, after 

 extracting the bone, he told the Emperor that the proper way 

 to avoid accidents of this kind in future would be to lay 

 the mackerel with the skin side up. and then the bones 

 would all be hidden. His Majesty immediately published 

 an edict commanding all loyal citizens, under heavy penal- 

 tics, to freshen their fish with the skins up. The people so 

 resented this law that a civil war raged for eight years before 

 it was quelled, and thousands of people were killed. The 

 Emperor's party bore banners inscribed ' Skins Up,' and the 

 rebels had on theirs the legend ' Skins Down;' but after the 

 war was ended all the subjects of the Emperor agreed that 

 in future they would freshen their fish with the skins up, and 

 peace reigned in the land.'' 



We do not regard the fact that the party of the Emperor 

 was victorious as being conclusive that the principle of 

 freshening the fish with the skin up was necessarily the cor- 

 rect one, and we hold that the question is not one to be set- 

 tled vi d wrmii, but rather by the application of chemical 

 laws, if we can only find which laws influence the case in 

 the greatest degree. The law of gravitation is cited by 

 Josephus, in support of the decision of King Solomon, who 

 says: "The King was doubtless correct in deciding that the 

 skins of freshening mackerel should be uppermost, as then 

 the salt is precipitated to the bottom of tie vessel and not 

 retained inside the skin." In our opinion the law of 

 gravitation has little to do with the case, and we must look 

 elsewhere for evidence. 



in the celebrated reply of Webster to Hayne, in the 

 United States Senate, we find an allusion to the subject. 

 Webster proves that Hayne is "athirst." for some object 



foreign to I he subject of this article, but still "athirst." 

 Hayne was a representative South Carolinian, and the infer- 

 erice was that a majority of the people of that State were 

 also "thirsting" for the same thing. Following this train of 

 thought we conclude that improperly freshened mackerel 

 might be the cause; and in carefully reading the history of 

 the Carolinas, we come upon the well-known and oft-quoted 

 remark of the Governor of South Carolina to the Governor 

 of North Carolina, and at once sit down to write to them to 

 know in what position they freshened their Scamhers that 

 produced this thirst which made it appear so long between 

 applications of the remedy, feeling sure that if it was "skin 

 up" with them then "skin down" was the proper method in 

 prdef It) avoid the consequences whidi befel them, and 

 which have passed into a proverb; Alas! those estimable 

 men died generations ago, and the present Governors of 

 those States do not eat mackerel in any form, and are not at 

 all conversant with the merits of the case. Therefore we 

 despair of a correct Solution of this question, units-, some- 

 thing bearing on the subject can be found in the Cesnola 

 collection, which has not been "restored," until the skin of 

 tile mackerel cannot be distinguished from the tlesh side. 

 Like the lost Masonic word, the wisdom of future genera- 

 tions may discover il. but we despair of its present solution. 

 What has become of "Dob, the sea -cook." who used to give 

 us such lessons in practical matters? Perhaps he, or some 

 other old salt, can help us to leap, sultatorially, as it were, to 

 a correel answer to this salsuginous question. 



\ht ^ortm\mi ^omip. 



BERTHA'S EDUCATION. 



STHAYINC away like a wild bird 

 Into the forest gray. 

 Catching a glimpse of the dlsfanee 



Here and there on the way, 

 Sever 1 feared the stillness, 



saagingmyioyoiHSOng, 

 Farting the lew. green branches. 



Tripping the path along. 

 Tried which could sing the sweet est. 



The little Vjr..\vn birds or 1. 

 While they were trilling carets 



Out of the chestnuts nigh. 



ouder t e sang and louder. 



Under the open sky— 

 Whether the passers heard us. 



Cared neither hird nor I. 

 Clouds of the sweet brier r 



Showered their snow on me, 

 Or, in the spring, fell white flakes 



From the June berry tree. 

 Dreamy air-castles I know not— 



Hum of the eager bee, 

 Flutter of leaves imnumhered, 



Whispered my dreams to me. 

 Tonic of mountain breezes 



Strengthened my slender frame. 

 While from my hillside climbing 



Footsteps elastic came. 

 Voice did the btooklet give me. 



Wandering past my feet. 

 Hushed to a clear, low ripple 



Echo would not repeat. 

 Watching the pine unbending, 



Towering tulip tree, 

 .Standing erect and graceful, 



Straight tied unconscious me. 

 Stealing the rosy sunbeam 



Out of the vibrant air. 

 Paling it in the shadows, 



Grew i 



ybro 



:. race 



e fair. 



If a 



Frc 



Shi) 



iglit. 



Better than other lessons 



Learned on the mountain-side, 

 Knowledge of life and freedom, 



All that is strong and wide. 

 Best that a life beyond me 



Lies where I cannot see. 

 And that tho Gl-eat Life Giver 



Cares for His earth and 



JOSKI'il 



INDIAN FOLK-LORE. 



r IMIE following stories have been collected during a resi- 

 X deuce of some years among Indians who have not yet 

 come into contact with any whites with the exception of 

 the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, so that these 

 legends may fairly be considered to be free from the taint of 

 civilization' and to represent Indian stories in their primitive 

 state. It will be noticed that the greater part of them con- 

 cern the animals common to the country, especially as to 

 the origin of anything peculiar as to size or markings on 

 them. "Animals having the gift of speech seems general 

 both to stories of this continent and to the East, witness 

 various stories in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments," 

 where animals have this power. I have taken great care to 

 make no additions to these tales but to leave them as they 

 were told to me. Many of them have almost a familiar look, 

 such as the Climbing Boy. which certainly has some like- 

 ness to Jack and the Beanstalk, and the story of the 

 Mistasoo to the Koc in Sinbad the Sailor. 



|._How the Beasts Became Subject to Man. 



Two young squaws were walking about on a plain one 

 evening, when a Star (Mars) came down and carried them 

 oil to bis world. The Star placed the girls, for security, in 

 an eagle's nest, and went about some business ol his own. 



After a while the girls saw a Wolverine passing beneath 



the tree on which they were suspended, and besought him 

 to take them down; and to encourage him they promised to 

 marry him on the spot. He would have nothing to do with 

 them, and passed by. A Lynx and a Bear came along, to 

 whom they preferred the same request; but only to have 

 their petition scorned also. There they sat weeping and 

 wishing for release until presently a Wolf made his appear- 

 ance, who proved to be softer hearted titan the other three 

 beasts, and took the squaws down, and was made the happy 

 husband of both the young women. By and by they all 

 three went down to the earth, and after roaming about 

 for some time the AVolf told his two wives to remain 



a certain place he pointed out to them, while he should 

 go bunting. No sooner had the Wolf gone out of sight than 

 the squaws, who were already tired of his loving embraces, 

 ran away and hid themselves! The Wolf returned and was 

 very angry to find that his wives had deserted him, and after 

 relieving 'his mind by smashing up a few stumps of trees, 

 he left that pari of the country. 



The squaws now came out of their biding place and 

 waiked along until they came to a river, when they saw many 

 canoes paddled down stream by some of the beasts and birds, 

 to each of whom they shouted, asking to be taken on 

 board. Ne favorable answer came for a while, until the 

 Waterhen was beguiled into taking them with him. 



They paddled along happily until evening, when the Water- 

 hen put ashore, remarking that the girls must be hungry, 

 and he had better see about getting them some supper. He 

 ordered the two squaws, who were now his wives, to make 

 a long line of willow bark, and when they had twisted up a 

 strong cord, he tied it to one of his legs and tolckhis wives 

 thai i,' was now to dive into the river, and that they must 

 pull in the line as soon as it was light. The Waterhen 

 accordingly dived, but bis first attempt failed, as the girls 

 were too "eager to get out something to eat. and so 

 hauled in the line too soon. The Waterhen rep- 

 rimanded them sharply, and once more jumped 

 into the river. This time his wives were more careful, and 

 were rewarded by finding a beaver tied to the line after they 

 had pulled up about a fathom of it: and so on aloDg the 

 line, at a distance of only one fathom apart, beaver after 

 beaver to the end of the liiie, when there were three beavers 

 and the Waterhen himself. After drying all the beavers' 

 meat, thev took canoe and went down the river, setting 

 deer snares on the way, to vioit some people who were en- 

 camped in that quarter. These were representatives, singly 

 or in pairs, of all the most commonh- known beasts and 

 birds of the present day, and they were then living in tents 

 around a large lake, into which the river flowed. No 

 sooner had the Waterhen and his squaws rounded into 

 the lake and come in sight of the wigwams there than the 

 beasts all shouted. "Here comes Waterhen with wives." 

 i ,:. '■', , :, tii. a ', grandmother was camped here, among the 

 rest, and he took up his abode in her wigwam, and made 

 immediate preparations for a feast, After all was ready, 

 feasting and dancing went on all night. 



The Waterhen was afraid that his two squaws would be 

 too much noticed by the other young men, and so, to guard 

 against temptation, the squawswere ordered to stay closely in 

 the tent and on no account to go to the dance. The women 

 soon tired of the tent and sneaked off to see what was going 

 on. but took care not to be seen by the dancers. The Loon 

 was so handsome that, although the Waterhen's wives did 

 not manage to see him clearly in the distance, they saw 

 enough to make them resolve to forsake the Waterhen and 

 go with the Loon. Tired of gazing at the Loon's perfec- 

 tions, they went back to their tent to put into practice a 

 plan 'which would at any rate insure one night or day of 

 felicity lo them. They broke down two poplar stumps, 

 which were infested with ants, and each of the two squaws 

 laid one stump where she ought to have been lying herself 

 under her blanketed robe. When the Waterhen came in 

 quite tired with dancing, he looked around the tent and saw 

 what of course he considered to be his wives lying asleep; 

 they had lain down outside of the back of the wigwam as 

 soon as they heard him coming. So, yawning and telling 

 his grandmother that he would not likely turn out until 

 midcTay, he laid himself down between the two blanketed 

 stumps and dozed off. His tricky wives turned in beside 

 the Loon as soon as they saw how nicely they had suc- 

 ceeded in blinding the Waterhen. 



Some of the people who were camped nearest to the 

 Waterhen were astonished to hear him speaking loudly and 

 harshly every now and again, and reproaching his wives for 

 pinching him and keeping him from the sleep he needed so 

 much. °This pinching was caused by the ants, who had 

 spread all over the tent, and weie avenging the destruction 

 of their dwelling place on the Waterhen's bare legs and 

 wings. Soon the Waterhen's patience was exhausted, and, 

 jumping up. he found out what was the matter. Going 

 cautiously from tent to tent, looking for his squaws, he 

 found them at length fast asleep, one on each sine of the 

 Loon. Taking care not to waken them he returned to his 

 wigwam, and rousing his grandmother asked her for the 

 loan of her ice-chisel, which he proceeded to bring to a 

 red heat in the fire. Then he took the hot chisel and crept 

 along to the Loon's wigwam, where he found the poor Loon 

 still asleep, lying on his back with his mouth wide open. 

 The Waterhen rammed the red-hot iron down the Loon's 

 throat. (The mark of the burn can still be seen on the 

 Loou's tongue.) This killed him of course. The Waterhen 

 made no row, but jumped into his canoe and visited the 

 deer snares he had set on his way down the river. 



Presently some one dropped into the Loon's wigwam and 

 found its occupant dead. He awakened the girls, who had 

 slept all through these proceedings, and then made it known 

 to all the others, and inquiries were made as to who was the 

 murderer. When the Waterhen leturned from seeing his 

 snares he was at once asked if he knew anything of the 

 wicked deed. Without speaking he drew his kmte and 

 stabbed himself in the throat, upset his canoe and c'is- 

 appeared into the water. By this action the people knew 

 thai the Waterhen was guilty of the murder; and they got 

 into their canoes to make sure of his death, resolving to kill 

 him if he was not already dead. The Waterhen was cer- 

 tainly not dead, but had thought by a ruse to make the 

 others believe lie had killed himself. He had prepared a 

 bladder and fastened it along his throat ; and it, was into this 

 bladder that the knife had been plunged. The Waterheu, 

 knowing that he was pursued, dived into the water, and so 

 nimbly did he dive and hide that his would-be captors could 

 not catch him although they pursued him until sundown, 

 when one of the beasts, wiser than the others, suggested 

 that they should dry the lake. To do this they used differ- 

 ent sorts of fungi, and eventually did clear all the water 

 out of the lake; and said to themselves that at daylight they 

 would do for the Waterhen. 



