July 31, 1885.] 



SCIENCE, 



89 



evening chat. While Ma-wa-da-ne was filling 

 his pipe, the other four men disposed them- 

 selves comfortabl}' preparatory to the enjoy- 

 ment of the smoke. Te-me-ha, with her usual 

 industr}', had spread upon her lap the brilliant- 

 colored porcupine-quills with which she was 

 embroidering a pair of moccasons, while old 

 Me-pe sat rocking to and fro, and dividing her 

 attentions between the gay-colored quills and 

 the fringe of my wrap. After the ceremonial 

 round of the pipe, I said to the men, — 



"You do 3'our share in this embroidery, 

 since you capture the porcupine. Tell me 

 about hunting them." 



After a few moments of silence, a smile that 

 broadened into a quiet laugh stole over Ma-wa- 

 da-ne's face ; then tightening his blanket about 

 his bent knees, and giving a little shake of the 

 shoulders to settle himself, he began, — 



" The porcupine is a great digger, and makes 

 a hole large enough for a man to crawl in. He 

 likes best to live on the brow of a sandy hill, 

 where there are no hollow trees. We hunt 

 them with a long crotched stick. This we thrust 

 into the hole until it strikes the animal ; then 

 we twist it to snarl it in the quills and fur. 

 When we think the stick is well caught, we 

 begin to pull gentl}' to draw the animal out. 

 Sometimes the stick loosens, and only the fur 

 comes ; then we have to try again, and get a 

 better hold. When the animal is successfully 

 brought to the opening, we look for his head, 

 and give it a sharp, hard stroke with a stick 

 which we carry for the purpose, and so kill 

 him. We then have to skin him, and the 

 women take what thej' want of the quills." 



The smile had faded during this practical talk, 

 but it returned as Ma-wa-da-ne resumed, — 



' ' There were two Poncas who married sis- 

 ters. The wives were fond of embroidery, and 

 used so many porcupine-quills that it was hard 

 to keep them supplied. One day they were at 

 work, when the}' discovered they would ver}^ 

 soon be out of quills, and each wife began to 

 tease her husband to go hunting for porcupine. 

 The 3'oung men were newly married, and 

 wanted to please their wives : so, after enjoying 

 the teasing a while, the men started, each going 

 his own wa}' toward the sand-hills. As one of 

 them sped along, he noted near the top of a 

 hill the large hole of a porcupine. As he ap- 

 proached the opening, he saw that the hole ran 

 through to the opposite side of the hill. He 

 thrust in his stick to search for the lateral 

 burrows, hoping to find the animal. Creeping 

 into the opening himself, while he was thus 

 engaged, the entrance from the opposite side of 

 the hill slowly darkened, and he discerned, to 



his consternation, the figure of a man. Xot 

 knowing whether this apparition might be 

 friend or foe, he concluded to keep perfectly 

 still. While thus watching, he felt a stick gen- 

 tly strike his breast ; then, with more force, it 

 began to be twisted. He seized it in his hands, 

 holding it firmly, when the holder of the stick 

 began to pull. The man in the hole allowed 

 his arms to be stretched forward a little, and 

 then dropped the stick. By repeating this 

 operation, the outside hunter's enthusiasm was 

 aroused, and he exclaimed, ' He must be a big 

 fellow ! ' 



" The man in the hole recognized the voice of 

 his brother-in-law, and fear gave place to the 

 desire to plaj^ a trick. After baffling the hun- 

 ter for a while longer, the man crept slowly 

 toward the opening, keeping tight hold of the 

 stick as he advanced, while the hunter kept 

 twisting to make sure of his game. The en- 

 trance reached, the make-believe porcupine 

 plunged suddenly forth, exclaiming, ' What 

 do you want ? ' 



"The terror-stricken hunter dropped his 

 stick, his excitement being too great to recog- 

 nize his relative, and ran crying, ' Grandfather, 

 have mercy on me ! ' A shout of laughter from 

 the ' grandfather ' made the hunter turn, and 

 he, too, joined in the laugh." 



When the merriment over the storj' had sub- 

 sided. Sin-da-ha-ha remarked, — 



" We catch rabbits and raccoons and skunks 

 in the same way. The skunk hears the hunter 

 advancing ; and the animal will sometimes come 

 near the entrance of his hole, and pound with 

 his feet, making quite a loud noise, hoping to 

 scare us. When we have thrust in our stick, 

 and twisted it well in the tail, we draw the 

 skunk near the entrance ; then we put our arm 

 in the hole, and grasp him tightly around the 

 hind-quarters, pressing the tail firml}^ against 

 the bod}' ; we then draw him out, striking the 

 head quickly to prevent the animal biting. 

 Sometimes we find eight or ten skunks in a sin- 

 gle hole, each one of whom will tr}- his charm 

 of drumming on us. Young men like to wear 

 gaiters made of the skunk-skin," turning, as 

 he said this, to the youngest member of the 

 party, to whom I said, — 



" You tell me a story now." 



In a few moments the young man began, — 



" When I was 3'oung [here the old men 

 shouted, but the 3^ouug man with a merr}^ 

 twinkle in his e3"e went on], " I was ver}^ ob- 

 serving. One da3^ I was looking about me, 

 near the slough back of father's, when I noticed 

 a frog hopping very fast. Suddenly he stopped, 

 and picked up a stick three or four inches long, 



