October 2, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



287 



tion by our own tidy housewives ; that is, that it 

 is expected, when a borrowed kettle is returned, 

 that there will be a small portion of the food 

 which has been cooked in the kettle remaining 

 in the bottom of the pot. The language has 

 a particular word to designate this remnant. 

 Should this custom be disregarded byan}^ one, 

 that person would never be able to borrow 

 again, as the owner must always know what 

 was cooked in her kettle. 



Great indignation was the result of the action 

 of a white woman, who returned a scoured 

 kettle. She meant to teach a lesson in clean- 

 liness ; but her act was much talked over, and 

 interpreted as fresh evidence of the meanness 

 of white folk ! 



Soon the savory odors give token that sup- 

 per is read}'. Dishes are set in the traditional 

 places occupied by the members of the family, 

 and the food ladled out, and portioned to each 

 person. The little girl is sent out to call the 

 men in. There is no formalit}^ about the family 

 meal. If the father is a rehgious man, he ma}^ 

 take a bit of his food, lift it up, and drop it in 

 the fire ; the act is without ostentation, and ap- 

 parentl}^ unobserved by the others. Some- 

 times the children take their supper together 

 outside the tent. The mother seldom eats un- 

 til all are fully served. She may join her chil- 

 dren with her portion ; or if she has female 

 companions in the tent, they will draw together, 

 and gossip over the meal. Every one falls to 

 with zest, and the pot is generally emptied. 



After eating, all lie down, stretching out in 

 the tent, or going outside if the day is fine, and 

 resting in the long slanting sunlight. As the 

 air cools, a fire is kindled ; and here grouped 

 about the companionable blaze we watch the 

 stars come out. Some persons doze, some dis- 

 cuss the journey, or recount reminiscences of 

 former times : the women gather together and 

 complete the story of the day ; while the chil- 

 dren chase the fireflies, or subside into drowsy 

 listeners. Across the hum of voices is borne 

 the song of a young man, who, hidden in the 

 grass, lies on his back drumming on his breast 

 as he sings. There are no urgent demands 

 upon any one. The matron has no dishes or 

 linen to wash, or scrubbing to do ; there is 

 nothing to clear away after the evening meal : 

 the single pot is emptied, and set to one side. 

 No transitory fashions perplex the fancy of 

 the maiden, no lessons to learn harass the 

 child. The men talk or sing, unconscious of 

 money making or losing, or questions in science 

 or art. To the people, no great disasters are 

 probable, no great successes possible. The 

 stars above silently hold their secrets, the un- 



marred prairie tells no tales, and the silence of 

 uninquisitive ignorance shuts down upon our 

 little life. 



To one thrust from the midst of civilization 

 into so strange a camp-circle, the summer da3's 

 hardlj^ bring a realizing sense of the great es- 

 trangement between the two orders of society. 

 It is only when the frozen calm of winter oblit- 

 erates every touch of color and individualit}' of 

 outline in the landscape that it becomes possi- 

 ble to gauge fully the mental poverty of abori- 

 ginal life . The cold nights when the tent freezes 

 hard so that it sounds like a drum, and the 

 frost lies thick on the bedrobes, make one 

 dread to rise early ; and the sun is often up 

 before the fire i^ kindled, and the kettle bubbles 

 with the morning meal. After looking to what 

 comfort it is possible to give the ponies, and 

 having gathered in the wood, the outdoor work 

 of the day is over. 



In winter the tent is made warmer b}^ putting 

 a Hning around to half the height of the tent- 

 cloth, and by banking without and within, stuf- 

 fing with grass the space between the lower 

 edge of the tent-cloth and the ground to keep 

 out the wind. This done, and with plenty of 

 wood to feed the fire, one can be passably com- 

 fortable. During the day the women are busy 

 making clothes, mending moccasins, or em- 

 broidering gala garments with porcupine quills 

 or beads : the men, if not out trapping, are en- 

 gaged in fashioning pipes and clubs, or shaping 

 spoons on the ball of the foot. The winter is 

 the season for story-telling, and many hours of 

 the evening are spent in this enjo3'ment. 



The cold season brings pleasures to the 

 children, — snowballing, sliding down hill on 

 blocks of ice, or standing on a flat stick and 

 coasting swiftly, balancing with a pole. The 

 glow on the faces of the little ones as they run 

 in breathless from their sport to meet the wel- 

 come of the group within the tent, is about 

 the only zest the days bring. 



Alice C. Fletcher. 



THE CAROLINE ISLANDS. 



Micronesia, or the 'Little Islands,' is a 

 fitting name given to that portion of the Pacific 

 Ocean lying between 134° and 177° longitude 

 east from Greenwich, and from 2° south to 20"" 

 north latitude. Within these boundaries it is es- 

 timated that there are not far from one thousand 

 islands, divided into four groups, — the Gilbert, 

 Marshall, Caroline, and Ladrone. The La- 

 drone Islands on the north, between 144° and 

 14G° longitude, were discovered by Magellan 



