104 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 3, 1887. 



bank. Seeing a forlorn chance of getting afloat in the 

 next honr or two, I jumped into the dinghy with the grains 

 and poled over to the first channel through our bank. I 

 did not have long to wait, for along came a big shark. 

 He saw me about the time when I let drive the grains. 

 Striking him fair in the back, he darted off, making the 

 line hum as it went over the bow. 1 went down in the 

 stern, grasping the line in both hands, having it rove 

 through the ring in the stem. I waited for the strain; it 

 came soon enough and at right angles to fore and aft, 

 slewing the little boat around. We went off with a rush, 

 making a wake like a tow boat. It was all right enough 

 as long as he stuck to open water, but the rascal, he 

 dodged through the channel, turned the corner and 

 stranded me on the bar, he kept right on with the grains. 

 This made the second pair lost. 



After warping the Bessie off the bar we continued on 

 our course for the creek, missing it by standing on too 

 far and getting our bearings on Low Key; we about ship 

 and finally found it by running on a mud flat at its 

 mouth, hidden by a small mango key. The artist and I 

 took a run up the creek to make observations and found 

 it alive with fish and game. On passing through the 

 creek with the Bessie we had the tide against us, which 

 gave us plenty of exercise with the poles. We worked 

 through to the south side of Key Largo, and stood N. E. 

 for Captain Albury's plantation, where we received a very 

 hearty welcome indeed. He has a large number of acres 

 under cultivation, raising tomatoes, bananas, cocoanuts, 



fineapples, etc. This was the first and only place where 

 saw pineapples thriving. They can be profitably culti- 

 vated as far north as Key Biscayne Bay Keys, for profit 

 but not further north. The land is very broken and 

 stony, and one can step from stone to stone. The soil is 

 remarkably fertile, the produce growing to perfection. 

 We passed a very pleasant afternoon and evening with 

 the family. The next morning they would insist on 

 loading us up with an abundance of the good things 

 from their gardens, one bunch of lady finger bananas 

 being all our cook could carry. We had no pilot now, as 

 we could find the bottom about as readily as he could, so 

 we turned him into a cook without prejudice. The pine- 

 apples, ripe and just off the plants, were fine. 



We were next bound for Taylor's River on the main- 

 land, west of (north from Taverhier Creek. Although the 

 captain told us we drew too much water to reach it, we 

 were bent on trying, so running back through the creek, 

 with fair wind, "we ran north for Taylor's River, keeping 

 to the westward of Low and Walker Keys. After sailing 

 along a narrow sand bar for several miles, we ran through 

 a narrow channel about 15ft. wide and entered Barne's 

 Sound, We found Taylor's River at sunset, after a two 

 days' run. We passed very many game birds on the bars 

 or wading in the shoal spots, including a great many 

 flamingoes, curlews and plover, ducks and cranes. Here 

 we saw our first alligators, there were lots of the bulls 

 bellowing all night. The banks of the river are low and 

 composed of hard yellow clay, which had the appearance 

 from a distance of being rock. All sand and stone had 

 disappeared, and there was nothing but the softest kind 

 of mud on every hand. We cruised up the river for a 

 whole day. The water was about 10ft. deep and 200yds. 

 wide, the low banks covered with palmetto and cane 

 brake growth, and occasionally a broad savannah dotted 

 with islands. Probably in the wet season the whole coun- 

 try is under water; I saw high water marks 10ft. above 

 the banks. It is the most forsaken and forlorn place I 

 ever beheld. The color of the water is brown, the cm-rent 

 sluggish and all one way, showing it to be one of the 

 many outlets of the great everglades and lakes of south- 

 ern Florida. So we left without regret, although it had 

 at first interested us very much. 



Passing along to the westward, we looked for Altahoo- 

 chee River, which is a cut off, leading from Barne's 

 Sound into White Water Bay. Following each bar and 

 shoal we were gradually forced to the southard and then 

 eastward, when we became convinced that Capt. Albury 

 was right. Then to get back was the next move, which 

 it took two more days to accomplish. From the gaff I 

 saw two porpoises near at hand; trying a shot at them 

 with the rifle, they headed outward and ran through a 

 small channel that we had passed, and which proved to 

 be the one we had passed through four days previous, so 

 then and there we toasted the two new pilots with a will 

 as they disappeared to the southward showing us the way 

 to deeper water. 



Again arriving at the channel through the long bar off 

 Tavernier Creek, after an absence of several days cruising 

 we were more than convinced that a boat drawing more 

 than 14in. of water is not suitable for key cruising. 



Our next course was southwest, back to Duck Key and 

 then northwest to Cape Sable, passing between West 

 Horseneck and Middle Shoal and west of Sand Key, reach- 

 ing Cape Sable at sunset of second day. Part of the time 

 we were out of sight of land with 4 to 6ft. of water; dis- 

 tance run, two days sailing from Indian or Channel Key 

 to Sable forty miles. We found a harbor off a creek at 

 Northwest Cape and had an all night drumfish serenade 

 under the boat's bottom. Our tent in the morning was 

 wet with the dew for the first time. 



Ran into Harney's River next day. Shot two pink cur- 

 lews — a beautiful bird. Saw hundreds of alligators. By 

 shooting from the gaff they can be killed as they swim. 

 This is a difficult thing to do from deck, for they only 

 show their eyes and the tip of the nose above water. The 

 ball from deck is apt to skip, when a plunging shot from 

 aloft will kill every time. The 'gator sinks, turning his 

 yellow belly up, and can be easily seen and picked up on 

 one's return several hours afterward. We saw any 

 amount of deer tracks on shore, and finding a crossing on 

 the river we killed two in the evening of about lOOlbs. 

 each, a buck and doe. The mosquitoes after sunset are 

 dreadful; with the hooting of the owl and the bellowing 

 of the 'gators it keeps things pretty lively after nightfall. 

 This is another river full to the brim of everglade water 

 running through a perfectly flat country covered with 

 tall grass and canebrakes, in which lurk bears, deer, 

 wildcats, rattlesnakes and moccasins by the thousand. 

 We see them every day and with the 'gators to keep it 

 lively it cannot be a very nice place for a nervous person 

 to reside in. The artist has a great fondness for bathing, 

 which he gratifies by stripping in the dinghy towing astern, 

 then taking a pail of water and having a shower bath. 

 He went over backward yesterday (the maneuver being 

 caused by a sudden jerk on the painter) into about 10ft. 

 of water, which was alive with sharks. He lost no time 

 in getting on board the dinghy when we cast off the line; 



ordinarily he is the most deliberate man I ever saw; some 

 might call it laziness, but he forgot his deliberation for a 

 minute. 



Running up the several rivers in passing along the 

 coast we found a great similarity in scenery. We stopped 

 at different favorable points on the beach, sometimes for 

 a sketch by the artist, and again for wood for the stove. 

 I have long since on former cruises thrown overboard the 

 oilstove, with all its nastiness. My attention, while walk- 

 ing along the sandy beach hunting rare shells, was one 

 day attracted by the wild exclamations of the artist, who 

 as usual had lingered behind sketching a cabbage palm. 

 Running back and looking to where he pointed I saw 

 rising above the tough beach grass the heads of two large 

 rattlers. Beside them lay the artist's sketch book, and to 

 this day it has remained a mystery why he was not bitten. 

 Keeping at a safe distance he "asked me to hold them 

 while he got the gun out of the sloop. He brought the 

 shotgun and I gave them a barrel apiece, which finished 

 them up in fine shape, and we soon had them stretched 

 out on the sand alongside of tape line. One had twelve 

 rattles and measured 6ft. o^in., the other nine rattles and 

 measured 6ft. ; one measured 14in. in circumference; the 

 odor from them was immense. 



At the Ten Thousand Islands we entered one of the 

 many channels, first at low tide fishing up a bag full of 

 oysters. We cruised among the islands for two days, 

 When after the second day it was only by close attention 

 to the compass that we found our way out of the laby- 

 rinth of deep channels all full of brown swamp water. 

 Some of the islands at a distance showed the foliage as 

 white as snow, froni the droppings of the birds, for here 

 were the roosts of millions of birds of many kinds. Cho- 

 coliska and Casimba keys each contain one immense shell 

 mound, perhaps 100ft. in diameter and 50 to 75ft. in 

 height. There are smaller ones further up the coast. On 

 digging into them we found several kinds of shells per- 

 haps carried there by the Indians. These are the first 

 elevated grounds north of Cape Sable. They are occupied 

 by spongers. At several places in the vicinity there has 

 been a feeble attempt at cocoanut and sugar-cane grow- 

 ing. The soil is rich enough, but the annual overflow 

 causes very uncertain results. It is hard to remember that 

 it is winter, with such perfect weather, enjoying every 

 hour as we cruise along, finding plenty of harbors and a 

 surfeit of game and fish. A full account of all our experi- 

 ence would fill a volume. V. W. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Pith. O. 



"OFFICIAL EXTERMINATION." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In Forest and Stream for Feb. 8 is a communication 

 entitled "Official Extermination," and signed "C. H, H.," 

 which severely criticises Mr. C. H. Townsend for having 

 been instrumental in procuring for ijie IT. S. National 

 Museum the skins and skeletons of sixteen sea elephants. 

 Prof. Baird is also condemned by the author for having 

 instructed Mr. Townsend to obtain these specimens. As 

 Mr. Townsend is by reason of absence unable to speak for 

 himself, I take the liberty of briefly replying for him and 

 furnishing "C. H. A." with the facts in the case. 



Mr. Townsend, while in San Francisco, made arrange- 

 ments with the owners of the schooner Laura to accom- 

 pany that vessel on a sealing trip, for the purpose of 

 obtaining sea elephants, a liberal offer having been made 

 in order that the skins and skeletons of such as might be 

 killed should be preserved for scientific purposes instead 

 of being made into commercial hides or thrown away. 

 This trip was unsuccessful, and Mr. Townsend returned 

 to Washington, leaving his offer still open. On the next 

 trip of the Laura sixteen sea elephants were killed and 

 preserved, although owing to the unfortunate absence of 

 Mr. Townsend the skeletons were rather roughly pre- 

 pared, and reached Washington in a decidedly mixed 

 condition. 



This act of "official extermination" thus resolves itself 

 into the fact that a price was placed on the skins and 

 skeletons of sea elephants sufficiently large to induce the 

 dealers to save them instead of allowing them to rot upon 

 the beach. But for the foresight of Prof. Baird and the 

 energy of Mr. Townsend there would be to-day hardly a 

 specimen to show that this huge animal ever existed, and 

 Mr. Towmsend is to be congratulated on having secured 

 for science even a few immature individuals of this, our 

 largest pinniped. Had the critic's assumptions been cor- 

 l'ect and the "final tragedy" taken place under the eye of 

 Mr. Townsend, it would still have been far better to have 

 secured all the specimens possible for scientific purposes, 

 although at the risk of exterminating the race, than to 

 have left the survivors to the tender mercies of the seal 

 hunters. "C. H. A." himself bemoans the fate that befell 

 the rhytina, the dodo and great auk, and yet he equally 

 bewails the fact that the sea elephant has been rescued 

 from the same rapidly impending doom. For doomed 

 this huge animal was from the moment of its discovery, 

 both by habit and location, and its final extermination 

 has been merely a question of time, and of very little 

 time at that. There is no case on record where 

 sentimental considerations or even a chance of possible 

 future profit has spared the life of a single creature whose 

 death would cause the immediate gain of a single 

 dollar. "After us the deluge" seems to be the motto of 

 the American race, and the sea elephant does but mark 

 the path of extermination down which so many denizens 

 of our woods and waters are being hurried. We learn 

 from Mr. Townsend's paper how the few animals spared 

 by the Liberty in 1884 were promptly swept out of exist- 

 ence by the crew of the next vessel to appear upon the 

 scene, and it is too easy a matter to imagine how long 

 would have been the lives of any spar-ed by the Laura. 

 Lower California is quite beyond the jurisdiction of the 

 United States, but did the territory lie within our 

 boundaries it is the merest folly to suppose that the law 

 which is powerless to protect the seals on the Farallone 

 Islands could do so anyw here else. 



From the sixteen individuals secured, specimens have 

 already been sent to the British Museum, to the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology, the American Museum of Natural 

 • History and the Philadelphia Academy of Science. It is 



just possible that "C. H. A." would prefer that these skins 

 should have been made into leather and their bones left 

 to whiten on the shore, but it is to be hoped that this sup- 

 position is not correct. No one deplores the destruction 

 of animals more than does the present writer, and yet he 

 deems the slaughter of the sea elephants not only justifia- 

 ble but commendable. F. A. L. 

 Washington, Feb. 20, 1887. 



NAVAJO METHODS OF CURING AGUE. 



BY DR. H. C. YARROW. 

 [Read before the Anthropological Society of Washington.] 



FROM the earlier periods of historic time up to the 

 present day, the practice of medicine has partaken 

 largely of an occult and superstitious character, which 

 does not, even with more advanced mental enlightment, 

 improve as we have reason to expect. To-day we hear 

 among our own people of faith and prayer cures for the 

 relief of disease, of the laying on of liands, and of the 

 miraculous effect of certain waters, charms, relics and 

 conjurations, and this being the present civilized status, 

 we should with all charity be tolerant of the peculiar 

 views held with regard to the cure of phj^sical and mental 

 disorders by the Indian doctor and his patient. 



No one will venture to say that the earlier physicians 

 sprang into the performance of healing functions at once; 

 the growth of the art has been gradual, and largely em- 

 pirical, and this has been the case not only with the more 

 civilized races, but also with the savage ones. It is true, 

 as has been stated by our distinguished president and 

 others, that the Indian has no absolute and definite 

 knowledge of the causation of certain diseases, believing 

 that many of them are produced by evil demons, spirits 

 or gods. But that he is absolutely ignorant of the cause 

 and effect with regard to remedial agents I do not believe. 

 If we deny empirical observation to the Indian, we must 

 then ascribe to instinct alone the faculty he evinces in 

 choosing certain herbs, or other medicinal substances for 

 the care of his ailments. Animals are their own physi- 

 cians, and it must be instinct or transmitted hereditary 

 experience which leads them to select particular plants and 

 herbs to relieve occasional ill health. The question may 

 well be asked, what part do instinct and experience play in 

 this choice? Any one familiar with the gradual progress 

 of medical science must admit, if not biased by the views 

 of a particular school, that etiology is not of prime neces- 

 sity in therapeutics, as we find different men of different 

 pathological views, prescribing opposites quite frequently 

 and having equally good success. 



Briefly, it may be said then that the Indian's primary 

 view of disease (excluding surgical injuries) is that it is 

 caused by a bad spirit or evil god, his secondary idea of 

 it being derived from actual empirical observation. 

 And, acting upon these two theories, he applies as best 

 he can the means at his disposal. To meet the necessities 

 of the first he hires his shaman or medicine man, for the 

 second he uses such simples as he has been taught by 

 experience will be of benefit. The Indian is a tolerably 

 fair anatomist and a moderately good surgeon, he seems 

 to understand the relation of certain muscles to the bones, 

 and in his treatment of fractures he often puts to shame 

 his white brother. He knows that in delayed parturition, 

 in some cases prolonged epulsine efforts are necessary; 

 and he has certain methods of bringing about this result 

 which, if not quite as elegant as those taught by the 

 schools and approved by Lucina, are equally effective. 

 This is the result of reasoning pure and simple, and I 

 think we shoidd be unjust did we fail to ascribe to him 

 more reasoning powers and reflections in this regard 

 than whites have usually credited him with. That he 

 believes more than his original theory of the demoniac 

 origin of disease, cannot be doubted, for when he finds 

 that the prayers and incantations of his medicine man 

 fail to relieve his suffering, how sagely in many instances 

 do we find him applying to his white brother for relief. 



It will be noticed that throughout this entire narrative, 

 although the medicine men perform certain rites to dis- 

 lodge the evil spirits, at the same time from the decoctions 

 given, we must infer that they recognized the existence 

 of fever and sought to reduce this by means of diuretics, 

 diaphoretics and sweating, this certainly indicates some- 

 thing more than a mere belief in exorcism by noise and 

 prayers. Crude as the observations may be I have brought 

 them before the society hoping that in the discussion 

 which may f oIIqw we shah be able to obtain an inter- 

 change of opinion which will be of value to all of us who 

 are interested in Indian medicine. 



. I should state that the greater part of the information 

 regarding the Navajo method of curing ague has been 

 furnished me by my friend Mr. A. M. Stephen, of Keam's 

 CafLon, Ariz., well known as a conscientious and careful 

 observer of Indian myths and customs. With this sb'ght 

 introduction I may be permitted to read the notes sent me 

 by Mr. Stephen: 



Keam's Canon, Ariz., Sept. 16, 1886. 



My Dear Doctor— * * * You may remember 

 having met here a Navajo friend of ours, one of their 

 silversmiths, whom we familiarly call "John the Jewel- 

 ler." He went over to the Kohonimo Canon and stayed 

 there four days. The day after leaving the canon he was 

 taken with ague, and every day for twenty subsequent 

 days he had a chill followed by fever and delirium. The 

 strangeness of the disease had an extraordinary depress- 

 ing effect on him, and during these twenty days he was 

 in a state of utter coUapse. He is a medicine man, a 

 minor priest of considerable repute, and numbers of his 

 friends came to see him. But none of them knew aught 

 about, or had ever seen such a disease. The priests and 

 the patient were inclined to attribute it to "a bad smell" 

 emanating from the Kohonimos; but as there was also a 

 band of wandering Pah-Utes there during the time of the 

 patient's visit, they are still uncertain. Possibly the "bad 

 smell" may have' originated with the Pah-Utes. The 

 friends concluded in this emergency to call in the best 

 mediciners of the region. The sequence of the different 

 mediciners in this case may be taken as typical in simi- 

 lar cases, that is, where the patient is suffering from some 

 uncommon or unknown disease, or one considered 

 specially dangerous. 



It is to be understood that each of these mediciners is 

 also a priest, in the sense of being a recognized medium 

 of communication between men and the gods, by virtue 

 of the rites and song-prayers pertaining to the priesthood 

 or fraternity. Each priesthood or fraternity has its own 

 exclusive beliefs, rites, fetiches and song-prayers. Each 



