376 



ACCOUNT OP THE INDIANS. 



each of them a straight channel, of the same 

 size, and of such a shape, that, when borfi are 

 placed together, they form a circular hole. Over 

 this channel, they spread glue, and upon that 

 they sprinkle sand ; and they repeat the opera- 

 tion, until a complete file is formed. The arrow 

 is then placed in the channel, between the two 

 pieces of wood, and is briskly passed backward 

 and forward, until it is reduced to its proper 

 size. Their pipes are made of a soft stone. 

 The bowl, into which the tobacco is put, is cir- 

 cular, and at the bottom it is flat, and much broad- 

 er. These pipes are frequently carved, in a curi- 

 ous manner. The pipe is connected with its 

 stem by a chain, generally made of brass wire, 

 which the Indians obtain from us, and which 

 hangs loosely from one to the other. The stem 

 is of wood, such as has a small pith ; and as their 

 sacred stems are about six feet in length, the 

 manner in which they extract this pith, deserves 

 to be mentioned. They use, for this purpose, a 

 piece of seasoned hard wood. It is sharpened to 

 a point, at one end ; and at a little distance from 

 this, it is reduced to a smaller size, by a perpen- 

 dicular cut around it, by which a kind of head or 

 barb is formed. By pushing this in and drawing 

 it out, the pith is gradually extracted. The wood 

 which forms the handle to this barb, is reduced to 



