as a candle. This is one of the oldest
ways of making light. It was used thousands of years ago. Many people
now living remember little lamps made in this way.

Poor people often made light by burning pine knots, or bits of pitch
pine chopped out of old stumps. These gave a bright light for a time.
Pitch pine in New England was called candle wood; in the South it was
called light wood.

The commonest light in old times was the tallow candle. This was
sometimes made by dipping a candle wick into melted tallow. Then, when
the tallow had cooled, the candle was dipped again and again. A little
tallow remained on it each time, and at last it was thick enough to
burn. Candles made in this way were called "dips." Better candles were
made by running melted tallow into molds.

Before the Revolution a favorite candle for burning at fine houses was
made of the wax-myrtle berry. This berry is full of a kind of green
wax which came out when it was boiled. When this wax rose to the top
of the pot, it was skimmed off and used for making wax candles. These
candles had a pretty green color, and gave out a delicate perfume when
they were burning. More expensive candles were made of beeswax.

For hundreds of years whale oil was burned in large lamps, and
thousands of whales were killed in order to get the oil. Candles were
also made from spermaceti, which is a substance taken from the head of
the sperm whale.

When the people first settled on Long Island, there were a great many
whales in the sea. Sometimes these whales would run into bays and
other shallow places. When the tide went out, the whale would be left
without water enough to swim in. Sometimes he found himself lying on
the dry ground. Before the white people came, the Long Island Indians
used to kill whales stranded in this way, with spears. The Indians
used the fat of the whale for food. The white people killed them, and
got the oil out of the fat by boiling. This oil they sold for lamp
oil.

Finding that much money could be made by selling whale oil, the people
on Long Island fitted up boats, which they kept always ready along the
seashore. Whenever anybody saw a whale, the boatmen ran to their
boats, and rowed out to kill it. They did not yet know how to go out
to sea in whaling ships as some people in Europe did. After a while
the Long Island people learned to take their small boats out to sea
for miles to look for whales. This way of killing the whales spread
from