it a few strokes with a light rod. This caused the
rice to fall into the bottom of the craft. The field was traversed in
this manner back and forth until finished.

This was the pleasantest and easiest part of the harvest toil. The real
work was when they prepared the rice for use. First of all, it must be
made perfectly dry. They would spread it upon buffalo robes and mats,
and sometimes upon layers of coarse swamp grass, and dry it in the sun.
If the time was short, they would make a scaffold and spread upon it a
certain thickness of the green grass and afterward the rice. Under this
a fire was made, taking care that the grass did not catch fire.

When all the rice is gathered and dried, the hulling begins. A round
hole is dug about two feet deep and the same in diameter. Then the rice
is heated over a fire-place, and emptied into the hole while it is hot.
A young man, having washed his feet and put on a new pair of moccasins,
treads upon it until all is hulled. The women then pour it upon a robe
and begin to shake it so that the chaff will be separated by the wind.
Some of the rice is browned before being hulled.

During the hulling time there were prizes offered to the young men who
can hull quickest and best. There were sometimes from twenty to fifty
youths dancing with their feet in these holes.

Pretty moccasins were brought by shy maidens to the youths of their
choice, asking them to hull rice. There were daily entertainments which
deserved some such name as "hulling bee"--at any rate, we all enjoyed
them hugely. The girls brought with them plenty of good things to eat.

When all the rice was prepared for the table, the matter of storing it
must be determined. Caches were dug by each family in a concealed
spot, and carefully lined with dry grass and bark. Here they left their
surplus stores for a time of need. Our people were very ingenious in
covering up all traces of the hidden food. A common trick was to build
a fire on top of the mound. As much of the rice as could be carried
conveniently was packed in par-fleches, or cases made of rawhide, and
brought back with us to our village.

After all, the wild Indians could not be justly termed improvident, when
their manner of life is taken into consideration. They let nothing go
to waste, and labored incessantly during the summer and fall to lay
up provision for the inclement season. Berries of all kinds were
industriously gathered, and dried in the sun. Even