tecting the body from the
dampness of the ground are made; the tough fiber which lies between the
stems of the leaves and the bark furnishes them with material from which
they make twine and rope of great strength and from which they could,
were it necessary, weave cloth for clothing; the tender new growth at
the top of the tree is a very nutritious and palatable article of food,
to be eaten either raw or baked; its taste is somewhat like that of the
chestnut; its texture is crisp like that of our celery stalk.

[Illustration: Fig. 73. Mortar and pestle.]

_Mortar and pestle._--The home made mortar and pestle has not yet been
supplanted by any utensil furnished by the trader. This is still the
best mill they have in which to grind their corn. The mortar is made
from a log of live oak (?) wood, ordinarily about two feet in length
and from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter. One end of the log is
hollowed out to quite a depth, and in this, by the hammering of a pestle
made of mastic wood, the corn is reduced to hominy or to the impalpable
flour of which I have spoken. (Fig. 73.)

_Canoe making._--Canoe making is still one of their industrial arts, the
canoe being their chief means of transportation. The Indian settlements
are all so situated that the inhabitants of one can reach those of the
others by water. The canoe is what is known as a "dugout," made from the
cypress log.

_Fire making._--The art of fire making by simple friction is now, I
believe, neglected among the Seminole, unless at the starting of the
sacred fire for the Green Corn Dance. A fire is now kindled either by
the common Ma-tci (matches) of the civilized man or by steel and flint,
powder and paper. "Tom Tiger" showed me how he builds a fire when away
from home. He held, crumpled between the thumb and forefinger of the
left hand, a bit of paper. In the folds of the paper he poured from his
powder horn a small quantity of gunpowder. Close beside the paper he
held also a piece of flint. Striking this flint with a bit of steel and
at the same time giving to the left hand a quick upward movement, he
ignited the powder and paper. From this he soon made a fire among the
pitch pine chippings he had previously prepared.

[Illustration: Fig. 74. Hide stretcher.]

_Preparation of skins._--I did not learn just how the Indians dress deer
skins, but I observed that they had in use and for sale the dried skin,
with the hair of the animal left on it; the b