A favorite method with the bird-hunter during the summer season is to climb a gum tree, which is much frequented by the smaller birds on account of its berries, where, taking up a convenient position amid the branches with his noiseless blowgun and arrows, he deliberately shoots down one bird after another until his shafts are exhausted, when he climbs down, draws out the arrows from the bodies of the birds killed, and climbs up again to repeat the operation. As the light darts used make no sound, the birds seldom take the alarm, and are too busily engaged with the berries to notice their comrades dropping to the ground from time to time, and pay but slight attention even to the movements of the hunter.

The prayer is addressed to the Ancient White (the Fire), the spirit most frequently invoked by the hunter, who, as before stated, rubs his hands together over the fire while repeating the words. The expressions used are obscure when taken alone, but are full of meaning when explained in the light of the hunting customs. The "clotted blood" refers to the bloodstained leaves upon which the fallen game has lain. The expression occurs constantly in the hunting formulas. The hunter gathers up these bloody leaves and casts them upon the fire, in order to draw omens for the morrow from the manner in which they burn. A part of the tongue, or some other portion of the animal, is usually cast upon the coals also for the same purpose. This subject will be treated at length in a future account of the hunting ceremonies.

"Let it be buried in your stomach" refers also to the offering made the fire. By the red hickories are meant the strings of hickory bark which the bird hunter twists about his waist for a belt. The dead birds are carried by inserting their heads under this belt. Red is, of course, symbolic of his success. "The mangled things" (unigwalû'ngï) are the wounded birds. Kana'tï is here used to designate the fire, on account of its connection with the hunting ceremonies.

INAGË'HÏ AYÂSTInYÏ.

Usïnuli'yu Selagwû'tsï Gigage'ï getsû'nneliga tsûdandâgi'hï aye`li'yu, usïnuli'yu. Yû!

Translation.

TO SHOOT DWELLERS IN THE WILDERNESS.

Instantly the Red Selagwû'tsï strike you in the very center of your soul--instantly. Yû!

{p. 373}

Explanation.

This short formula, obtained from A`wani'ta, is recited by the hunter while taking aim. The bowstring is let go--or, rather, the trigger is pulled--at the final Yû! He was unable to explain the meaning of the word selagwû'tsï further than that it referred to the bullet. Later investigation, however, revealed the fact that this is the Cherokee name of a reed of



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