interval of upwards of three hundred years, has not eradicated the Indian's faith in the virtues of the sacred plant. In the mines of Cerro de Pasco, masticated cocoa is thrown on the hard veins of metal to propitiate the gnomes of the mine, who, it is believed, would otherwise render the mountains impenetrable; and the leaves of the cocoa are secretly placed in the mouth of the dead, to smooth his passage to another world. Thus we find, in the superstitions perpetuated among the Indians of the southern Cordilleras, striking analogies to those which survive among the northern Sioux, and give character to the strange rites they practise at the red pipe-stone quarry, on the Coteau des Prairies.

From among the many Indian traditions connected with that interesting locality, one of those which seem to rpetuate the idea of a general deluge, may best illustrate its most ancient associations. It was narrated to Catlin, by a distinguished Knisteneaux on the Upper Missouri, on the occasion of presenting to him a handsome red-stone pipe. "In the time of a great freshet, which took place many centuries ago, and destroyed all the nations of the earth, all the tribes of the red men assembled on the Coteau des Prairies, to get out of the way of the waters. After they had all gathered here from every part, the water continued to rise, until at length it covered them all in a mass, and their flesh was converted into red pipe-stone. Therefore, it has always been considered neutral ground; it belongs to all tribes alike, and all were allowed to get it and smoke it together. While they were all drowning in a mass, a young woman, Kwaptahw, a virgin, caught hold of the foot of a very large bird that was flying over, and was carried to the top of a high cliff not far ff, that was above the water. Here she had twins, and their father was the war-eagle, and her children have since peopled the earth." The idea that the red pipe

stone is the flesh of their ancestors is a favourite one among different and entirely independent tribes. When Catlin and his party attempted to penetrate to the sacred locality, they were stopped by the Sioux, and one of them addressing him, said: "This red pipe was given to the red men by the Great Spirit. It is a part of our flesh, and therefore is great medicine. We know that the whites are like a great cloud that rises in the east, and will cover the whole country. We know that they will have all our lands; but if ever they get our red-pipe quarry they will have to pay very dear for it." Thus is it that even in the farthest West the Indian feels the fatal touch of that white hand; and to the intrigues of interested white traders is ascribed the encroachment of the Sioux on the sacred neutral ground, where, within memory of living men, every tribe on the Missouri had smoked with their enemies, while the Great Spirit kept the peace among his red children on that spot consecrated by the traditions of ages.

Apart, then, from such indications of superior skill, and a truly artistic power of imitation, by which the ancient pipe-sculptors are distinguished, it becomes an object of some interest with us to observe other elements, either of comparison or contrast, between the memorials of the Mound-Builder's skill, and the numerous specimens of pipe-sculpture produced by modern tribes. Nor are the distinctive points either slight or unimportant.

Notwithstanding the endless variety which characterizes the form of the ancient Mound-Builder's pipes, one general type is traceable through the whole. "They are always carved from a single piece, and consist of a flat curved base, with the bowl rising from the centre of the convex side. From one of the ends, and communicating with the hollow of the bowl, is drilled a small hole, which answers the purpose of a tube; the corresponding opposite

division being left for the manifest purpose of holding the implement to the mouth." The authors of the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley express their conviction, derived from the inspection of hundreds of specimens which have come under their notice, during their explorations of the ancient mounds, that the instrument is complete as found, and was used without any such tube or pipe-stem, as is almost invariably employed by the modern Indian, and also by the modern perfume-loving oriental when he fills his chibouk with the odorous shiraz or mild latakia. It is otherwise with the examples of pipe-heads carved out of the beautiful red pipe-stone, and other favourite materials for the pipesculpture of the modern Indian. It would seem, therefore, that the pipe-stem is one of the characteristics of the modern race; if, indeed, it does not distinguish the northern tribes from Aztec, Toltecan, and other essentially diverse ancient peoples.

The use of tobacco, from the earliest eras of which we can recover a glimpse, pertained both to the northern and southern nations; but the pipe-head would appear to be the emblem of the one, while the pipe-stem gives character to the singular rites and superstitions of the other. The incremated pipe-heads of the ancient MoundBuilders illustrate the sacred usages of the one; while the skill with which the Indian medicine-man decorates the stem of his medicine-pipe, and the awe and reverence with which the whole tribe regard it, abundantly prove the virtues ascribed to that implement of the medicineman's art. May it not be, that in the sacred associations connected with the pipe by the Mound-Builders of the Mississippi Valley, we have indications of contact be tween the migrating race of Southern and Central America, among whom no superstitious pipe usages are traceable, and the tribes of the north where such super

stitions are most intimately interwoven with all their sacred mysteries?

The utmost variety of form and material distinguishes the pipes of the modern Indians; arising in part from the local facilities they possess for a suitable material from which to construct them, and in part also from the special style of art and decoration which has become the traditional usage of the tribe. The favourite red pipe-stone of the Coteau des Prairies has been generally sought after, from the facility with which it can be wrought, and the beauty of its colour and texture, as well as for the mysterious virtues which the ancient superstitions of the tribes have attached to it. But the pipe sculptures of many tribes can be distinguished no less certainly by the material, than by the favourite conventional pattern.

Among the Assinaboin Indians a fine marble is used, much too hard to admit of minute carving, but susceptible of a high polish. This is cut into pipes of graceful form, and made so extremely thin, as to be nearly transparent, so that when lighted the glowing tobacco shines through, and presents a singular appearance when in use at night, or in a dark lodge. Another favourite material is a coarse species of jasper, also too hard to admit of elaborate ornamentation. This also is cut into various simple but tasteful designs, executed chiefly by the slow and laborious process of rubbing it down with other stones. The choice of the material for fashioning the favourite pipe is by no means invariably guided by the facilities which the position of the tribe affords. A suitable stone for such a purpose will be picked up and carried hundreds of miles. Mr. Kane informs me that, in coming down the Athabaska river, when drawing near its source in the Rocky Mountains, he observed his Assinaboin guides select the favourite bluish jasper from among the

water-worn stones in the bed of the river, to carry home for the purpose of pipe manufacture, although they were then fully five hundred miles from their lodges. Such traditional adherence to the choice of a material peculiar to a remote source, as well as the perpetuation of special forms and patterns among the scattered members of the tribe, may frequently prove of considerable value as a clue to former migrations.

Among the Cree Indians a double pipe is occasionally in use, consisting of a bowl carved out of stone without much attempt at ornament, but with perforations on two ides, so that two smokers can insert their pipe-stems at once, and enjoy the same supply of tobacco. This form would seem peculiarly adapted for sealing the new-born amity of ancient foes turned friends; but I have not been able to learn that any special significance is attached to the singular fancy. The Chippewas, on the St. Louis river, at the head of Lake Superior, a branch of the great Algonquin nation, also carve their pipes out of an easily wrought dark close-grained stone; and frequently introduce groups of animals and human figures with considerable artistic skill, but generally with accompaniments which betray the influence of European intercourse on the development of native art.

One of the most celebrated Indian pipe-sculptors is Pabalmesad, or the Flier, an Old Chippewa, still living on the Great Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron; but more generally known as Pwahguneka, the Pipe Maker, literally he makes pipes." Though brought in contact with the Christian Indians of the Manitoulin Islands, he resolutely adheres to the pagan creed and rites of his fathers, and resists all the encroachments of civilisation. His materials are the muhkulda-pwahgunahbeck, or black pipe-stone of Lake Huron, the wahbeparahgunahIck, or white pipe stone, procured on St. Joseph's Island,