Mortuary records are also drawn upon slabs of wood. (See Figs. [728] and [729]). Mnemonic devices, notices of departure, distress, etc., are also drawn upon slips of wood.
The examples of the use of wood for pictographs which are illustrated and described in this paper are too numerous for recapitulation; to them, however, may be added the following from Wilkes’s (a) Exploring Expedition, referring to Fig. 160.
Fig. 160.—Pictographs on wood, Washington.
Near an encampment on Chickeeles river, near Puget Sound, Washington, were found some rudely carved painted planks, of which Mr. Eld made a drawing. These planks were placed upright and nothing could be learned of their origin. The colors were exceedingly bright, of a kind of red pigment.
Mr. James O. Pattie (a) gives an account of a wooden passport given to him in 1824 by a Pawnee chief. He describes it, without illustration, as a small piece of wood curiously painted with characters something like “hieroglyphics.” The chief told Mr. Pattie’s party if they saw any of his warriors to give them the stick, in which case they would be kindly treated, which promise was fulfilled a few days later when the party met a large band of the same tribe on the warpath.
SECTION 3.
ARTIFICIAL OBJECTS.
Artificial objects may be classified, so far as is important for the present work, into, I, fictile fabrics and, II, textile fabrics.