Fig. 476.—Passamaquoddy wikhegan.
Fig. 476, drawn by a Passamaquoddy, shows how the Indians of the tribe would now address the President of the United States, or the governor of Maine for help, and formerly would have made wikhegan for transmittal to a great chief having power over them. They say by this: “You are at the top of the pole, so no one can be higher than you. From this pole you can see the farthest of your country and can see all your children, and when any of your children come to see you they must work hard to get where you are, on top of the high pole. They must climb up this pole to reach you. You must pity them because they come long ways to see you, the man of power on the high pole.” This kind of wikhegan the old men called kinjemeswi waligoh, homage or salutation to the great chief. It was always in the old time accompanied by a belt of wampum.
A highly interesting illustration and account of a diplomatic packet from the pueblo of Tesuque appears in Schoolcraft (g), and in the same series (h) is a pictograph from the Caroline islands still more in point.
A. W. Howitt (c) reports:
Messengers in central Australia were sent to gather people together for dances from distances even up to 100 miles. Such messengers were painted with red ocher and wore a headdress of feathers.
In calling people together for the ceremonies of Wilyaru or Mindari the messengers were painted with diagonal stripes of yellow ocher, and had their beards tied tightly into a point. They carried a token shaped like a Prince of Wales feather, and made of emu feathers tied tightly with string.
The sending of a handful of red ocher tied up in a small bundle signifies the great Mindari or peace festival. In giving notice of the intention to “make some young men” the messenger takes a handful of charcoal and places a piece in the mouth of each person present without saying a word. This is fully understood to mean the “making of young men” at the Wilyaru ceremony.
The following is a description of a Turkish love letter, which was obtained by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (a) in 1717:
I have got for you a Turkish love letter. * * * The translation of it is literally as follows. The first piece you should pull out of the purse is a little pearl, which must be understood in this manner: