Previously, in describing the town of Osachile, which the expedition passed through the preceding year, the Inca states that "the Indians of Florida always seek to locate on a high place the houses of their caciques and lords, when they can not do it for the whole town." He then proceeds to describe how they would construct a mound of earth from two to three pikes in height, with a space on top for ten or twelve to fifteen or twenty houses for the use of the lord and his family and servants—the size of the structure depending on his means and the greatness of his rank. As no large mound exists in that portion of the Florida peninsula where this Osachile one should apparently be located, this, with other statements made by the Inca, should be taken with a grain of salt, excepting in as far as they are corroborated by the other narratives of the expedition.

Probably the earliest definite notice in English of this town is that given by James Adair, who was in the Indian trade for forty years, from 1735 to 1775. In his History of the American Indians he incidentally remarks as follows:

"The great and old beloved town of refuge, Koosah, which "stands high on the eastern side of a bold river, about 250 "yards broad, that runs by the late dangerous Alebahma fort, "down to the black poisoning Mobile, and so into the gulph of "Mexico."

Montgomery, Ala., Jan. 2, 1895.

THE SYMBOLS OF THE SAMOANS.

The national god of the Samoans was a female, who, in conjunction with her consort, were the war gods. In addition to these, each separate district had its own special gods. The priests were the keepers of the emblems of the war gods and were called "warships of the war gods." These emblems or symbols were various, but resembled those which were used by the aborigines of America. The fleets of Manono generally carried two embleme-one a kind of throne, and the latter astreamer, or pennant.

The symbol used by the warrior of Matauta was a conch shell, called "Gods of the Heavens." This was always carried by the keeper of the war god on land when they engaged in battle. In Atua the symbol of the gods' presence was a large box or chest, which was placed upon the canoe of the priest of the war god and accompanied the fleet into battle.

The temples were always in charge of the keepers of the war gods, who were called "warships." The emblems of the god were always placed in these temples. These symbols were consulted as oracles, as the god was supposed to enter into the symbol and deliver answers to the questions asked. The temples were built upon raised platforms and were placed in the principal marae or square of the village, but were built similar to the ordinary dwellings.*

*Rev. John B. Stair in Journal of the Polynesian Society, December, 1894.

Editorial.

SACRED CALENDARS AND ANCIENT CODICES.

One of the most hopeful things connected with the study of American archæology is that so much advance has been made towards the proper understanding of the sign language, the calendar system, the system of time counts, and the various methods of recording events and communicating thought, and that so much certainty has already been reached in reference to the subject. It should be said, moreover, that these results have come from the indefatigable industry of a few individuals in this country and in Europe, and the coöperation of the government in furnishing the facilities for pursuing these studies.

The greatest progress, however, has been made and the best results have been secured in the line of native American symbolism-a line to which we have devoted much thought, and it is therefore gratifying to be able to review the work which these gentlemen have accomplished, and to call attention to the conclusions which they have reached, and especially the benefits which may follow the continued study of the subject. We also take pleasure in acknowledging the aid we ourselves have received in the preparation of these papers.

I. We shall begin with the sign language and the signal system which prevailed among the aborigines, for this is the most primitive stage of American symbolism. There was, to be sure, in the country a vast amount of pictography, which impressed itself upon the rocks as well as upon the tents, blankets, "bark records," "winter counts," mnemonic charts, and which was useful as a means of conveying thought, but as there was very little symbolism contained in it we shall pass it by as belonging to another department,* We would here call attention to the work which has been accomplished by Col. Garrick Mallery, Dr. W. J. Hoffman and Col. Clark in the sign language and in the interpretations which they have secured from the aborigines. It is not certain how the sign language arose, but the resemblance to the language used by deaf mutes and the signs used by the ancient Etruscans would indicate that there is a natural method of communicating thought which does not depend upon speech or the art of writing. The same might be said of the signals used by the natives. While these were inventions among these tribes, they were very natural and practical.

The best work upon pictography is one prepared by Col. Garrick Mallery and published in three different volumes of the Ethnological Bureau.

It is remarkable that the signal service and the telegraph have a history which leads back to the earliest methods of conveying tidings to a distance. These, to be sure, are modern inventions and are the products of civilization, but they were preceded by methods which were at the time very useful and adapted to the circumstances. It would be impossible to describe all of the methods or to show how they came to be adopted. The earliest methods may, perhaps, be learned from the aborigines of the west. One of these consisted in lighting fires and raising columns of smoke of varying lengths, which appeared at intervals, thus resembling the modern telegraph. The manner of doing this was as follows: "The Indian simply takes a blanket and goes to some sightly place; after lighting the fire he places out in the grass and weeds, by which a dense white smoke is created, which arises in a column, he then puts the blanket over the fire and rapidly displaces it, and thus is enabled to cause the column to appear and disappear, the number and frequency, and varying length of the column serving as signs which would be easily understood. The materials used in making smoke would give sufficient diversity in the color to make the signals quite numerous. The material consisted of pine or cedar boughs, or leaves and grass, each of which would make a different colored smoke." This method of signaling is not peculiar to America, for it is practiced in all parts of Australia, the Canary Islands, the peaks of Teneriffe, and something similar to it was common in the Highlands of Scotland. Another method practiced by the modern Indians is as follows: A single horseman goes to a prominent height, where he can be seen by all the camps or villages, and when an enemy appears he rides rapidly around in a circle and occasionally fires off a revolver. Another is to take a mirror and throw a flash of sunlight to a distance, thus anticipating the search lights which are so common now. The most expressive and varied method is one used by the tribes of the west, where there are high precipitous cliffs and deep cañons, making access difficult and requiring some means of communication. It consisted in the person taking the different attitudes of the body, which were understood, some of them naturally expressing alarm, others defiance, others peace and friendship, welcome, direction, submission, inquiry.

Still another method was practiced by the Omahas and Ponkas, who were hunters. It was used at the time to signalize the discovery of buffalo. It consisted in taking a blanket or buffalo robe, holding it with an end in each hand, spreading it out in sight of the people at a distance.

Illustrations of this have been given by Col. Garrick Mallery, who has studied the sign language of the western Indians and learned the interpretations, and has furnished a plate to show the method of signaling by signs practiced among the Pani