ensils and implements._--The proximity of this people to the
Europeans for the last three centuries, while it has not led them to
adopt the white man's civilization in matters of government, religion,
language, manners, and customs, has, nevertheless, induced them to
appropriate for their own use some of the utensils, implements, weapons,
&c., of the strangers. For example, it was easy for the ancestors of
these Indians to see that the iron kettle of the white man was better in
every way than their own earthenware pots. Gradually, therefore, the art
of making pottery died out among them, and now, as I believe, there is
no pottery whatever in use among the Florida Indians. They neither make
nor purchase it. They no longer buy even small articles of earthenware,
preferring tin instead, Iron implements likewise have supplanted those
made of stone. Even their word for stone, "Tcat-to," has been applied
to iron. They purchase hoes, hunting knives, hatchets, axes, and, for
special use in their homes, knives nearly two feet in length. With these
long knives they dress timber, chop meat, etc.

_Weapons._--They continue the use of the bow and arrow, but no longer
for the purposes of war, or, by the adults, for the purposes of hunting.
The rifle serves them much better. It seems to be customary for every
male in the tribe over twelve years of age to provide himself with a
rifle. The bow, as now made, is a single piece of mulberry or other
elastic wood and is from four to six feet in length; the bowstring is
made of twisted deer rawhide; the arrows are of cane and of hard wood
and vary in length from two to four feet; they are, as a rule, tipped
with a sharp conical roll of sheet iron. The skill of the young men in
the use of the bow and arrow is remarkable.

_Weaving and basket making._--The Seminole are not now weavers. Their
few wants for clothing and bedding are supplied by fabrics manufactured
by white men. They are in a small way, however, basket makers. From the
swamp cane, and sometimes from the covering of the stalk of the fan
palmetto, they manufacture flat baskets and sieves for domestic service.

_Uses of the palmetto._--In this connection I call attention to the
inestimable value of the palmetto tree to the Florida Indians. From the
trunk of the tree the frames and platforms of their houses are made; of
its leaves durable water tight roofs are made for the houses; with the
leaves their lodges are covered and beds pro