OTHER OCCUPATIONS. 201

immediately after their return from the forest. This solid sap undoubtedly
savours of the resin inherent to the tree from which it is extracted; but,
perhaps owing to that very circumstance, it is considered very wholesome.
Though it is incumbent on the women to gather it for the household, no
hunter will deem it below his dignity to have an occasional thrust at a pine
with his knife or scraper, when he travels alone through the woods.

Occupations of the Hupa Women’.

Acorns are the staff of life for the Hupas, and it belongs to the women
not only to collect them, but also to prepare them for the table—or rather
the mat. The most esteemed acoms are those of the tan bark oak (Quercus
densiflora); but those of the Pacific post oak (Q. Garryana), of the black
oak (Q. Californica), and of the maul oak (Q. chrysolepis) are also occasion-
ally utilized for food. ,

Conical baskets of closely twined material serve in connection with ga-
thering the acorns. When a supply of these has been obtained, they are
spread in the sun to dry. The roof of the house is often used for that pur-
pose, after which they are stored away in large hampers, some of which
measure as much as thirty-nine inches in diameter.

Once the collecting season is over, the acorns are shelled and split,
then dried again, and finally put aside, when the grinding process begins.

This is also the work of the women. A buckskin or cloth is spread on
a hard flat stone set in the earthen floor of the house. On this is placed a
funnel-like basket, the top of which is made firm by a heavy rim turned in
so as to be horizontal. The woman sits with the basket under her legs just
below the knees, and pounds the acorns to a fine powder by means of a
stone pestle. From time to time she takes out the flour and sifts it in a
Shallow basket, over the lower edge of which it runs, while the coarse pieces
are retained for a second pounding.

The next step is to leach the flour. With this end in view, the woman
scoops out the washed sand by the shore of a stream, forming a saucer-
shaped cavity large enough to hold her flour. Having deposited this in the
hole, she builds a fire near by, and heats flat, hard stones, which she drops
into a basket-pot. When the water is nearly scalding hot, she scoops it out
with a cup and pours it on the flour, adding more of the same as it soaks
away. The result of this operation is that the flour loses its bitter taste.

This is now cooked in a water-tight basket, wherein a little water
has been poured, and hot stones are dropped in. Some more water is added
together with freshly heated stones, and the mush is vigorously stirred with
a wooden paddle. When cooked, it is served in small baskets and passed
over to the men.

‘ This section is a digest of what Dr. Goddard has written on the subject.