The Later Cave-Men Part 26

It so happened that just as the young men were starting to hunt, the herds were coming back from the forests. And so the young men had great success, and soon all the Cave-men had plenty of food.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A Cave-man's engraving of a reindeer._]

When the young men returned to their homes, they had strange stories to tell. They said that Flaker had brought back the herds by his wonderful magic. They showed the engravings they had made and told of their magical power.

And so wherever stories of Fleetfoot's bravery went, stories of Flaker's magic were told. And just as Fleetfoot worked to learn all the arts of the hunter, so Flaker worked to learn the arts which made him both a priest and a medicine man.

Flaker listened to all the stories that were told by the best hunters.

He questioned them eagerly and learned many things which the hunters themselves soon forgot. He learned the haunts of the wild animals in the various seasons. He knew where to look for the best feeding grounds and the places of shelter from storms.

And so when the fame of Flaker was noised about among all the clans, people came from near and from far to make gifts and to get his advice.

#THINGS TO DO#

_Find soft wood or stone and see if you can engrave some animal on it._

_Find a stick with branches and carve the head of some animal upon the end of the short branches._

_Dramatize this story._

_Draw one of these pictures:_-- _Fleetfoot starting out with his drum._ _Flaker speaking to the young men of the brotherhood._ _Flaker inquiring of returning hunters about the game and the feeding grounds._ _Strangers coming with gifts to get Flaker's advice._

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THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Think of as many simple ways of catching fish as you can. How do you think the Cave-men fished?

What do you think people mean when they say that some one is living a "hand-to-mouth" life?

How do you think people learned to dry meat, fish, or fruit?

Why would the people honor the one who taught them to preserve food by drying it?

Can you think of anything which could be used as food when it was boiled, that would not be a good food eaten raw?

Name a bitter vegetable. What happens to the water in which a bitter vegetable is boiled?

Name a sweet vegetable. What happens to the water in which a sweet vegetable is boiled?

What do you mean by "parboiling?"

Do you think the Cave-men will learn how to boil food?

_How the Cave-men Learned to Boil and to Dry Foods_

Again the salmon feast came, and again the neighboring clans camped at the rapids. This time they caught more salmon than they had ever caught before. And this was the summer that the Cave-men began to dry salmon and to fish with harpoons.

It was Willow-grouse who thought of drying salmon, and carrying it to the caves. She remembered the berries dried on the bushes, and the dried meat she found in a tree. No doubt all the Cave-men had eaten dried meat many times before. Often the Cave-men left strips of meat hanging from the trees.

Anybody could leave meat which he did not care to eat. Anybody could eat meat which had been dried in the sun. But not every one was bright enough to think of drying meat.

Chew-chew had never dried meat, nor had any of the women. It was enough for them to prepare the meat which they needed day by day. Few of the people ever thought of laying up stores for the morrow. They lived a "hand-to-mouth" life.

But Willow-grouse remembered the famines. She knew food was scarce in the early spring. And when she saw the river full of salmon, she thought of the sun-dried meat.

And so Willow-grouse caught some salmon and cleaned them and hung them on the branches of a tree. And when they had dried, she took them down and the Cave-men said that dried salmon were good. And so all the people caught salmon and dried them in the sun.

The first few days the people fished as they had fished before. They waded in the water and caught salmon with their hands, or they stunned them with clubs or with stones. But soon the men began to catch salmon by spearing them with barbed harpoons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Harpoons of reindeer antler used for fis.h.i.+ng._]

Afterward the Cave-men fished with harpoons which had barbs on only one side. Perhaps they first used a broken harpoon. Perhaps they found they could throw with a surer aim when the barbs were on only one side. At any rate, the Cave-men used harpoons with barbs on one side for fis.h.i.+ng, while they used harpoons with barbs on both sides when they went out to hunt.

It was about the time of the salmon feast that people began to boil food. Pigeon first boiled food to eat. She remembered the broth and partly boiled meat which Chew-chew said the G.o.ds had left. And she boiled meat and gave it to the men, and they all sounded her praises.

For a while the only boiling pot Pigeon used was a hole in the ground which she lined with a skin. Then she used a water-tight basket for boiling little things.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A flint harpoon with one barb._]

Pigeon always boiled by dropping hot stones into the water. She had never heard of a boiling-pot which could be hung over the fire. She had never heard of a stove. The Cave-men knew nothing about such things as stoves. It would have done them no good if they had, for their boiling-pots could not stand the heat. So instead of putting the boiling-pot over the fire, the Cave-men brought the fire to the boiling-pot by means of hot stones.

In times of famine, Pigeon learned to boil all sorts of roots and leaves. Many bitter plants, when boiled, were changed so that they tasted very well. Some plants which were poison when eaten raw were changed to good foods by being boiled.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _A spoon-shaped stone made and used by the Cave-men._]

And so the young women had their share in procuring food for the clans. While the young men invented new weapons for hunting, and tried to control the animals by magic, the young women learned to preserve foods and to keep them for times when game was scarce.

When the end of the salmon feast came, the people had dried many salmon. It was soon after this that the young men captured wives and took them to new hunting grounds. And one of the very bravest young men was the one who captured Pigeon.

#THINGS TO DO#

_Find some kind of raw food which you can dry. Dry it and tell what happens. What dried foods do we eat? In what kind of a place do we keep dried foods?_

_Find the best way of boiling bitter vegetables. Tell what happens when you boil them. Find the best way of boiling sweet vegetables._

_Draw one of these pictures:_-- _Catching salmon just below the rapids._ _Drying salmon._ _Pigeon boiling meat for the Cave-men._

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