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Show XXVI BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY to this end, partly because of the inherent interest of the subject, he has undertaken a comparative study of the creation myths of the Iroquoian and some other tribes. During the later portion of the year the greater part of his time has been devoted to this study, with highly satisfactory results. During his operations among the Mescalero and Jicarilla Apache tribes of New Mexico, mainly for the purpose of gaining knowledge concerning the ceremonial use of the peyote among those people, as recorded in previous paragraphs, Mr James Mooney seized the opportunity of obtaining vocabularies for comparison with cognate dialects, together with the genesis myths. The Mescalero and Jicarilla dialects are practically the same, and the cosmogony of the two tribes is also nearly identical, although they were generally at war with each other, the Mescalero cooperating with the Plains tribes while the Jicarilla were allies of the Ute. Owing to the fact that the Lipan were nearly exterminated a generation ago, and by reason of the isolation of the surviving remnants, doubt has been expressed as to their true affinity; but from a vocabulary obtained by Mr Mooney from members of this tribe associated with the Mescalero on their reservation, it is now known that they speak a well- define< J Athapascan dialect. Such linguistic researches as the present meager knowledge of their language would permit were also conducted by Mr Mooney among the modified Tiwa and Piro Indians on the Rio Grande below El Paso. Returning from the field for the purpose of revising proofs of a memoir on the Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians, in course of composition as a part of the seventeenth annual report, Mr. Mooney remained in the office during the last quarter of the year, occupied, in the intervals of proofreading, by the translation and arrangement of a large collection of Cherokee myths recorded in the original syllabary as well as in the English. Satisfactory progress was made- in preparing the material for publication. During the later part of the year the researches in Indian sign language, which were brought to a close by the death of Colonel Mallery in 1894, were resumed through the collaborat e of Captain, now Colonel, Hugh L. Scott, U. S. A. Colonel Scott was stationed for some years on the frontier, where he |