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Table of Contents

Geographical Position of this Group, and Physical Features of the Territory—Family Divisions: Apaches, Pueblos, Lower Californians, and Northern Mexicans—the Apache Family: Comanches, Apaches Proper, Hualapais, Yumas, Cosninos, Yampais, Yalchedunes, Yamajabs, Cochees, Cruzados, Nijoras, Navajos, Mojaves, and their Customs—The Pueblo Family: Pueblos, Moquis, Pimas, Maricopas, Papagos, and their Neighbours—The Cochimis, Waicuris, Pericuis, and other Lower Californians—The Seris, Sinaloas, Tarahumares, Conchos, Tepehuanes, Tobosos, Acaxes, and others in Northern Mexico.

The New Mexicans, under which name I group the nations of New Mexico, Arizona, Lower California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, northern Zacatecas, and western Texas, present some peculiarities not hitherto encountered in this work. As a groupal designation, this name is neither more nor less appropriate than some others; all I claim for it is that it appears as fit as any. The term Mexican might with propriety be applied to this group, as the majority of its people live within the Mexican boundary, but that word is employed in the next division, which is yet more strictly of Mexico.

The territory of the New Mexicans, which lies for the most part between the parallels 36° and 23° and the meridians 96° and 117°, presents a great diversity of climate and aspect. On reaching the northern extremity of the Gulf of California, the Sierra Nevada and coast ranges of mountains join and break up into detached upheavals, or as they are called 'lost mountains'; one part, with no great elevation, continuing through the peninsula, another, under the name of Sierra Madre, extending along the western side of Mexico. The Rocky Mountains, which separate into two ranges at about the forty-fifth parallel, continue southward, one branch, known in Utah as the Wahsatch, merging into the Sierra Madre, while the other, the great Cordillera, stretches along the eastern side of Mexico, uniting again with the Sierra Madre in the Mexican table-land. Besides these are many detached and intersecting ranges, between which lie arid deserts, lava beds, and a few fertile valleys. From the sterile sandy deserts which cover vast areas of this territory, rise many isolated groups of almost inaccessible peaks, some of which are wooded, thus affording protection and food for man and beast. Two great rivers, the Colorado and the Rio Grande del Norte flow through this region, one on either side, but, except in certain spots, they contribute little to the fertilization of the country. In the more elevated parts the climate is temperate, sometimes in winter severely cold; but on the deserts and plains, with the scorching sun above and the burning sand beneath, the heat is almost insupportable. The scanty herbage, by which the greater part of this region is covered, offers to man but a transient food-supply; hence he must move from place to place or starve. Thus nature, more than elsewhere on our coast, invites to a roving life; and, as on the Arabian deserts, bands of American Bedouins roam over immense tracts seeking what they may devour. Here it is that many a luckless miner and ill-protected traveler pays the penalty of his temerity with his life; here it is, more than elsewhere within the temperate zones of the two Americas, that the natives bid defiance to the encroachments of civilization. Sweeping down upon small settlements and isolated parties, these American Arabs rob, murder, and destroy, then fleeing to their strongholds bid defiance to pursuers. In the midst of all this we find another phenomenon in the semi-civilized towns-people of New Mexico and Arizona; a spontaneous awakening from the ruder phases of savagism.

The families of this division may be enumerated as follows: The Apaches, under which general name I include all the savage tribes roaming through New Mexico, the north-western portion of Texas, a small part of northern Mexico, and Arizona; the Pueblos, or partially cultivated towns-people of New Mexico and Arizona, with whom I unite, though not town-builders, the non-nomadic Pimas, Maricopas and Pápagos of the lower Gila River; the Lower Californians, who occupy the peninsula; and the Northern Mexicans, which term includes the various nations scattered over the States of Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and northern Zacatecas.

THE APACHES.

To the Apaches, using the term in the signification of a family of this division, no accurate boundaries can be assigned. Owing to their roving proclivities and incessant raids they are led first in one direction and then in another. In general terms they may be said to range about as follows: The Comanches, Jetans, or Nauni, consisting of three tribes, the Comanches proper, the Yamparacks, and Tenawas, inhabiting northern Texas, eastern Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Durango, and portions of south-western New Mexico,636 by language allied to the Shoshone family;637 the Apaches, who call themselves Shis Inday, or 'men of the woods,'638 and whose tribal divisions are the Chiricaguis, Coyoteros, Faraones, Gileños, Lipanes, Llaneros, Mescaleros, Mimbreños, Natages, Pelones, Pinaleños, Tejuas, Tontos and Vaqueros, roaming over New Mexico, Arizona, north-western Texas, Chihuahua and Sonora,639 and who are allied by language to the great Tinneh family;640 the Navajos, or Tenuai, 'men,' as they designate themselves, having linguistic affinities with the Apache nation, with which indeed they are sometimes classed, living in and around the Sierra de los Mimbres;641 the Mojaves, occupying both banks of the Colorado in Mojave Valley; the Hualapais, near the headwaters of Bill Williams Fork; the Yumas, on the east bank of the Colorado, near its junction with the Rio Gila;642 the Cosninos, who like the Hualapais are sometimes included in the Apache nation, ranging through the Mogollon Mountains;643 and the Yampais, between Bill Williams Fork and the Rio Hassayampa.644 Of the multitude of names mentioned by the early Spanish authorities, I only give in addition to the above the Yalchedunes, located on the west bank of the Colorado in about latitude 33° 20´, the Yamajabs, on the east bank of the same river, in about latitude 34°-35°; the Cochees, in the Chiricagui Mountains of Arizona, the Cruzados645 in New Mexico, and finally the Nijoras,646 somewhere about the lower Colorado.647

The Apache country is probably the most desert of all, alternating between sterile plains and wooded mountains, interspersed with comparatively few rich valleys. The rivers do little to fertilize the soil except in spots; the little moisture that appears is quickly absorbed by the cloudless air and arid plains which stretch out, sometimes a hundred miles in length and breadth, like lakes of sand. In both mountain and desert the fierce, rapacious Apache, inured from childhood to hunger and thirst, and heat and cold, finds safe retreat. It is here, among our western nations, that we first encounter thieving as a profession. No savage is fond of work; indeed, labor and savagism are directly antagonistic, for if the savage continues to labor he can but become civilized. Now the Apache is not as lazy as some of his northern brothers, yet he will not work, or if he does, like the Pueblos who are nothing but partially reclaimed Apaches or Comanches, he forthwith elevates himself, and is no longer an Apache; but being somewhat free from the vice of laziness, though subject in an eminent degree to all other vices of which mankind have any knowledge, he presents the anomaly of uniting activity with barbarism, and for this he must thank his thievish propensities. Leaving others to do the work, he cares not whom, the agriculturists of the river-bottoms or the towns-people of the north, he turns Ishmaelite, pounces upon those near and more remote, and if pursued retreats across the jornadas del muerte, or 'journeys of death' as the Mexican calls them, and finds refuge in the gorges, cañons, and other almost impregnable natural fortresses of the mountains.

PHYSIQUE OF APACHES.

The disparity in physical appearance between some of these nations, which may be attributed for the most part to diet, is curious. While those who subsist on mixed vegetable and animal food, present a tall, healthy, and muscular development, hardly excelled by the Caucasian race, those that live on animal food, excepting perhaps the Comanches, are small in stature, wrinkled, shriveled, and hideously ugly.648 All the natives of this family, with the exception of the Apaches proper, are tall, well-built, with muscles strongly developed, pleasing features, although at times rather broad faces, high foreheads, large, clear, dark-colored eyes, possessing generally extraordinary powers of vision, black coarse hair and, for a wonder, beards. Taken as a whole, they are the most perfect specimens of physical manhood that we have yet encountered. While some, and particularly females, are PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES. a light copper color, others again approach near to the dark Californian. Women are generally plumper, inclining more to obesity than the men. Some comely girls are spoken of amongst them, but they grow old early.649 In contradistinction to all this the Apaches proper, or Apache nation, as we may call them, are slim, ill developed, but very agile. Their height is about five feet four to five inches; features described as ugly, repulsive, emotionless, flat, and approaching the Mongol cast, while the head is covered with an unkempt mass of coarse, shocky, rusty black hair, not unlike bristles. The women are not at all behind the men in ugliness, and a pleasing face is a rarity. A feature common to the family is remarkably small feet; in connection with which may be mentioned the peculiarity which obtains on the lower Colorado, of having the large toe widely separated from the others, which arises probably from wading in marshy bottoms. All the tribes whose principal subsistence is meat, and more particularly those that eat horse and mule flesh, are said to exhale a peculiar scent, something like the animals themselves when heated.650

DRESS OF APACHES AND MOJAVES.

All the natives of this region wear the hair much in the same manner, cut square across the forehead, and flowing behind.651 The Mojave men usually twist or plait it, while with the women it is allowed to hang loose. Tattooing is common, but not universal; many of the Mojave women tattoo the chin in vertical lines like the Central Californians, except that the lines are closer together.652 Paint is freely used among the Mojaves, black and red predominating, but the Apaches, Yumas, and others use a greater variety of colors.653 Breech-cloth and moccasins are the ordinary dress of the men,654 while the women have a short petticoat of bark.655 The dress of the Mojaves and Apaches is often more pretentious, being a buckskin shirt, skull-cap or helmet, and moccasins of the same material; the latter, broad at the toes, slightly turned up, and reaching high up on the leg, serve as a protection against cacti and thorns.656 It is a common practice among these tribes to plaster the head and body with mud, which acts as a preventive against vermin and a protection from the sun's rays.657 In their selection of ornaments the Mojaves show a preference for white, intermixed with blue; necklaces and bracelets made from beads and small shells, usually strung together, but sometimes sewed on to leather bands are much in vogue. The Apache nation adopt a more fantastic style in painting and in their head-dress; for ornament they employ deer-hoofs, shells, fish-bones, beads, and occasionally porcupine-quills, with which the women embroider their short deer-skin petticoats.658 The Navajoes, both men and women, wear the hair long, tied or clubbed up behind; they do not tattoo or disfigure themselves with paint.659 The ordinary dress is a species of hunting-shirt, or doublet, of deer-skin, or a blanket confined at the waist by a belt; buckskin breeches, sometimes ornamented up the seams with pieces of silver or porcupine-quills; long moccasins, reaching well up the leg, and a round helmet-shaped cap, also of buckskin, surmounted with a plume of eagle or wild turkey feathers, and fastened with a chin-strap. The women wear a blanket and waist-belt, breeches and moccasins. The belts, which are of buckskin, are frequently richly ornamented with silver. They sometimes also use porcupine-quills, with which they embroider their garments.660

COMANCHE DRESS AND ORNAMENT.

The Comanches of both sexes tattoo the face, and body generally on the breast.661 The men do not cut the hair, but gather it into tufts or plaits, to which they attach round pieces of silver graduated in size from top to bottom; those who cannot obtain or afford silver use beads, tin, or glass.662 Much time is spent by them in painting and adorning their person—red being a favorite color; feathers also form a necessary adjunct to their toilet.663 Some few wear a deer-skin shirt, but the more common dress is the buffalo-robe, which forms the sole covering for the upper part of the body; in addition, the breech-cloth, leggins, and moccasins are worn. The women crop the hair short, and a long shirt made of deer-skin, which extends from the neck to below the knees, with leggins and moccasins, are their usual attire.664

DWELLINGS OF THE APACHES.

Nomadic and roving in their habits, they pay little attention to the construction of their dwellings. Seldom do they remain more than a week in one locality;665 hence their lodges are comfortless, and diversified in style according to caprice and circumstances. The frame-work everywhere is usually of poles, the Comanches placing them erect, the Lipans bringing the tops together in cone-shape, while the Apaches bend them over into a low oval;666 one or other of the above forms is usually adopted by all this family,667 with unimportant differences depending on locality and variations of climate. The framework is covered with brushwood or skins, sometimes with grass or flat stones. They are from twelve to eighteen feet in diameter at the widest part, and vary from four to eight feet in height,668 which is sometimes increased by excavation.669 A triangular opening serves as a door, which is closed with a piece of cloth or skin attached to the top.670 When on or near rocky ground they live in caves, whence some travelers have inferred that they build stone houses.671 A few of the Mojave dwellings are so superior to the others that they deserve special notice. They may be described as a sort of shed having perpendicular walls and sloping roof, the latter supported by a horizontal beam running along the center, the roof projecting in front so as to form a kind of portico. The timber used is cottonwood, and the interstices are filled up with mud or straw.672 None of their houses have windows, the door and smoke-hole in the roof serving for this purpose; but, as many of them have their fires outside, the door is often the only opening.673

NEW MEXICAN DWELLINGS.

Small huts about three feet in height constitute their medicine-lodges, or bath-houses, and are generally in form and material like their other structures.674 The Mojaves also build granaries in a cylindrical form with conical, skillfully made osier roofs.675

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE.

The food of all is similar;676 most of them make more or less pretentions to agriculture, and are habituated to a vegetable diet, but seldom do any of them raise a sufficient supply for the year's consumption, and they are therefore forced to rely on the mesquit-bean, the piñon-nut and the maguey-plant, agave mexicana, and other wild fruits, which they collect in considerable quantities.677 They are but indifferent hunters, and secure only a precarious supply of small game, such as rabbits and squirrels, with ultimate recourse to rats, grasshoppers, lizards and other reptiles.678 A few fish are taken by those living in the neighborhood of rivers.679 The Navajos, Mojaves, and Yumas, have long been acquainted with the art of agriculture and grow corn, beans, pumpkins, melons, and other vegetables, and also some wheat; some attempt a system of irrigation, and others select for their crops that portion of land which has been overflowed by the river. The Navajos possess numerous flocks of sheep, which though used for food, they kill only when requiring the wool for blankets. Although in later years they have cows, they do not make butter or cheese, but only a curd from sour milk, from which they express the whey and of which they are very fond.680

Their method of planting is simple; with a short sharp-pointed stick small holes are dug in the ground into which they drop the seeds, and no further care is given to the crop except to keep it partially free from weeds.681

Maize soaked in water is ground to a paste between two stones. From this paste tortillas, or thin cakes, are made which are baked on a hot stone. To cook the maguey, a hole is made in the ground, in which a fire is kindled; after it has burned some time the maguey-bulb is buried in the hot ashes and roasted. Some concoct a gypsy sort of dish or ollapodrida; game, and such roots or herbs as they can collect, being put in an earthen pot with water and boiled.682

As before mentioned, the roving Apaches obtain most of their food by hunting and plunder; they eat more meat and less vegetable diet than the other Arizona tribes. They have a great partiality for horse-flesh, seldom eat fish, but kill deer and antelope.683 When hunting they frequently disguise themselves in a skin, and imitating closely the habits and movements of the animal, they contrive to approach within shooting-distance.684 Whether it be horse or deer, every portion of the carcass with the exception of the bones, is consumed, the entrails being a special delicacy. Their meat they roast partially in the fire, and eat it generally half raw. When food is plenty they eat ravenously and consume an enormous quantity; when scarce, they fast long and stoically. Most of them hate bear-meat and pork. So Jew-like is the Navajo in this particular that he will not touch pork though starving.685

BUFFALO HUNTING.

The Comanches do not cultivate the soil, but subsist entirely by the chase. Buffalo, which range in immense herds throughout their country, are the chief food, the only addition to it being a few wild plants and roots; hence they may be said to be almost wholly flesh-eaters.686 In pursuit of the buffalo they exhibit great activity, skill, and daring. When approaching a herd, they advance in close column, gradually increasing their speed, and as the distance is lessened, they separate into two or more groups, and dashing into the herd at full gallop, discharge their arrows right and left with great rapidity; others hunt buffalo with spears, but the common and more fatal weapon is the bow and arrow. The skinning and cutting up of the slain animals is usually the task of the women.687 The meat and also the entrails are eaten both raw and roasted. A fire being made in a hole, sticks are ranged round it, meeting at the top, on which the meat is placed. The liver is a favorite morsel, and is eaten raw; they also drink the warm blood of the animal.688 No provision is made for a time of scarcity, but when many buffalo are killed, they cut portions of them into long strips, which, after being dried in the sun, are pounded fine. This pemican they carry with them in their hunting expeditions, and when unsuccessful in the chase, a small quantity boiled in water or cooked with grease, serves for a meal. When unable to procure game, they sometimes kill their horses and mules for food, but this only when compelled by necessity.689 In common with all primitive humanity they are filthy—never bathing except in summer690—with little or no sense of decency.691

WEAPONS.

Throughout Arizona and New Mexico, the bow and arrow is the principal weapon, both in war and in the chase; to which are added, by those accustomed to move about on horseback, the shield and lance;692 with such also the Mexican riata may now occasionally be seen.693 In battle, the Colorado River tribes use a club made of hard heavy wood, having a large mallet-shaped head, with a small handle, through which a hole is bored, and in which a leather thong is introduced for the purpose of securing it in the hand.694 They seldom use the tomahawk. BOW AND LANCE.Some carry slings with four cords attached.695 The bows are made of yew, bois d'arc, or willow, and strengthened by means of deer-sinews, firmly fastened to the back with a strong adhesive mixture. The length varies from four to five feet. The string is made from sinews of the deer.696 A leathern arm-guard is worn round the left wrist to defend it from the blow of the string.697 The arrows measure from twenty to thirty inches, according to length of bow, and the shaft is composed of two pieces; the notch end, which is the longer, consisting of a reed, into which is fitted a shorter piece made of acacia, or some other hard wood, and tipped with obsidian, agate, or iron. It is intended that when an object is struck, and an attempt is made to draw out the arrow, the pointed end shall remain in the wound. There is some difference in the feathering; most nations employing three feathers, tied round the shaft at equal distances with fine tendons. The Tontos have their arrows winged with four feathers, while some of the Comanches use only two. All have some distinguishing mark in their manner of winging, painting, or carving on their arrows.698 The quiver is usually made of the skin of some animal, deer or sheep, sometimes of a fox or wild-cat skin entire with the tail appended, or of reeds, and carried slung at the back or fastened to a waist-belt.699 The lance is from twelve to fifteen feet long, the point being a long piece of iron, a knife or sword blade socketed into the pole.700 Previous to the introduction of iron, their spears were pointed with obsidian or some other flinty substance which was hammered and ground to a sharp edge. The frame of the shield is made of light basket-work, covered with two or three thicknesses of buffalo-hide; between the layers of hide it is usual with the Comanches to place a stuffing of hair, thus rendering them almost bullet proof. Shields are painted in various devices and decorated with feathers, pieces of leather, and other finery, also with the scalps of enemies, and are carried on the left arm by two straps.701

APACHE WARRIORS.

Their fighting has more the character of assassination and murder than warfare. They attack only when they consider success a foregone conclusion, and rather than incur the risk of losing a warrior will for days lie in ambush till a fair opportunity for surprising the foe presents itself.702 The ingenuity of the Apache in preparing an ambush or a surprise is described by Colonel Cremony as follows: "He has as perfect a knowledge of the assimilation of colors as the most experienced Paris modiste. By means of his acumen in this respect, he can conceal his swart body amidst the green grass, behind brown shrubs, or gray rocks, with so much address and judgment that any but the experienced would pass him by without detection at the distance of three or four yards. Sometimes they will envelop themselves in a gray blanket, and by an artistic sprinkling of earth, will so resemble a granite boulder as to be passed within near range without suspicion. At others, they will cover their persons with freshly gathered grass, and lying prostrate, appear as a natural portion of the field. Again they will plant themselves among the Yuccas, and so closely imitate the appearance of that tree as to pass for one of its species."

Before undertaking a raid they secrete their families in the mountain fastnesses, or elsewhere, then two by two, or in greater numbers, they proceed by different routes, to a place of rendezvous, not far from where the assault is to be made or where the ambuscade is to be prepared. When, after careful observation, coupled with the report of their scouts, they are led to presume that little, if any, resistance will be offered them, a sudden assault is made, men, women and children are taken captives, and animals and goods secured, after which their retreat is conducted in an orderly and skillful manner, choosing pathways over barren and rugged mountains which are known only to themselves.703 Held asunder from congregating in large bodies by a meagerness of provisions, they have recourse to a system of signals which facilitates intercourse with each other. During the day one or more columns of smoke are the signals made for the scattered and roaming bands to rendezvous, or they serve as a warning against approaching danger. To the same end at night they used a fire beacon; besides these, they have various other means of telegraphing which are understood only by them, for example, the displacement and arrangement of a few stones on the trail, or a bended twig, is to them a note of warning as efficient, as is the bugle-call to disciplined troops.704

They treat their prisoners cruelly; scalping them, or burning them at the stake; yet, ruled as they are by greediness, they are always ready to exchange them for horses, blankets, beads, or other property. When hotly pursued, they murder their male prisoners, preserving only the females and children, and the captured cattle, though under desperate circumstances they do not hesitate to slaughter the latter.705 The Apaches returning to their families from a successful expedition, are received by the women with songs and feasts, but if unsuccessful they are met with jeers and insults. On such occasions says Colonel Cremony, "the women turn away from them with assured indifference and contempt. They are upbraided as cowards, or for want of skill and tact, and are told that such men should not have wives, because they do not know how to provide for their wants. When so reproached, the warriors hang their heads and offer no excuse for their failure. To do so would only subject them to more ridicule and objurgation; but Indian-like, they bide their time in the hope of finally making their peace by some successful raid." If a Mojave is taken prisoner he is forever discarded in his own nation, and should he return his mother even will not own him.706

COMANCHE WARRIORS.

The Comanches, who are better warriors than the Apaches, highly honor bravery on the battle-field. From early youth, they are taught the art of war, and the skillful handling of their horses and weapons; and they are not allowed a seat in the council, until their name is garnished by some heroic deed.707 Before going on the war-path they perform certain ceremonies, prominent among which is the war-dance.708 They invariably fight on horseback with the bow and arrow, spear and shield, and in the management of these weapons they have no superiors.

Their mode of attack is sudden and impetuous; they advance in column, and when near the enemy form subdivisions charging on the foe simultaneously from opposite sides, and while keeping their horses in constant motion, they throw themselves over the side, leaving only a small portion of the body exposed, and in this position discharge their arrows over the back of the animal or under his neck with great rapidity and precision.709 A few scalps are taken, for the purpose of being used at the war or scalp dance by which they celebrate a victory. Prisoners belong to the captors and the males are usually killed, but women are reserved and become the wives or servants of their owners, while children of both sexes are adopted into the tribe.710 Peace ceremonies take place at a council of warriors, when the pipe is passed round and smoked by each, previous to which an interchange of presents is customary.711

IMPLEMENTS.

Household utensils are made generally of wickerwork, or straw, which, to render them watertight, are coated with some resinous substance. The Mojaves and a few of the Apache tribes have also burnt-clay vessels, such as water-jars and dishes.712 For grinding maize, as before stated, a kind of metate is used, which with them is nothing more than a convex and a concave stone.713 Of agricultural implements they know nothing; a pointed stick, crooked at one end, which they call kishishai, does service as a corn-planter in spring, and during the later season answers also for plucking fruit from trees, and again, in times of scarcity, to dig rats and prairie dogs from their subterranean retreats. Their cradle is a flat board, padded, on which the infant is fastened; on the upper part is a little hood to protect the head, and it is carried by the mother on her back, suspended by a strap.714 Their saddles are simply two rolls of straw covered with deer or antelope skin, which are connected by a strap; a piece of raw hide serves for girths and stirrups. In later years the Mexican saddle, or one approaching it in shape, has been adopted, and the Navajos have succeeded in making a pretty fair imitation of it, of hard ash. Their bridles, which consist of a rein attached to the lower jaw, are very severe on the animal.715 Although not essentially a fish-eating people, the Mojaves and Axuas display considerable ingenuity in the manufacture of fishing-nets, which are noted for their strength and beauty. Plaited grass, or the fibry bark of the willow, are the materials of which they are made.716 Fire is obtained in the old primitive fashion of rubbing together two pieces of wood, one soft and the other hard. The hard piece is pointed and is twirled on the softer piece, with a steady downward pressure until sparks appear.717

NAVAJO BLANKETS.

The Navajos excel all other nations of this family in the manufacture of blankets.718 The art with them is perhaps of Mexican origin, and they keep for this industry large flocks of sheep.719 Some say in making blankets cotton is mixed with the wool, but I find no notice of their cultivating cotton. Their looms are of the most primitive kind. Two beams, one suspended and the other fastened to the ground, serve to stretch the warp perpendicularly, and two slats, inserted between the double warp, cross and recross it and also open a passage for the shuttle, which is simply a short stick with some thread wound around it. The operator sits on the ground, and the blanket, as the weaving progresses, is wound round the lower beam.720 The wool, after being carded, is spun with a spindle resembling a boy's top, the stem being about sixteen inches long and the lower point made to revolve in an earthen bowl by being twirled rapidly between the forefinger and thumb. The thread after being twisted is wound on the spindle, and though not very even, it answers the purpose very well.721 The patterns are mostly regular geometrical figures, among which diamonds and parallels predominate.722 Black and red are the principal variations in color, but blue and yellow are at times seen. Their colors they obtain mostly by dyeing with vegetable substances, but in later years they obtain also colored manufactured materials from the whites, which they again unravel, employing the colored threads obtained in this manner in their own manufactures.723 They also weave a coarse woolen cloth, of which they at times make shirts and leggins.724 Besides pottery of burnt clay, wickerwork baskets, and saddles and bridles, no general industry obtains in this family.725 Featherwork, such as sewing various patterns on skins with feathers, and other ornamental needlework, are also practiced by the Navajos.726

Of the Comanches, the Abbé Domenech relates that they extracted silver from some mines near San Saba, from which they manufactured ornaments for themselves and their saddles and bridles.727

PROPERTY.

They have no boats, but use rafts of wood, or bundles of rushes fastened tightly together with osier or willow twigs, and propelled sometimes with poles; but more frequently they place upon the craft their property and wives, and, swimming alongside of it, with the greatest ease push it before them.728 For their maintenance, especially in latter days, they are indebted in a great measure to their horses, and accordingly they consider them as their most valuable property. The Navajos are larger stock owners than any of the other nations, possessing numerous flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle as well as horses and mules. These, with their blankets, their dressed skins, and peaches which they cultivate, constitute their chief wealth.729 Certain bands of the Apache nation exchange with the agriculturists pottery and skins for grain.730 Among the Navajos, husband and wife hold their property separate, and at their death it becomes the inheritance of the nephew or niece. This law of entail is often eluded by the parents, who before death give their goods to their children.731 Their exchanges are governed by caprice rather than by established values. Sometimes they will give a valuable blanket for a trifling ornament. The Mojaves have a species of currency which they call pook, consisting of strings of shell beads, whose value is determined by the length.732 At the time of Coronado's expedition, in 1540, the Comanches possessed great numbers of dogs, which they employed in transporting their buffalo-skin tents and scanty household utensils.733 When a buffalo is killed, the successful hunter claims only the hide; the others are at liberty to help themselves to the meat according to their necessities.734 In their trading transactions they display much shrewdness, and yet are free from the tricks usually resorted to by other nations.735

ARTS AND CALENDAR.

Their knowledge of decorative art is limited; paintings and sculptures of men and animals, rudely executed on rocks or walls of caverns are occasionally met with; whether intended as hieroglyphical representations, or sketched during the idle moments of some budding genius, it is difficult to determine, owing to the fact that the statements of the various authors who have investigated the subject are conflicting.736 The Comanches display a certain taste in painting their buffalo-robes, shields, and tents. The system of enumeration of the Apaches exhibits a regularity and diffusiveness seldom met with amongst wild tribes, and their language contains all the terms for counting up to ten thousand.737 In this respect the Comanches are very deficient; what little knowledge of arithmetic they have is decimal, and when counting, the aid of their fingers or presence of some actual object is necessary, being, as they are, in total ignorance of the simplest arithmetical calculation. The rising sun proclaims to them a new day; beyond this they have no computation or division of time. They know nothing of the motions of the earth or heavenly bodies, though they recognise the fixedness of the polar star.738

Their social organization, like all their manners and customs, is governed by their wild and migratory life. Government they have none. Born and bred with the idea of perfect personal freedom, all restraint is unendurable.739 The nominal authority vested in the war chief, is obtained by election, and is subordinate to the council of warriors.740 Every father holds undisputed sway over his children until the age of puberty. His power, importance, and influence at the council-fire is determined by the amount of his slaves and other property.741 Those specially distinguished by their cunning and prowess in war, or success in the chase, are chosen as chiefs.

COMANCHE GOVERNMENT.

A chief may at any time be deposed.742 Sometimes it happens that one family retains the chieftaincy in a tribe during several generations, because of the bravery or wealth of the sons.743 In time of peace but little authority is vested in the chief; but on the war path, to ensure success, his commands are implicitly obeyed. It also frequently happens that chiefs are chosen to lead some particular war or marauding expedition, their authority expiring immediately upon their return home.744

Among the Comanches public councils are held at regular intervals during the year, when matters pertaining to the common weal are discussed, laws made, thefts, seditions, murders, and other crimes punished, and the quarrels of warrior-chiefs settled. Smaller councils are also held, in which, as well as in the larger ones, all are free to express their opinion.745 Questions laid before them are taken under consideration, a long time frequently elapsing before a decision is made. Great care is taken that the decrees of the meeting shall be in accordance with the opinion and wishes of the majority. Laws are promulgated by a public crier, who ranks next to the chief in dignity.746

Ancestral customs and traditions govern the decisions of the councils; brute force, or right of the strongest, with the law of talion in its widest acceptance, direct the mutual relations of tribes and individuals.747 Murder, adultery, theft, and sedition are punished with death or public exposure, or settled by private agreement or the interposition of elderly warriors. The doctor failing to cure his patient must be punished by death. The court of justice is the council of the tribe, presided over by the chiefs, the latter with the assistance of sub-chiefs, rigidly executing judgment upon the culprits.748 All crimes may be pardoned but murder, which must pay blood for blood if the avenger overtake his victim.749

All the natives of this family hold captives as slaves;750 some treat them kindly, employing the men as herders and marrying the women; others half-starve and scourge them, and inflict on them the most painful labors.751 Nothing short of crucifixion, roasting by a slow fire, or some other most excruciating form of death, can atone the crime of attempted escape from bondage. They not only steal children from other tribes and sell them, but carry on a most unnatural traffic in their own offspring.752

TREATMENT OF WOMEN.

Womankind as usual is not respected. The female child receives little care from its mother, being only of collateral advantage to the tribe. Later she becomes the beast of burden and slave of her husband. Some celebrate the entry into womanhood with feasting and dancing.753 Courtship is simple and brief; the wooer pays for his bride and takes her home.754 Every man may have all the wives he can buy. There is generally a favorite, or chief wife, who exercises authority over MARRIAGE AND CHILD-BIRTH. the others. As polygamy causes a greater division of labor, the women do not object to it.755 Sometimes a feast of horse-flesh celebrates a marriage.756 All the labor of preparing food, tanning skins, cultivating fields, making clothes, and building houses, falls to the women, the men considering it beneath their dignity to do anything but hunt and fight. The women feed and saddle the horses of their lords; oftentimes they are cruelly beaten, mutilated, and even put to death.757 The marriage yoke sits lightly; the husband may repudiate his wife at will and take back the property given for her; the wife may abandon her husband, but by the latter act she covers him with such disgrace that it may only be wiped out by killing somebody758—anybody whom he may chance to meet. In the event of a separation the children follow the mother. They are not a prolific race; indeed, it is but seldom that a woman has more than three or four children. As usual parturition is easy; but owing to unavoidable exposure many of their infants soon die. The naming of the child is attended with superstitious rites, and on reaching the age of puberty they never fail to change its name.759 Immediately after the birth of the child, it is fastened to a small board, by bandages, and so carried for several months on the back of the mother. Later the child rides on the mother's hip, or is carried on her back in a basket or blanket, which in travelling on horseback is fastened to the pommel of the saddle. Boys are early taught the use of weapons, and early learn their superiority over girls, being seldom or never punished.760

It is a singular fact that of all these people the thievish meat-eating Apache is almost the only one who makes any pretentions to female chastity. All authorities agree that the Apache women both before and after marriage are remarkably pure.761

Yuma husbands for gain surrender not only their slaves, but their wives. Hospitality carries with it the obligation of providing for the guest a temporary wife. The usual punishment for infidelity is the mutilation of the nose or ears, which disfigurement prevents the offender from marrying, and commonly sends her forth as a public harlot in the tribe.762 The seducer can appease the anger of an injured husband by presents, although before the law he forfeits his life. Even sodomy and incestuous intercourse occur among them. Old age is dishonorable.763

AMUSEMENTS.

SMOKING AND DANCING.

They are immoderately fond of smoking, drinking, feasting, and amusements which fill up the many hours of idleness. Dancing and masquerading is the most favorite pastime. They have feasts with dances to celebrate victories, feasts given at marriage, and when girls attain the age of puberty; a ceremonial is observed at the burial of noted warriors, and on other various occasions of private family life, in which both men and women take part. The dance is performed by a single actor or by a number of persons of both sexes to the accompaniment of instruments or their own voices.764 All festivities are incomplete without impromptu songs, the music being anything but agreeable, and the accompaniment corn-stalk or cane flutes, wooden drums, or calabashes filled with stone and shaken to a constantly varying time.765 They also spend much time in gambling, often staking their whole property on a throw, including everything upon their backs. One of these games is played with a bullet, which is passed rapidly from one hand to the other, during which they sing, assisting the music with the motion of their arms. The game consists in guessing in which hand the bullet is held. Another Comanche game is played with twelve sticks, each about six inches in length. These are dropped on the ground and those falling across each other are counted for game, one hundred being the limit.766 Horse-racing is likewise a passion with them;767 as are also all other athletic sports.768 When smoking, the Comanches direct the first two puffs, with much ceremony and muttering, to the sun, and the third puff with a like demonstration is blown toward the earth. When short of tobacco, they make use of the dried leaves of the sumach, of willow-bark, or other plants.769

The Comanches are remarkable for their temperance, or rather abhorrence for intoxicating drink; all the other nations of this family abandon themselves to this subtle demoralization, and are rapidly sinking under it. They make their own spirits out of corn and out of agave americana, the pulque and mescal, both very strong and intoxicating liquors.770

Of all North American Indians the Comanches and Cheyennes are said to be the most skillful riders, and it would be difficult to find their superiors in any part of the world. Young children, almost infants, are tied by their mothers to half-wild, bare-backed mustangs, which place thenceforth becomes their home. They supply themselves with fresh horses from wild droves wandering over the prairies, or from Mexican rancherías. A favorite horse is loved and cherished above all things on earth, not excepting wives or children. The women are scarcely behind the men in this accomplishment. They sit astride, guide the horses with the knee like the men, and catch and break wild colts. In fighting, the Comanches throw the body on one side of the horse, hang on by the heel and shoot with great precision and rapidity. It is beneath the dignity of these horsemen to travel on foot, and in their sometimes long and rapid marches, they defy pursuit.771 Before horses were known they used to transport their household effects on the backs of dogs, which custom even now prevails among some nations.772

COMANCHE CUSTOMS.

The Comanche observes laws of hospitality as strictly as the Arab, and he exacts the observance of his rules of etiquette from strangers. When a visitor enters his dwelling, the master of the house points to him a seat, and how to reach it, and the host is greatly offended if his directions are not strictly followed. Meeting on the prairie, friends as well as enemies, if we may believe Colonel Marcy, put their horses at full speed. "When a party is discovered approaching thus, and are near enough to distinguish signals, all that is necessary to ascertain their disposition is to raise the right hand with the palm in front, and gradually push it forward and back several times. They all understand this to be a command to halt, and if they are not hostile, it will at once be obeyed. After they have stopped, the right hand is raised again as before, and slowly moved to the right and left, which signifies, I do not know you. Who are you? They will then answer the inquiry by giving their signal." Then they inflict on strangers the hugging and face-rubbing remarked among the Eskimos, demonstrating thereby the magnitude of their joy at meeting.773 The various tribes of the Yuma and Mojave nations hold communication with one another by means of couriers or runners, who quickly disseminate important news, and call together the various bands for consultation, hunting, and war. Besides this, there is used everywhere on the prairies, a system of telegraphy, which perhaps is only excelled by the wires themselves. Smoke during the day, and fires at night, perched on mountain-tops, flash intelligence quickly and surely across the plains, giving the call for assistance or the order to disperse when pursued. The advanced posts also inform the main body of the approach of strangers, and all this is done with astonishing regularity, by either increasing or diminishing the signal column, or by displaying it only at certain intervals or by increasing the number.774 In cold weather many of the nations in the neighborhood of the Colorado, carry firebrands in their hands, as they assert for the purpose of warming themselves, which custom led the early visitors to name the Colorado the Rio del Tizon.775

DISEASES AND MEDICINE.

The Comanches stand in great dread of evil spirits, which they attempt to conciliate by fasting and abstinence. When their demons withhold rain or sunshine, according as they desire, they whip a slave, and if their gods prove obdurate, their victim is almost flayed alive. The Navajos venerate the bear, and as before stated, never kill him nor touch any of his flesh.776 Although early writers speak of cannibalism among these people, there is no evidence that they do or ever did eat human flesh.777 In their intercourse they are dignified and reserved, and never interrupt a person speaking. Unless compelled by necessity, they never speak any language but their own, it being barbarous in their eyes to make use of foreign tongues.778

BURIAL OF THE DEAD.

Although endowed generally with robust and healthy constitutions, bilious and malarial fever, pneumonia, rheumatism, dysentery, ophthalmia, measles, small-pox, and various syphilitic diseases are sometimes met among them; the latter occurring most frequently among the Navajos, Mojaves, Yumas, and Comanches. Whole bands are sometimes affected with the last-mentioned disease, and its effects are often visible in their young. A cutaneous ailment, called pintos, also makes its appearance at times.779 For these ailments they have different remedies, consisting of leaves, herbs, and roots, of which decoctions or poultices are made; scarification and the hunger cure are resorted to as well. Among the Mojaves the universal remedy is the sweat-house, employed by them and the other nations not only as a remedy for diseases, but for pleasure. There is no essential difference between their sweat-houses and those of northern nations—an air-tight hut near a stream, heated stones, upon which water is thrown to generate steam, and a plunge into the water afterward. As a cure for the bite of a rattlesnake they employ an herb called euphorbia. Broken or wounded limbs are encased in wooden splints until healed. But frequently they abandon their sick and maimed, or treat them with great harshness.780 Priests or medicine-men possess almost exclusively the secrets of the art of healing. When herbs fail they resort to incantations, songs, and wailings. They are firm believers in witchcraft, and wear as amulets and charms, feathers, stones, antelope-toes, crane's bills, bits of charred wood and the like. Their prophets claim the power of foretelling future events, and are frequently consulted therefor.781 Most of the nations in the vicinity of the Colorado, burn their dead as soon as possible after death, on which occasion the worldly effects of the deceased are likewise spiritualized; utensils, property, sometimes wives, are sent with their master to the spirit land.782 Those that do not burn the dead, bury them in caves or in shallow graves, with the robes, blankets, weapons, utensils, and ornaments of the deceased. The Comanches frequently build a heap of stones over the grave of a warrior, near which they erect a pole from which a pair of moccasins is suspended.783 After burying the corpse, they have some mourning ceremonies, such as dances and songs around a fire, and go into mourning for a month. As a sign of grief they cut off the manes and tails of their horses, and also crop their own hair and lacerate their bodies in various ways; the women giving vent to their affliction by long continued howlings. But this applies only to warriors; children, and old men, are not worth so ostentatious a funeral.784 The name of a deceased person is rarely mentioned, and the Apaches are shy of admitting strangers to a celebration of funeral ceremonies, which mostly take place at night. In general they are averse to speaking upon the subject of death at all. The Navajos, says Mr. Davis, "have a superstitious dread of approaching a dead body, and will never go near one when they can avoid it."785

NEW MEXICAN CHARACTER.

In the character of the several nations of this division there is a marked contrast. The Apaches as I have said, though naturally lazy like all savages, are in their industries extremely active—their industries being theft and murder, to which they are trained by their mothers, and in which they display consummate cunning, treachery, and cruelty.786 The Navajos and Mojaves display a more docile nature; their industries, although therein they do not claim to eschew all trickery, being of a more peaceful, substantial character, such as stock-raising, agriculture, and manufactures. Professional thieving is not countenanced. Though treacherous, they are not naturally cruel; and though deaf to the call of gratitude, they are hospitable and socially inclined. They are ever ready to redeem their pledged word, and never shrink from the faithful performance of a contract. They are brave and intelligent, and possess much natural common sense.787 The Tamajabs have no inclination to share in marauding excursions. Though not wanting in courage, they possess a mild disposition, and are kind to strangers.788 The Comanches are dignified in their deportment, vain in respect to their personal appearance, ambitious of martial fame, unrelenting in their feuds, always exacting blood for blood, yet not sanguinary. They are true to their allies, prizing highly their freedom, hospitable to strangers, sober yet gay, maintaining a grave stoicism in presence of strangers, and a Spartan indifference under severe suffering or misfortune. Formal, discreet, and Arab-like, they are always faithful to the guest who throws himself upon their hospitality. To the valiant and brave is awarded the highest place in their esteem. They are extremely clannish in their social relations. Quarrels among relatives and friends are unheard of among them.789

THE PUEBLOS.

The non-nomadic semi-civilized town and agricultural peoples of New Mexico and Arizona, the second division of this group, I call the Pueblos, or Towns-people, from pueblo, town, population, people, a name given by the Spaniards to such inhabitants of this region as were found, when first discovered, permanently located in comparatively well-built towns. Strictly speaking, the term Pueblos applies only to the villagers settled along the banks of the Rio Grande del Norte and its tributaries, between latitudes 34° 45´ and 36° 30´, and although the name is employed as a general appellation for this division, it will be used, for the most part, only in its narrower and popular sense. In this division, besides the before-mentioned Pueblos proper, are embraced the Moquis, or villagers of eastern Arizona, and the non-nomadic agricultural nations of the lower Gila River—the Pimas, Maricopas, Pápagos, and cognate tribes. The country of the Towns-people, if we may credit Lieutenant Simpson, is one of "almost universal barrenness," yet interspersed with fertile spots; that of the agricultural nations, though dry, is more generally productive. The fame of this so-called civilization reached Mexico at an early day; first through Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions, who belonged to the expedition under the unfortunate Pámphilo de Narvaez, traversing the continent from Florida to the shore of the gulf of California; they brought in exaggerated rumors of great cities to the north, which prompted the expeditions of Marco de Niza in 1539, of Coronado in 1540, and of Espejo in 1586. These adventurers visited the north in quest of the fabulous kingdoms of Quivira, Tontonteac, Marata and others, in which great riches were said to exist. The name of Quivira was afterwards applied by them to one or more of the pueblo cities. The name Cíbola, from cíbolo, Mexican bull, bos bison, or wild ox of New Mexico, where the Spaniards first encountered buffalo, was given to seven of the towns which were afterwards known as the seven cities of Cíbola. But most of the villages known at the present day were mentioned in the reports of the early expeditions by their present names. The statements in regard to the number of their villages differed from the first. Castañeda speaks of seven cities.790 The following list, according to Lieutenant Whipple's statement, appears to be the most complete. Commencing north, and following the southward course of the Rio Grande del Norte; Shipap, Acoti, Taos, Picuris, San Juan, Pojuaque, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Nambe, Tesuque, Cochite, Pecos, Santo Domingo, Cuyamanque, Silla, Jemez, San Felipe, Galisteo, Santa Ana, Zandia, Laguna, Acoma, Zuñi, Isleta, and Chilili.791 The Moquis who speak a distinct language, and who have many customs peculiar to themselves, inhabit seven villages, named Oraibe, Shumuthpa, Mushaiina, Ahlela, Gualpi, Siwinna, and Tegua.792

By the Spanish conquest of New Mexico the natives were probably disturbed less than was usually the case with the vanquished race; the Pueblos being well-domiciled and well-behaved, and having little to be stolen, the invaders adopted the wise policy of permitting them to work in peace, and to retain the customs and traditions of their forefathers as they do, many of them, to this day. Attempts have been made to prove a relationship with the civilized Aztecs of Mexico, but thus far without success. No affinities in language appear to exist; that of the Moquis, indeed, contains a few faint traces of and assimilations to Aztec words, as I shall show in the third volume of this work, but they are not strong enough to support any theory of common origin or relationship.793

PIMAS AND PÁPAGOS.

The Pimas inhabit the banks of the Gila River about two hundred miles above its confluence with the Colorado. Their territory extends from about the bend of the Gila up the river to a place called Maricopa Coppermine; northward their boundary is the Salt River, and south the Picacho. They are generally divided, and known as the upper and lower Pimas, which branches show but slight dialectic differences. When first seen their territory extended further southward into Sonora. The Pápagos, their neighbors, are closely allied to them by language. In nowise related to them, but very similar in their manners and customs, are the Maricopas, who reside in their immediate vicinity, and who claim to have migrated to that place some centuries ago, from a more westerly territory.

All these people, although not dwelling in houses built, like those of the Pueblos, of solid materials, have settled villages in which they reside at all times, and are entirely distinct from the roving and nomadic tribes described in the Apache family. When first found by the Spaniards, they cultivated the soil, and knew how to weave cotton and other fabrics; in fact it was easily observable that they had made a step toward civilization. I therefore describe them together with the Pueblos. The region occupied by them, although containing some good soil, is scantily provided with water, and to enable them to raise crops, they are obliged to irrigate, conducting the water of the Gila to their fields in small canals. The water obtained by digging wells is frequently brackish, and in many places they are forced to carry all the water needed for household purposes quite a long distance. The climate is claimed to be one of the hottest on the American continent.

The Pueblos, and Moqui villagers, are a race of small people, the men averaging about five feet in height, with small hands and feet, well-cut features, bright eyes, and a generally pleasing expression of countenance.794 Their hair is dark, soft, and of fine texture, and their skin a clear shade of brown.795 The woman seldom exceed four feet in height, with figure rotund, but a graceful carriage, and face full, with pretty, intelligent features and good teeth.796 Albinos are at times seen amongst them, who are described as having very fair complexions, light hair, and blue or pink eyes.797

DRESS OF THE PUEBLOS.

The Pimas and their neighbors are men of fine physique, tall and bony, many of them exceeding six feet in height, broad-chested, erect, and muscular, but frequently light-limbed with small hands, though the feet of both sexes are large. They have large features, expressive of frankness and good nature, with prominent cheek-bones and aquiline nose, those of the women being somewhat retroussés.798 The females are symmetrically formed, with beautifully tapered limbs, full busts, pleasing features, embellished with white and evenly set teeth.799 Their coarse hair grows to a great length and thickness, and their dark complexion becomes yet darker toward the south.800 The ordinary dress of the Pueblos is the breech-cloth and blanket; some add a blouse of cotton or deer-skin, a waist-belt, and buckskin leggins and moccasins. The women wear a long, cotton, sleeveless tunic, confined round the waist by a colored girdle, a species of cape bordered in different colors, fastened round the neck at the two corners, and reaching down to the waist, while over the head a shawl is thrown. The feet are protected by neat moccasins of deer-skin or woolen stuff, surmounted by leggins of the same material. They have a habit of padding the leggins, which makes them appear short-legged with small feet.801 The men bind a handkerchief or colored band round the head. Young women dress the hair in a peculiarly neat and becoming style. Parting it at the back, they roll it round hoops, when it is fastened in two high bunches, one on each side of the head, placing sometimes a single feather in the center; married women gather it into two tight knots at the side or one at the back of the head; the men cut it in front of the ears, and in a line with the eye-brows, while at the back it is plaited or gathered into a single bunch, and tied with a band.801 On gala occasions they paint and adorn themselves in many grotesque styles; arms, legs, and exposed portions of the body are covered with stripes or rings, and conical-shaped head-dresses; feathers, sheep-skin wigs, and masks, are likewise employed.802 The habiliments of the Pimas are a cotton serape of their own manufacture, a breech-cloth, with sandals of raw-hide or deer-skin. Women wear the same kind of serape, wound round the loins and pinned, or more frequently tucked in at the waist, or fastened with a belt in which different-colored wools are woven; some wear a short petticoat of deer-skin or bark.803 They wear no head-dress. Like the Pueblos, the men cut the hair short across the forehead, and either plait it in different coils behind, which are ornamented with bits of bone, shells, or red cloth, or mix it with clay, or gather it into a turban shape on top of the head, leaving a few ornamented and braided locks to hang down over the ears.804 Each paints in a manner to suit the fancy; black, red, and yellow are the colors most in vogue, black being alone used for war paint. Some tattoo their newly born children round the eyelids, and girls, on arriving at the age of maturity, tattoo from the corners of the mouth to the chin. Some tribes oblige their women to cut the hair, others permit it to grow.805 For ornament, shell and bead necklaces are used; also ear-rings of a blue stone found in the mountains.806 The dwellings of the PIMA AND MARICOPA DWELLINGS. agricultural Pimas, Maricopas, and Pápagos consist of dome-shaped huts, either round or oval at the base. There are usually thirty or more to a village, and they are grouped with some regard to regularity. Strong forked stakes are firmly fixed in the ground at regular distances from each other, the number varying according to the size of the hut, cross-poles are laid from one to the other, around these are placed cotton-wood poles, which are bent over and fastened to the transverse sticks, the structure is then wattled with willows, reeds, or coarse straw, and the whole covered with a coat of mud. The only openings are an entrance door about three feet high, and a small aperture in the center of the roof that serves for ventilation. Their height is from five to seven feet, and the diameter from twenty to fifty. Outside stands a shed, open at all sides with a roof of branches or corn-stalks, under which they prepare their food. Their houses are occupied mainly during the rainy season; in summer they build light sheds of twigs in their corn-fields, which not only are more airy, but are also more convenient in watching their growing crops. Besides the dwelling-place, each family has a granary, similar in shape and of like materials but of stronger construction; by frequent plastering with mud they are made impervious to rain.807 The towns of the Pueblos are essentially unique, and are the dominant feature of these aboriginals. Some of them are situated in valleys, others on mesas; sometimes they are planted on elevations almost inaccessible, reached only by artificial grades or by steps cut in the solid rock. Some of the towns are of an elliptical shape, while others are square, a town being frequently but a block of buildings. Thus a Pueblo consists of one or more squares, each enclosed by three or four buildings of from three to four hundred feet in length, and about one hundred and fifty feet in width at the base, and from two to seven stories of from eight to nine feet each in height. The buildings forming the square do not meet, but in some cases are connected by bridges or covered gangways, and in some instances the houses project over the streets below, which being narrow, are thus given an underground appearance. The stories are built in a series of gradations or retreating surfaces, decreasing in size as they rise, thus forming a succession of terraces.

In some of the towns these terraces are on both sides of the building; in others they face only toward the outside; while again in others they are on the inside. In front of the terraces is a parapet, which serves as a shelter for the inhabitants when forced to defend themselves against an attack from the outside. These terraces are about six feet wide, and extend round the three or four sides of the square, forming a walk for the occupants of the story resting upon it, and a roof for the story beneath; so with the stories above. As there is no inner communication with one another, the only means of mounting to them is by ladders which stand at convenient distances along the several rows of terraces, and they may be drawn up at pleasure, thus cutting off all unwelcome intrusion. The outside walls of one or more of the lower stories are entirely solid, having no openings of any kind, with the exception of, in some towns, a few loopholes. All the doors and windows are on the inside opening on the court. The several stories of these huge structures are divided into multitudinous compartments of greater or lesser size, which are apportioned to the several families of the tribe. Access is had to the different stories by means of the ladders, which at night and in times of danger are drawn up after the person entering. To enter the rooms on the ground floor from the outside, one must mount the ladder to the first balcony or terrace, then descend through a trap door in the floor by another ladder on the inside. The roofs or ceilings, which are nearly flat, are formed of transverse beams which slope slightly outward, the ends resting on the side walls; on these, to make the floor and terrace of the story above, is laid brush wood, then a layer of bark or thin slabs, and over all a thick covering of mud sufficient to render them water-tight. The windows in the upper stories are made of flakes of selenite instead of glass. The rooms are large, the substantial partitions are made of wood, and neatly whitewashed. The apartments on the ground floor are gloomy, and generally used as store-rooms; those above are sometimes furnished with a small fireplace, the chimney leading out some feet above the terrace. PUEBLO HOUSES. Houses are common property, and both men and women assist in building them; the men erect the wooden frames, and the women make the mortar and build the walls. In place of lime for mortar, they mix ashes with earth and charcoal. They make adobes or sun-dried bricks by mixing ashes and earth with water, which is then moulded into large blocks and dried in the sun. Some of the towns are built with stones laid in mud. Captain Simpson describes several ruined cities, which he visited, which show that the inhabitants formerly had a knowledge of architecture and design superior to any that the Pueblos of the present day possess. Yet their buildings are even now well constructed, for although several stories in height, the walls are seldom more than three or four feet in thickness. The apartments are well arranged and neatly kept; one room is used for cooking, another for grinding corn and preserving winter supplies of food, others for sleeping-rooms. On the balconies, round the doors opening upon them, the villagers congregate to gossip and smoke, while the streets below, when the ladders are drawn up, present a gloomy and forsaken appearance. Sometimes villages are built in the form of an open square with buildings on three sides, and again two or more large terraced structures capable of accommodating one or two thousand people are built contiguous to each other, or on opposite banks of a stream. In some instances the outer wall presents one unbroken line, without entrance or anything to indicate the busy life within; another form is to join the straight walls, which encompass three sides of a square, by a fourth circular wall; in all of which the chief object is defense. The Pueblos take great pride in their picturesque and, to them, magnificent structures, affirming that as fortresses they have ever proved impregnable. To wall out black barbarism was what the Pueblos wanted, and to be let alone; under these conditions time was giving them civilization.808

PUEBLO ESTUFAS.

The sweat-house, or as the Spaniards call it, the estufa, assumes with the Pueblos the grandest proportions. Every village has from one to six of these singular structures. A large, semi-subterranean room, it is at once bath-house, town-house, council-chamber, club-room, and church. It consists of a large excavation, the roof being about on a level with the ground, sometimes a little above it, and is supported by heavy timbers or pillars of masonry. Around the sides are benches, and in the center of the floor a square stone box for fire, wherein aromatic plants are kept constantly burning. Entrance is made by means of a ladder, through a hole in the top placed directly over the fire-place so that it also serves as a ventilator and affords a free passage to the smoke. Usually they are circular in form and of both large and small dimensions; they are placed either within the great building or underground in the court without. In some of the ruins they are found built in the center of what was once a pyramidal pile, and four stories in height. At Jemez the estufa is of one story, twenty-five feet wide by thirty feet high. The ruins of Chettro Kettle contain six estufas, each two or three stories in height. At Bonito are estufas one hundred and seventy-five feet in circumference, built in alternate layers of thick and thin stone slabs. In these subterranean temples the old men met in secret council, or assembled in worship of their gods. Here are held dances and festivities, social intercourse, and mourning ceremonies. Certain of the Pueblos have a custom similar to that practiced by some of the northern tribes, the men sleeping in the sweat-house with their feet to the fire, and permitting women to enter only to bring them food. The estufas of Tiguex were situated in the heart of the village, built underground, both round and square, and paved with large polished stones.809

HOW FOOD IS OBTAINED.

From the earliest information we have of these nations they are known to have been tillers of the soil; and though the implements used and their methods of cultivation were both simple and primitive, cotton, corn, wheat, beans, with many varieties of fruits, which constituted their principal food, were raised in abundance. The Pueblos breed poultry to a considerable extent; fish are eaten whenever obtainable, as also a few wild animals, such as deer, hares, and rabbits, though they are indifferent hunters.810 The Pápagos, whose country does not present such favorable conditions for agriculture are forced to rely for a subsistence more upon wild fruits and animals than the nations north of them. They collect large quantities of the fruit of the pitahaya (cereus giganteus), and in seasons of scarcity resort to whatever is life-sustaining, not disdaining even snakes, lizards, and toads.811 Most of these people irrigate their lands by means of conduits or ditches, leading either from the river or from tanks in which rain-water is collected and stored for the purpose. These ditches are kept in repair by the community, but farming operations are carried on by each family for its own separate benefit, which is a noticeable advance from the usual savage communism.812 Fishing nets are made of twisted thread or of small sticks joined together at the ends. When the rivers are low, fish are caught in baskets or shot with arrows to which a string is attached.813 The corn which is stored for winter use, is first par-boiled in the shuck, and then suspended from strings to dry; peaches are dried in large quantities, and melons are preserved by peeling and removing the seeds, when they are placed in the sun, and afterward hung up in trees. Meal is ground on the metate and used for making porridge, tortillas, and a very thin cake called guayave, which latter forms a staple article of food amongst the Pueblos. The process of making the guayave, as seen by Lieutenant Simpson at Santo Domingo on the Rio Grande, is thus described in his journal. "At the house of the governor I noticed a woman, probably his wife, going through the process of baking a very thin species of corn cake, called, according to Gregg, guayave. She was hovering over a fire, upon which lay a flat stone. Near her was a bowl of thin corn paste, into which she thrust her fingers; allowing then the paste to drip sparingly upon the stone, with two or three wipes from the palm of her hand she would spread it entirely and uniformly over the stone; this was no sooner done than she peeled it off as fit for use; and the process was again and again repeated, until a sufficient quantity was obtained. When folded and rolled together, it does not look unlike (particularly that made from the blue corn) a hornet's nest—a name by which it is sometimes called." The Pimas do all their cooking out of doors, under a shed erected for the purpose. They collect the pulp from the fruit of the pitahaya, and boiling it in water, make a thick syrup, which they store away for future use. They also dry the fruit in the sun like figs.814

The Pueblos and Moquis are remarkable for their personal cleanliness and the neatness of their dwellings.815

PUEBLO WEAPONS.

Their weapons are bows and arrows, spears, and clubs. The Pueblos use a crooked stick, which they throw somewhat in the manner of the boomerang; they are exceedingly skillful in the use of the sling, with a stone from which they are said to be able to hit with certainty a small mark or kill a deer at the distance of a hundred yards. For defense, they use a buckler or shield made of raw hide. Their arrows are carried in skin quivers or stuck in the belt round the waist.816 Bows are made of willow, and are about six feet in length, strung with twisted deer-sinews; arrows are made of reeds, into which a piece of hard wood is fitted.817 The Pimas wing their war arrows with three feathers and point them with flint, while for hunting purposes they have only two feathers and wooden points.818 It has been stated that they poison them, but there does not appear to be good foundation for this assertion.819 Clubs, which are used in hand-to-hand combats, are made of a hard, heavy wood, measuring from twenty to twenty-four inches in length. In former days they were sharpened by inserting flint or obsidian along the edge.820

WAR CEREMONIES.

The Pimas wage unceasing war against the Apaches, and the Pueblos are ever at enmity with their neighbors, the Navajos. The Pueblos are securely protected by the position and construction of their dwellings, from the top of which they are able to watch the appearance and movements of enemies, and should any be daring enough to approach their walls, they are greeted by a shower of stones and darts. As an additional protection to their towns, they dig pitfalls on the trails leading to them, at the bottom of which sharp-pointed stakes are driven, the top of the hole being carefully covered.821 Expeditions are sometimes organized against the Navajos for the recovery of stolen property. On such occasions the Towns-people equip themselves with the heads, horns, and tails of wild animals, paint the body and plume the head.822 Lieutenant Simpson mentions a curious custom observed by them, just previous to going into action. "They halted on the way to receive from their chiefs some medicine from the medicine bags which each of them carried about his person. This they rubbed upon their heart, as they said, to make it big and brave." The Pueblos fight on horseback in skirmishing order, and keep up a running fight, throwing the body into various attitudes, the better to avoid the enemies' missiles, at the same time discharging their arrows with rapidity.823 The Pimas, who fight usually on foot, when they decide on going to war, select their best warriors, who are sent to notify the surrounding villages, and a place of meeting is named where a grand council is held. A fire being lighted and a circle of warriors formed, the proceedings are opened by war songs and speeches, their prophet is consulted, and in accordance with his professional advice, their plan of operations is arranged.824 The attack is usually made about day-break, and conducted with much pluck and vigor. They content themselves with proximate success, and seldom pursue a flying foe.825 During the heat of battle they spare neither sex nor age, but if prisoners are taken, the males are crucified or otherwise cruelly put to death, and the women and children sold as soon as possible.826 The successful war party on its return is met by the inhabitants of the villages, scalps are fixed on a pole, trophies displayed, and feasting and dancing indulged in for several days and nights; if unsuccessful, mourning takes the place of feasting, and the death-cries of the women resound through the villages.827

PUEBLO TRADE.

For farming implements they use plows, shovels, harrows, hatchets, and sticks, all of wood.828 Baskets of willow-twigs, so closely woven as to be water-tight, and ornamented with figures; and round, baked, and glazed earthen vessels, narrow at the top, and decorated with paintings or enamel, are their household utensils.829 For mashing hulled corn they used the metate, a Mexican implement, made of two stones, one concave and the other convex, hereafter more fully described. Among their household utensils there must also be mentioned hair sieves, hide ropes, water-gourds, painted fans, stone pipes, and frame panniers connected with a netting to carry loads on their backs.830 In their manufacture of blankets, of cotton and woolen cloths, and stockings, the Pueblos excel their neighbors, the Navajos, although employing essentially the same method, and using similar looms and spinning instruments, as have been described in the preceding pages. Although the women perform most of this work, as well as tanning leather, it is said that the men also are expert in knitting woolen stockings. According to Mühlenpfordt the Pimas and Maricopas make a basket-boat which they call cora, woven so tight as to be water-proof without the aid of pitch or other application.831 All these nations, particularly the Pueblos, have great droves of horses, mules, donkeys, cattle, sheep, and goats grazing on the extensive plains, and about their houses poultry, turkeys, and dogs. The flocks they either leave entirely unprotected, or else the owner herds them himself, or from each village one is appointed by the war captain to do so. The Pápagos carry on an extensive trade in salt, taken from the great inland salt lakes. Besides corn, they manufacture and sell a syrup extracted from the pitahaya.832 The laws regulating inheritance of property are not well defined. Among some there is nothing to inherit, as all is destroyed when the person dies; among others the females claim the right of inheritance; at other times the remaining property is divided among all the members of the tribe. In general they care but little for gold, and all their trade, which at times is considerable, is carried on by barter; a kind of blue stone, often called turquoise, beads, skins, and blankets, serving the purpose of currency.833

The Pueblos display much taste in painting the walls of their estufas, where are represented different plants, birds, and animals symmetrically done, but without any scenic effect. Hieroglyphic groupings, both sculptured and painted, are frequently seen in the ancient Pueblo towns, depicting, perhaps, their historical events and deeds. With colored earths their pottery is painted in bright colors.834 Many Spanish authors mention a great many gold and silver vessels in use amongst them, and speak of the knowledge they had in reducing and working these metals; but no traces of such art are found at present.835

LAWS OF THE PUEBLOS.

Among the Pueblos an organized system of government existed at the time of Coronado's expedition through their country; Castañeda, speaking of the province of Tiguex, says that the villages were governed by a council of old men; and a somewhat similar system obtains with these people at the present time. Each village selects its own governor, frames its own laws, and in all respects they act independently of each other. The governor and his council are elected annually by the people; all affairs of importance and matters relating to the welfare of the community are discussed at the estufa; questions in dispute are usually decided by a vote of the majority. All messages and laws emanating from the council-chamber are announced to the inhabitants by town criers. The morals of young people are carefully watched and guarded by a kind of secret police, whose duty it is to report to the governor all irregularities which may occur; and especial attention is given that no improper intercourse shall be allowed between the young men and women, in the event of which the offending parties are brought before the governor and council and, if guilty, ordered to marry, or if they refuse they are restricted from holding intercourse with each other, and if they persist they are whipped. Among their laws deserves to be particularly mentioned one, according to which no one can sell or marry out of the town until he obtains permission from the authorities.836 In the seven confederate pueblos of the Moquis, the office of chief governor is hereditary; it is not, however, necessarily given to the nearest heir, as the people have the power to elect any member of the dominant family. The governor is assisted by a council of elders, and in other respects the Moqui government is similar to that of the other towns.837 The Pimas and Maricopas have no organized system of government, and are not controlled by any code of laws; each tribe or village has a chief to whom a certain degree of respect is conceded, but his power to restrain the people is very limited; his influence over them is maintained chiefly by his oratorical powers or military skill. In war the tribe is guided by the chief's advice, and his authority is fully recognized, but in time of peace his rule is nominal; nor does he attempt to control their freedom or punish them for offences. The chief's office is hereditary, yet an unpopular ruler may be deposed and another chosen to fill his place.838

WOMEN AMONG THE PUEBLOS.

Among the Pueblos the usual order of courtship is reversed; when a girl is disposed to marry she does not wait for a young man to propose to her, but selects one to her own liking and consults her father, who visits the parents of the youth and acquaints them with his daughter's wishes. It seldom happens that any objections to the match are made, but it is imperative on the father of the bridegroom to reimburse the parents of the maiden for the loss of their daughter. This is done by an offer of presents in accordance with his rank and wealth. The inhabitants of one village seldom marry with those of another, and, as a consequence, intermarriage is frequent among these families—a fertile cause of their deterioration. The marriage is always celebrated by a feast, the provisions for which are furnished by the bride, and the assembled friends unite in dancing and music. Polygamy is never allowed, but married couples can separate if they are dissatisfied with each other; in such a contingency, if there are children, they are taken care of by the grandparents, and both parties are free to marry again; fortunately, divorces are not of frequent occurrence, as the wives are always treated with respect by their husbands.839 To the female falls all indoor work, and also a large share of that to be done out of doors. In the treatment of their children these people are careful to guide them in the ways of honesty and industry, and to impress their minds with chaste and virtuous ideas. Mothers bathe their infants with cold water, and boys are not permitted to enter the estufas for the purpose of warming themselves; if they are cold they are ordered to chop wood, or warm themselves by running and exercise.840 A girl's arrival at the age of puberty among the Gila nations is a period of much rejoicing; when the first symptoms appear, all her friends are duly informed of the important fact, and preparations are made to celebrate the joyful event. The girl is taken by her parents to the prophet, who performs certain ceremonies, which are supposed to drive the evil out of her, and then a singing and dancing festival is held. When a young man sees a girl whom he desires for a wife, he first endeavors to gain the good will of the parents; this accomplished, he proceeds to serenade his lady-love, and will often sit for hours, day after day, near her house, playing on his flute. Should the girl not appear it is a sign she rejects him; but if, on the other hand, she comes out to meet him, he knows that his suit is accepted, and he takes her to his house. No marriage ceremony is performed. Among the Pápagos the parents select a husband for their daughter to whom she is, so to say, sold. It not unfrequently happens that they offer their daughter at auction, and she is knocked down to the highest bidder. However, among all the nations of this family, whether the bridegroom makes a love-match or not, he has to recompense the parents with as much as his means will permit.841 Although polygamy is not permitted, they often separate and marry again at pleasure. Women, at the time of their confinement as well as during their monthly periods, must live apart; as they believe that if any male were to touch them, he would become sick. The children are trained to war, and but little attention given to teaching them useful pursuits. All the household labor is performed by the women; they also assist largely in the labors of the field; severe laws oblige them to observe the strictest chastity, and yet, at their festivals, much debauchery and prostitution take place.842

With but few exceptions, they are temperate in drinking and smoking. Intoxicating liquors they prepare out of the fruits of the pitahaya, agave, aloe, corn, mezcal, prickly pear, wild and cultivated grapes. Colonel Cremony says that the Pimas and Maricopas 'macerate the fruit of the pitahaya (species of cactus) in water after being dried in the sun, when the saccharine qualities cause the liquid to ferment, and after such fermentation it becomes highly intoxicating. It is upon this liquor that the Maricopas and Pimas get drunk once a year, the revelry continuing for a week or two at a time; but it is also an universal custom with them to take regular turns, so that only one third of the party is supposed to indulge at one time, the remainder being required to take care of their stimulated comrades, and protect them from injuring each other or being injured by other tribes.'843 All are fond of dancing and singing; in their religious rites, as well as in other public and family celebrations, these form the chief diversion. Different PUEBLO DANCES. dances are used on different occasions; for example, they have the arrow, scalp, turtle, fortune, buffalo, green-corn, and Montezuma dances. Their costumes also vary on each of these occasions, and not only are grotesque masks, but also elk, bear, fox, and other skins used as disguises. The dance is sometimes performed by only one person, but more frequently whole tribes join in, forming figures, shuffling, or hopping about to the time given by the music. Lieutenant Simpson, who witnessed a green-corn dance at the Jemez pueblo, describes it as follows:

'When the performers first appeared, all of whom were men, they came in a line, slowly walking and bending and stooping as they approached. They were dressed in a kirt of blanket, the upper portion of their bodies being naked and painted red. Their legs and arms, which were also bare, were variously striped with red, white and blue colors; and around their arms, above the elbow, they wore a green band, decked with sprigs of piñon. A necklace of the same description was worn around the neck. Their heads were decorated with feathers. In one hand they carried a dry gourd, containing some grains of corn; in the other, a string from which were hung several tortillas. At the knee were fastened small shells of the ground turtle and antelope's feet; and dangling from the back, at the waist, depended a fox-skin. The party was accompanied by three elders of the town, whose business it was to make a short speech in front of the different houses, and, at particular times, join in the singing of the rest of the party. Thus they went from house to house, singing and dancing, the occupants of each awaiting their arrival in front of their respective dwellings.'

A somewhat similar Moqui dance is described by Mr. Ten Broeck. Some of the Pueblo dances end with bacchanalia, in which not only general intoxication, but promiscuous intercourse between the sexes is permitted.844 'Once a year,' says Kendall, 'the Keres have a great feast, prepared for three successive days, which time is spent in eating, drinking and dancing. Near this scene of amusement is a dismal gloomy cave, into which not a glimpse of light can penetrate, and where places of repose are provided for the revellers. To this cave, after dark, repair grown persons of every age and sex, who pass the night in indulgences of the most gross and sensual description.'

Reed flutes and drums are their chief instruments of music; the former they immerse in a shallow basin of water, and thereby imitate the warbling of birds. The drum is made of a hollow log, about two and a half feet long and fifteen inches in diameter. A dried hide, from which previously the hair has been scraped, is stretched over either end, and on this the player beats with a couple of drumsticks, similar to those used on our kettle-drums. Gourds filled with pebbles and other rattles, are also used as a musical accompaniment to their dances.845

CUSTOMS OF PIMAS AND PÁPAGOS.

The Cocomaricopas and Pimas are rather fond of athletic sports, such as football, horse and foot racing, swimming, target-shooting, and of gambling.846 Many curious customs obtain among these people. Mr. Walker relates that a Pima never touches his skin with his nails, but always uses a small stick for that purpose, which he renews every fourth day, and wears in his hair. Among the same nation, when a man has killed an Apache, he must needs undergo purification. Sixteen days he must fast, and only after the fourth day is he allowed to drink a little pinole. During the sixteen days he may not look on a blazing fire, nor hold converse with mortal man; he must live in the woods companionless, save only one person appointed to take care of him. On the seventeenth day a large space is cleared off near the village, in the center of which a fire is lighted. The men form a circle round this fire, outside of which those who have been purified sit, each in a small excavation. Certain of the old men then take the weapons of the purified and dance with them in the circle; for which service they receive presents, and thenceforth both slayer and weapon are considered clean, but not until four days later is the man allowed to return to his family. They ascribe the origin of this custom to a mythical personage, called Szeukha, who, after killing a monster, is said to have fasted for sixteen days.

The Pápagos stand in great dread of the coyote, and the Pimas never touch an ant, snake, scorpion, or spider, and are much afraid of thunderstorms. Like the Mojaves and Yumas, the Maricopas in cold weather carry a firebrand to warm themselves withal. In like manner the Pueblos have their singularities and semi-religious ceremonies, many of which are connected with a certain mythical personage called Montezuma. Among these may be mentioned the perpetual watching of the eternal estufa-fire, and also the daily waiting for the rising sun, with which, as some writers affirm, they expectantly look for the promised return of the much-loved Montezuma. The Moqui, before commencing to smoke, reverently bows toward the four cardinal points.847

Their diseases are few; and among these the most frequent are chills and fevers, and later, syphilis. The Pueblos and Moquis resort to the sweat-house remedy, but the Pimas only bathe daily in cold running water. Here, as elsewhere, the doctor is medicine-man, conjuror, and prophet, and at times old women are consulted. If incantations fail, emetics, purgatives, or blood-letting are prescribed.848

The Pimas bury their dead immediately after death. At the bottom of a shaft, about six feet deep, they excavate a vault, in which the corpse is placed, after having first been tied up in a blanket. House, horses, and most personal effects are destroyed; but if children are left, a little property is reserved for them. A widow or a daughter mourns for three months, cutting the hair and abstaining from the bath during that time. The Maricopas burn their dead. Pueblo and Moqui burials take place with many ceremonies, the women being the chief mourners.849

CHARACTER OF THE PUEBLOS.

Industrious, honest, and peace-loving, the people of this division are at the same time brave and determined, when necessity compels them to repel the thieving Apache. Sobriety may be ranked among their virtues, as drunkenness only forms a part of certain religious festivals, and in their gambling they are the most moderate of barbarians.850

The Lower Californians present a sad picture. Occupying the peninsula from the head of the gulf to Cape San Lucas, it is thought by some that they were driven thither from Upper California by their enemies. When first visited by the Missionary Fathers, they presented humanity in one of its lowest phases, though evidences of a more enlightened people having at some previous time occupied the peninsula were not lacking. Clavigero describes large caves or vaults, which had been dug out of the solid rock, the sides decorated with paintings of animals and figures of men, showing dress and features different from any of the inhabitants. Whom they represented or by whom they were depicted there is no knowledge, as the present race have been unable to afford any information on the subject.

LOWER CALIFORNIA.

The peninsula extends from near 32° to 23° north latitude; in length it is about seven hundred, varying in width from thirty-five to eighty miles. Its general features are rugged; irregular mountains of granite formation and volcanic upheavals traversing the whole length of the country, with barren rocks and sandy plains, intersected by ravines and hills. Some fertile spots and valleys with clear mountain streams are there, and in such places the soil produces abundantly; then there are plains of greater or less extent, with rich soil, but without water; so that, under the circumstances, they are little more than deserts. These plains rise in places into mesas, which are cut here and there by cañons, where streams of water are found, which are again lost on reaching the sandy plains. Altogether, Lower California is considered as one of the most barren and unattractive regions in the temperate zone, although its climate is delightful, and the mountain districts especially are among the healthiest in the world, owing to their southern situation between two seas. A curious meteorological phenomenon is sometimes observed both in the gulf and on the land; it is that of rain falling during a perfectly clear sky. Savants, who have investigated the subject, do not appear to have discovered the cause of this unusual occurrence.

The greater part of the peninsula, at the time of its discovery, was occupied by the Cochimís, whose territory extended from the head of the gulf to the neighborhood of Loreto, or a little south of the twenty-sixth parallel; adjoining them were the Guaicuris, living between latitude 26° and 23° 30´; while the Pericúis were settled in the southern part, from about 23° 30´ or 24° to Cape San Lucas, and on the adjacent islands.851

The Lower Californians are well formed, robust and of good stature, with limbs supple and muscular; they are not inclined to corpulence; their features are somewhat heavy, the forehead low and narrow, the nose well set on, but thick and fleshy; the inner corners of the eyes round instead of pointed; teeth very white and regular, hair very black, coarse, straight, and glossy, with but little on the face, and none upon the body or limbs. The color of the skin varies from light to dark brown, the former color being characteristic of the dwellers in the interior, and the latter of those on the sea-coast.852

COCHIMÍ AND PERICÚI DRESS.

Adam without the fig-leaves was not more naked than were the Cochimís before the missionaries first taught them the rudiments of shame. They ignored even the usual breech-cloth, the only semblance of clothing being a head-dress of rushes or strips of skin interwoven with mother-of-pearl shells, berries, and pieces of reed. The Guaicuris and Pericúis indulge in a still more fantastic head-dress, white feathers entering largely into its composition. The women display more modesty, for, although scantily clad, they at least essay to cover their nakedness. The Pericúi women are the best dressed of all, having a petticoat reaching from the waist to the ankles, made from the fibre of certain palm-leaves, and rendered soft and flexible by beating between two stones. Over the shoulders they throw a mantle of similar material, or of plaited rushes, or of skins. The Cochimí women make aprons of short reeds, strung upon cords of aloe-plant fibres fastened to a girdle. The apron is open at the sides, one part hanging in front, the other behind. As they are not more than six or eight inches wide, but little of the body is in truth covered. When traveling they wear sandals of hide, which they fasten with strings passed between the toes.853 Both sexes are fond of ornaments; to gratify this passion, they string together pearls, shells, fruit-stones and seeds in the forms of necklaces and bracelets. In addition to the head-dress the Pericúis are distinguished by a girdle highly ornamented with pearls and mother-of-pearl shells. They perforate ears, lips, and nose, inserting in the openings, shells, bones, or hard sticks. Paint in many colors and devices is freely used on war and gala occasions; tattooing obtains, but does not appear to be universal among them. Mothers, to protect them against the weather, cover the entire bodies of their children with a varnish of coal and urine. Cochimí women cut the hair short, but the men allow a long tuft to grow on the crown of the head. Both sexes among the Guaicuris and Pericúis wear the hair long and flowing loosely over the shoulders.854

Equally Adamitic are their habitations. They appear to hold a superstitious dread of suffocation if they live or sleep in covered huts; hence in their rare and meagre attempts to protect themselves from the inclemencies of the weather, they never put any roof over their heads. Roving beast-like in the vicinity of springs during the heat of the day, seeking shade in the ravines and overhanging rocks; at night, should they desire shelter, they resort to caverns and holes in the ground. During winter they raise a semi-circular pile of stones or brushwood, about two feet in height, behind which, with the sky for a roof and the bare ground for a bed, they camp at night. Over the sick they sometimes throw a wretched hut, by sticking a few poles in the ground, tying them at the top and covering the whole with grass and reeds, and into this nest visitors crawl on hands and knees.855

LOWER CALIFORNIAN FOOD.

Reed-roots, wild fruit, pine-nuts, cabbage-palms, small seeds roasted, and also roasted aloe and mescal roots constitute their food. During eight weeks of the year they live wholly on the redundant fat-producing pitahaya, after which they wander about in search of other native vegetable products, and when these fail they resort to hunting and fishing. Of animal food they will eat anything—beasts, birds, and fishes, or reptiles, worms, and insects; and all parts: flesh, hide, and entrails. Men and monkeys, however, as articles of food are an abomination; the latter because they so much resemble the former. The gluttony and improvidence of these people exceed, if possible, those of any other nation; alternate feasting and fasting is their custom. When so fortunate as to have plenty they consume large quantities, preserving none. An abominable habit is related of them, that they pick up the undigested seeds of the pitahaya discharged from their bowels, and after parching and grinding them, eat the meal with much relish. Clavigero, Baegert, and other authors, mention another rather uncommon feature in the domestic economy of the Cochimís; it is that of swallowing their meat several times, thereby multiplying their gluttonous pleasures. Tying to a string a piece of well-dried meat, one of their number masticates it a little, and swallows it, leaving the end of the string hanging out of the mouth; after retaining it for about two or three minutes in his stomach, it is pulled out, and the operation repeated several times, either by the same individual or by others, until the meat becomes consumed. Here is Father Baegert's summary of their edibles: "They live now-a-days on dogs and cats; horses, asses and mules; item: on owls, mice and rats; lizards and snakes; bats, grasshoppers and crickets; a kind of green caterpillar without hair, about a finger long, and an abominable white worm of the length and thickness of the thumb."856

Their weapon is the bow and arrow, but they use stratagem to procure the game. The deer-hunter deceives his prey by placing a deer's head upon his own; hares are trapped; the Cochimís throw a kind of boomerang or flat curved stick, which skims the ground and breaks the animal's legs. Fish are taken from pools left by the tide and from the sea, sometimes several miles out, in nets and with the aid of long lances. It is said that at San Roche Island they catch fish with birds. They also gather oysters, which they eat roasted, but use no salt. They have no cooking utensils, but roast their meat by throwing it into the fire and after a time raking it out. Insects and caterpillars are parched over the hot coals in shells. Fish is commonly eaten raw; they drink only water.857 It is said that they never wash, and it is useless to add that in their filthiness they surpass the brutes.858

Besides bows and arrows they use javelins, clubs, and slings of cords, from which they throw stones. Their bows are six feet long, very broad and thick in the middle and tapering toward the ends, with strings made from the intestines of animals. The arrows are reeds about thirty inches in length, into the lower end of which a piece of hard wood is cemented with resin obtained from trees, and pointed with flint sharpened to a triangular shape and serrated at the edges. Javelins are sharpened by first hardening in the fire and then grinding to a point; they are sometimes indented like a saw. Clubs are of different forms, either mallet-head or axe shape; they also crook and sharpen at the edge a piece of wood in the form of a scimeter.859

Their wars, which spring from disputed boundaries, are frequent and deadly, and generally occur about fruit and seed time. The battle is commenced amidst yells and brandishing of weapons, though without any preconcerted plan, and a tumultuous onslaught is made without regularity or discipline, excepting that a certain number are held in reserve to relieve those who have expended their arrows or become exhausted. While yet at a distance they discharge their arrows, but soon rush forward and fight at close quarters with their clubs and spears; nor do they cease till many on both sides have fallen.860

IMPLEMENTS IN LOWER CALIFORNIA.

Their implements and household utensils are both rude and few. Sharp flints serve them instead of knives; a bone ground to a point answers the purpose of a needle or an awl; and with a sharp-pointed stick roots are dug. Fire is obtained in the usual way from two pieces of wood. When traveling, water is carried in a large bladder. The shell of the turtle is applied to various uses, such as a receptacle for food and a cradle for infants.

The Lower Californians have little ingenuity, and their display of mechanical skill is confined to the manufacture of the aforesaid implements, weapons of war, and of the chase; they make some flat baskets of wicker work, which are used in the collection of seeds and fruits; also nets from the fibre of the aloe, one in which to carry provisions, and another fastened to a forked stick and hung upon the back, in which to carry children.861

For boats the inhabitants of the peninsula construct rafts of reeds made into bundles and bound tightly together; they are propelled with short paddles, and seldom are capable of carrying more than one person. In those parts where trees grow a more serviceable canoe is made from bark, and sometimes of three or more logs, not hollowed out, but laid together side by side and made fast with withes or pita-fibre cords. These floats are buoyant, the water washing over them as over a catamaran. On them two or more men will proceed fearlessly to sea, to a distance of several miles from the coast. To transport their chattels across rivers, they use wicker-work baskets, which are so closely woven as to be quite impermeable to water; these, when loaded, are pushed across by the owner, who swims behind.862

Besides their household utensils and boats, and the feathers or ornaments on their persons, I find no other property. They who dwell on the sea-coast occasionally travel inland, carrying with them sea-shells and feathers to barter with their neighbors for the productions of the interior.863

They are unable to count more than five, and this number is expressed by one hand; some few among them are able to understand that two hands signify ten, but beyond this they know nothing of enumeration, and can only say much or many, or show that the number is beyond computation, by throwing sand into the air and such like antics. The year is divided into six seasons; the first is called Mejibo, which is midsummer, and the time of ripe pitahayas; the second season Amaddappi, a time of further ripening of fruits and seeds; the third Amadaappigalla, the end of autumn and beginning of winter; the fourth, which is the coldest season, is called Majibel; the fifth, when spring commences, is Majiben; the sixth, before any fruits or seeds have ripened, consequently the time of greatest scarcity, is called Majiibenmaaji.864

Neither government nor law is found in this region; every man is his own master, and administers justice in the form of vengeance as best he is able. As Father Baegert remarks: 'The different tribes represented by no means communities of rational beings, who submit to laws and regulations and obey their superiors, but resembled far more herds of wild swine, which run about according to their own liking, being together to-day and scattered to-morrow, till they meet again by accident at some future time. In one word, the Californians lived, salva venia, as though they had been free-thinkers and materialists.' In hunting and war they have one or more chiefs to lead them, who are selected only for the occasion, and by reason of superior strength or cunning.865

MARRIAGE.

Furthermore, they have no marriage ceremony, nor any word in their language to express marriage. Like birds or beasts they pair off according to fancy. The Pericúi takes as many women as he pleases, makes them work for him as slaves, and when tired of any one of them turns her away, in which case she may not be taken by another. Some form of courtship appears to have obtained among the Guaicuris; for example, when a young man saw a girl who pleased him, he presented her with a small bowl or basket made of the pita-fibre; if she accepted the gift, it was an evidence that his suit was agreeable to her, and in return she gave him an ornamented head-dress, the work of her own hand; then they lived together without further ceremony. Although among the Guaicuris and Cochimís some hold a plurality of wives, it is not so common as with the Pericúis, for in the two first-mentioned tribes there are more men than women. A breach of female chastity is sometimes followed by an attempt of the holder of the woman to kill the offender; yet morality never attained any great height, as it is a practice with them for different tribes to meet occasionally for the purpose of holding indiscriminate sexual intercourse. Childbirth is easy; the Pericúis and Guaicuris wash the body of the newly born, then cover it with ashes; as the child grows it is placed on a frame-work of sticks, and if a male, on its chest they fix a bag of sand to prevent its breasts growing like a woman's, which they consider a deformity. For a cradle the Cochimís take a forked stick or bend one end of a long pole in the form of a hoop, and fix thereto a net, in which the infant is placed and covered with a second net. It can thus be carried over the shoulder, or when the mother wishes to be relieved, the end of the pole is stuck in the ground, and nourishment given the child through the meshes of the net. When old enough the child is carried astride on its mother's shoulders. As soon as children are able to get food for themselves, they are left to their own devices, and it sometimes happens that when food is scarce the child is abandoned, or killed by its parents.866

LOWER CALIFORNIAN FEAST.

Nevertheless, these miserables delight in feasts, and in the gross debauchery there openly perpetrated. Unacquainted with intoxicating liquors, they yet find drunkenness in the fumes of a certain herb smoked through a stone tube, and used chiefly during their festivals. Their dances consist of a series of gesticulations and jumpings, accompanied by inarticulate murmurings and yells. One of their great holidays is the pitahaya season, when, with plenty to eat, they spend days and nights in amusements; at such times feats of strength and trials of speed take place. The most noted festival among the Cochimís occurs upon the occasion of their annual distribution of skins. To the women especially it was an important and enjoyable event. Upon an appointed day all the people collected at a designated place. In an arbor constructed with branches, the road to which was carpeted with the skins of wild animals that had been killed during the year, their most skillful hunters assembled; they alone were privileged to enter the arbor, and in their honor was already prepared a banquet and pipes of wild tobacco. The viands went round as also the pipe, and, in good time, the partakers became partially intoxicated by the smoke; then one of the priests or sorcerers, arrayed in his robe of ceremony, appeared at the entrance to the arbor, and made a speech to the people, in which he recounted the deeds of the hunters. Then the occupants of the arbor came out and made a repartition of the skins among the women; this finished, dancing and singing commenced and continued throughout the night. It sometimes happened that their festivals ended in fighting and bloodshed, as they were seldom conducted without debauchery, especially among the Guaicuris and Pericúis.867

When they have eaten their fill they pass their time in silly or obscene conversation, or in wrestling, in which sports the women often take a part. They are very adroit in tracking wild beasts to their lairs and taming them. At certain festivals their sorcerers, who were called by some quamas, by others cusiyaes, wore long robes of skins, ornamented with human hair; these sages filled the offices of priests and medicine-men, and threatened their credulous brothers with innumerable ills and death, unless they supplied them with provisions. These favored of heaven professed to hold communication with oracles, and would enter caverns and wooded ravines, sending thence doleful sounds, to frighten the people, who were by such tricks easily imposed upon and led to believe in their deceits and juggleries.868

As to ailments, Lower Californians are subject to consumption, burning fevers, indigestion, and cutaneous diseases. Small pox, measles, and syphilis, the last imported by troops, have destroyed numberless lives. Wounds inflicted by the bites of venomous reptiles may be added to the list of troubles. Loss of appetite is with them, generally, a symptom of approaching death. They submit resignedly to the treatment prescribed by their medicine-men, however severe or cruel it may be. They neglect their aged invalids, refusing them attendance if their last sickness proves too long, and recovery appears improbable. In several instances they have put an end to the patient by suffocation or otherwise.869

Diseases are treated externally by the application of ointments, plasters, and fomentations of medicinal herbs, particularly the wild tobacco. Smoke is also a great panacea, and is administered through a stone tube placed on the suffering part. The usual juggleries attend the practice of medicine. In extreme cases they attempt to draw with their fingers the disease from the patient's mouth. If the sick person has a child or sister, they cut its or her little finger of the right hand, and let the blood drop on the diseased part. Bleeding with a sharp stone and whipping the affected part with nettles, or applying ants to it, are among the remedies used. For the cure of tumors, the medicine-men burst and suck them with their lips until blood is drawn. Internal diseases are treated with cold-water baths. The means employed by the medicine-man are repeated by the members of the patient's family and by his friends. In danger even the imitation of death startles them. If an invalid is pronounced beyond recovery, and he happens to slumber, they immediately arouse him with blows on the head and body, for the purpose of preserving life.870

DEATH AND BURIAL IN LOWER CALIFORNIA.

Death is followed by a plaintive, mournful chant, attended with howling by friends and relatives, who beat their heads with sharp stones until blood flows freely. Without further ceremony they either inter or burn the body immediately, according to the custom of the locality: in the latter case they leave the head intact. Oftentimes they bury or burn the body before life has actually left it, never taking pains to ascertain the fact.871

Weapons and other personal effects are buried or burned with the owner; and in some localities, where burying is customary, shoes are put to the feet, so that the spiritualized body may be prepared for its journey. In Colechá and Guajamina mourning ceremonies are practiced certain days after death—juggleries—in which the priest pretends to hold converse with the departed spirit through the scalp of the deceased, commending the qualities of the departed, and concluding by asking on the spirit's behalf that all shall cut off their hair as a sign of sorrow. After a short dance, more howling, hair-pulling, and other ridiculous acts, the priest demands provisions for the spirit's journey, which his hearers readily contribute, and which the priest appropriates to his own use, telling them it has already started. Occasionally they honor the memory of their dead by placing a rough image of the departed on a high pole, and a quama or priest sings his praises.872

The early missionaries found the people of the peninsula kind-hearted and tractable, although dull of comprehension and brutal in their instincts, rude, narrow-minded, and inconstant. A marked difference of character is observable between the Cochimís and the Pericúis. The former are more courteous in their manners and better behaved; although cunning and thievish, they exhibit attachment and gratitude to their superiors; naturally indolent and addicted to childish pursuits and amusements, they lived among themselves in amity, directing their savage and revengeful nature against neighboring tribes with whom they were at variance. The Pericúis, before they became extinct, were a fierce and barbarous nation, unruly and brutal in their passions, cowardly, treacherous, false, petulant, and boastful, with an intensely cruel and heartless disposition, often shown in relentless persecutions and murders. In their character and disposition the Guaicuris did not differ essentially from the Pericúis. In the midst of so much darkness there was still one bright spot visible, inasmuch as they were of a cheerful and happy nature, lovers of kind and lovers of country. Isolated, occupying an ill-favored country, it was circumstances, rather than any inherent incapacity for improvement, that held these poor people in their low state; for, as we shall see at some future time, in their intercourse with civilized foreigners, they were not lacking in cunning, diplomacy, selfishness, and other aids to intellectual progress.873

NORTHERN MEXICANS.

The Northern Mexicans, the fourth and last division of this group, spread over the territory lying between parallels 31° and 23° of north latitude. Their lands have an average breadth of about five hundred miles, with an area of some 250,000 square miles, comprising the states of Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo Leon, and the northern portions of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas.

Nearly parallel with the Pacific seaboard, and dividing the states of Sonora and Sinaloa from Chihuahua and Durango, runs the great central Cordillera; further to the eastward, passing through Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and San Luis Potosí, and following the shore line of the Mexican Gulf, the Sierra Madre continues in a southerly direction, until it unites with the first-named range at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. All of these mountains abound in mineral wealth. The table-land between them is intersected by three ridges; one, the Sierra Mimbres, issuing from the inner flank of the Western Cordillera north of Arispe, extending in a northerly direction and following the line of the Rio Grande. The middle mountainous divide crosses from Durango to Coahuila, while the third rises in the state of Jalisco and taking an easterly and afterward northerly direction, traverses the table-land and merges into the Sierra Madre in the state of San Luis Potosí. On these broad table-lands are numerous lakes fed by the streams which have their rise in the mountains adjacent; in but few spots is the land available for tillage, but it is admirably adapted to pastoral purposes. The climate can hardly be surpassed in its tonic and exhilarating properties; the atmosphere is ever clear, with sunshine by day, and a galaxy of brilliant stars by night; the absence of rain, fogs, and dews, with a delicious and even temperature, renders habitations almost unnecessary. All this vast region is occupied by numerous tribes speaking different languages and claiming distinct origins. Upon the northern seaboard of Sonora and Tiburon Island are the Ceris, Tiburones, and Tepocas; south of them the Cahitas, or Sinaloas, which are general names for the Yaquis and Mayos, tribes so called from the rivers on whose banks they live. In the state of Sinaloa there are also the Cochitas, Tuvares, Sabaibos, Zuaques, and Ahomes, besides many other small tribes. Scattered through the states of the interior are the Ópatas, Eudeves, Jovas, Tarahumares, Tubares, and Tepehuanes, who inhabit the mountainous districts of Chihuahua and Durango. East of the Tarahumares, in the northern part of the first-named state, dwell the Conchos. In Durango, living in the hills round Topia, are the Acaxées; south of whom dwell the Xiximes. On the table-lands of Mapimi and on the shores of its numerous lakes, the Irritilas and many other tribes are settled; while south of these again, in Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí, are the Guachichiles, Huamares, and Cazcanes, and further to the east, and bordering on the gulf shores we find the country occupied by scattered tribes, distinguished by a great variety of names, prominent among which are the Carrizas or Garzas, Xanambres, and Pintos.874

PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES IN NORTH MEXICO.

Most of these nations are composed of men of large stature; robust, and well formed, with an erect carriage; the finest specimens are to be found on the sea-coast, exceptions being the Ópatas and Chicoratas, the former inclining to corpulency, the latter being short, although active and swift runners. The women are well limbed and have good figures, but soon become corpulent. The features of these people are quite regular, the head round and well shaped, with black and straight hair; they have high cheek-bones and handsome mouths, with a generally mild and pleasing expression of countenance. They have piercing black eyes, and can distinguish objects at great distances. The Ceris see best toward the close of the day, owing to the strong reflection from the white sands of the coast during the earlier part of the day. The Carrizas are remarkable for their long upper lip. The men of this region have little beard; their complexion varies from a light brown to a copper shade. Many of them attain to a great age.875

For raiment the Cahitas and Ceris wear only a small rag in front of their persons, secured to a cord tied round the waist; the Tarahumares, Acaxées, and other nations of the interior use for the same purpose a square piece of tanned deer-skin painted, except in cold weather, when they wrap a large blue cotton mantle round the shoulders. The women have petticoats reaching to their ankles, made of soft chamois or of cotton or agave-fibre, and a tilma or mantle during the winter. Some wear a long sleeveless chemise, which reaches from the shoulders to the feet. The Ceri women have petticoats made from the skins of the albatross or pelican, the feathers inside. The Ópata men, soon after the conquest, were found well clad in blouse and drawers of cotton, with wooden shoes, while their neighbors wore sandals of raw hide, cut to the shape of the foot.876

The Cahitas, Acaxées and most other tribes, pierce the ears and nose, from which they hang small green stones, attached to a piece of blue cord; on the head, neck, and wrists, a great variety of ornaments are worn, made from mother-of-pearl and white snails' shells, also fruit-stones, pearls, and copper and silver hoops; round the ankles some wear circlets of deer's hoofs, others decorate their heads and necks with necklaces of red beans and strings of paroquets and small birds; pearls and feathers are much used to ornament the hair. The practice of painting the face and body is common to all, the colors most in use being red and black. A favorite style with the Ceris is to paint the face in alternate perpendicular stripes of blue, red, and white. The Pintos paint the face, breast, and arms; the Tarahumares tattoo the forehead, lips, and cheeks in various patterns; the Yaquis the chin and arms; while other tribes tattoo the face or body in styles peculiar to themselves. Both sexes are proud of their hair, which they wear long and take much care of; the women permit it to flow, in loose tresses, while the men gather it into one or more tufts on the crown of the head, and when hunting protect it by a chamois cap, to prevent its being disarranged by trees or bushes.877

NORTHERN MEXICAN DWELLINGS.

Their houses are of light construction, usually built of sticks and reeds, and are covered with coarse reed matting. The Chinipas, Yaquis, Ópatas and Conchos build somewhat more substantial dwellings of timber and adobes, or of plaited twigs well plastered with mud; all are only one story high and have flat roofs. Although none of these people are without their houses or huts, they spend most of their time, especially during summer, under the trees. The Tarahumares find shelter in the deep caverns of rocky mountains, the Tepehuanes and Acaxées place their habitations on the top of almost inaccessible crags, while the Humes and Batucas build their villages in squares, with few and very small entrances, the better to defend themselves against their enemies—detached buildings for kitchen and store-room purposes being placed contiguous.878

The Northern Mexicans live chiefly on wild fruits such as the pitahaya, honey, grain, roots, fish, and larvæ; they capture game both large and small, and some of them eat rats, mice, frogs, snakes, worms, and vermin. The Ahomamas along the shores of Lake Parras, the Yaquis, Batucas, Ceris, Tarahumares, and the Ópatas since the conquest have become agriculturists and cattle-breeders, besides availing themselves of fishing and hunting as means of subsistence. On the coast of Sonora, there being no maize, the natives live on pulverized rush and straw, with fish caught at sea or in artificial enclosures. The dwellers on the coast of Sinaloa consume a large quantity of salt, which they gather on the land during the dry season, and in the rainy reason from the bottom of marshes and pools. It is said that the Salineros sometimes eat their own excrement. According to the reports of the older historians, the Tobosos, Bauzarigames, Cabezas, Contotores, and Acaxées, as well as other tribes of Durango and Sinaloa, formerly fed on human flesh—hunted human beings for food as they hunted deer or other game. The flesh of their brave foes they ate, thinking thereby to augment their own bravery.879

METHODS OF HUNTING.

The Ceris of Tiburon Island depend for food entirely on fish and game. They catch turtle by approaching the animal and suddenly driving the point of their spear into its back, a cord being attached to the weapon by which they drag the prize on to the raft as soon as its strength has become exhausted. According to Gomara, the natives of Sonora in 1537 were caught poisoning the deer-pools, probably for the skins, or it may have been only a stupefying drink that the pools were made to supply. The Sinaloans are great hunters; at times they pursue the game singly, then again the whole town turns out and, surrounding the thickest part of the forest, the people set fire to the underbrush and bring down the game as it attempts to escape the flames. A feast of reptiles is likewise thus secured. Iguanas are caught with the hands, their legs broken, and thus they are kept until required for food. For procuring wild honey, a bee is followed until it reaches its tree, the sweet-containing part of which is cut off and carried away. The Tarahumares hunt deer by driving them through narrow passes, where men are stationed to shoot them. Others make use of a deer's head as a decoy. For fishing they have various contrivances; some fish between the rocks with a pointed stick; others, when fishing in a pool, throw into the water a species of cabbage or leaves of certain trees, that stupefy the fish, when they are easily taken with the hands; they also use wicker baskets, and near the Pacific Ocean they inclose the rivers, and catch enormous quantities of smelt and other fish, which have come up from the sea to spawn. The Laguneros of Coahuila catch ducks by placing a calabash on their heads, with holes through which to breathe and see; thus equipped, they swim softly among the ducks, and draw them under water without flutter or noise. Tatéma is the name of a dish cooked in the ground by the Tarahumares. The Laguneros make tortillas of flour obtained from an aquatic plant. The Zacatecs make the same kind of bread from the pulp of the maguey, which is first boiled with lime, then washed and boiled again in pure water, after which it is squeezed dry and made into cakes. Most of the people use pozole, or pinolatl, both being a kind of gruel made of pinole, of parched corn or seeds ground, the one of greater thickness than the other; also tamales, boiled beans, and pumpkins. The Ceris of Tiburon eat fish and meat uncooked, or but slightly boiled. The Salineros frequently devour uncooked hares and rabbits, having only removed their furs.880

HOW ARROWS WERE MADE AND POISONED.

The weapons universally used by these nations were bows and arrows and short clubs, in addition to which the chiefs and most important warriors carried a short lance and a buckler. The arrows were carried in a quiver made of lion or other skins. The Tarahumares and some others wore a leathern guard round the left wrist, to protect it from the blow of the bow-string. Flint knives were employed for cutting up their slain enemies. The Ceris, Jovas, and other tribes smeared the points of their arrows with a very deadly poison, but how it was applied to the point, or whence obtained, it is difficult to determine; some travelers say that this poison was taken from rattlesnakes and other venomous reptiles, which, by teasing, were incited to strike their fangs into the liver of a cow or deer which was presented to them, after which it was left to putrefy, and the arrows being dipped into the poisonous mass, were placed in the sun to dry; but other writers, again, assert that the poison was produced from a vegetable preparation. The wound inflicted by the point, however slight, is said to have caused certain death. The arrows were pointed with flint, or some other stone, or with bone, fastened to a piece of hard wood, which is tied by sinews to a reed or cane, notched, and winged with three feathers; when not required for immediate use, the tying was loosed, and the point reversed in the cane, to protect it from being broken. The Ceris and Chicoratos cut a notch a few inches above the point, so that in striking it should break off and remain in the wound. Their clubs were made of a hard wood called guayacan, with a knob at the end, and when not in use were carried slung to the arm by a leather thong. Their lances were of Brazil wood, bucklers of alligator-skin, and shields of bull's hide, sufficiently large to protect the whole body, with a hole in the top to look through. Another kind of shield was made of small lathes closely interwoven with cords, in such a manner that, when not required for use, it could be shut up like a fan, and was carried under the arm.881

Living in a state of constant war, arising out of family quarrels or aggressions made into each other's territories, they were not unskilled in military tactics. Previous to admission as a warrior, a young man had to pass through certain ordeals; having first qualified himself by some dangerous exploit, or having faithfully performed the duty of a scout in an enemy's country. The preliminaries being settled, a day was appointed for his initiation, when one of the braves, acting as his godfather, introduced him to the chief, who, for the occasion, had first placed himself in the midst of a large circle of warriors. The chief then addressed him, instructing him in the several duties required of him, and drawing from a pouch an eagle's talon, with it proceeded to score his body on the shoulders, arms, breast, and thighs, till the blood ran freely; the candidate was expected to suffer without showing the slightest signs of pain. The chief then handed to him a bow and a quiver of arrows; each of the braves also presented him with two arrows. In the campaigns that followed, the novitiate must take the hardest duty, be ever at the post of danger, and endure without a murmur or complaint the severest privations, until a new candidate appeared to take his place.882

WAR CUSTOMS IN NORTH MEXICO.

When one tribe desires the assistance of another in war, they send reeds filled with tobacco, which, if accepted, is a token that the alliance is formed; a call for help is made by means of the smoke signal. When war is decided upon, a leader is chosen, at whose house all the elders, medicine-men, and principal warriors assemble; a fire is then lighted, and tobacco handed round and smoked in silence. The chief, or the most aged and distinguished warrior then arises, and in a loud tone and not unpoetic language, harangues his hearers, recounting to them heroic deeds hitherto performed, victories formerly gained, and present wrongs to be avenged; after which tobacco is again passed round, and new speakers in turn address the assembly. War councils are continued for several nights, and a day is named on which the foe is to be attacked. Sometimes the day fixed for the battle is announced to the enemy, and a spot on which the fight is to take place selected. During the campaign fasting is strictly observed. The Acaxées, before taking the war-path, select a maiden of the tribe, who secludes herself during the whole period of the campaign, speaking to no one, and eating nothing but a little parched corn without salt. The Ceris and Ópatas approach their enemy under cover of darkness, preserving a strict silence, and at break of day, by a preconcerted signal, a sudden and simultaneous attack is made. To fire an enemy's house, the Tepagues and others put lighted corn-cobs on the points of their arrows. In the event of a retreat they invariably carry off the dead, as it is considered a point of honor not to leave any of their number on the field. Seldom is sex or age spared, and when prisoners are taken, they are handed over to the women for torture, who treat them most inhumanly, heaping upon them every insult devisable, besides searing their flesh with burning brands, and finally burning them at the stake, or sacrificing them in some equally cruel manner. Many cook and eat the flesh of their captives, reserving the bones as trophies. The slain are scalped, or a hand is cut off, and a dance performed round the trophies on the field of battle. On the return of an expedition, if successful, entry into the village is made in the day-time. Due notice of their approach having been forwarded to the inhabitants, the warriors are received with congratulations and praises by the women, who, seizing the scalps, vent their spleen in frantic gestures; tossing them from one to another, these female fiends dance and sing round the bloody trophies, while the men look on in approving silence. Should the expedition, however, prove unsuccessful, the village is entered in silence and during the dead of night. All the booty taken is divided amongst the aged men and women, as it is deemed unlucky by the warriors to use their enemy's property.883

Their household utensils consist of pots of earthen ware and gourds, the latter used both for cooking and drinking purposes; later, out of the horns of oxen cups are made. The Tarahumares use in place of saddles two rolls of straw fastened by a girdle to the animal's back, loose enough, however, to allow the rider to put his feet under them. Emerging from their barbarism, they employ, in their agricultural pursuits, plows with shares of wood or stone, and wooden hoes. The Ceris have a kind of double-pointed javelin, with which they catch fish, which, once between the prongs, are prevented from slipping out by the jagged sides.884

The Ahomoas, Eudebes, Jovas, Yaquis, and Ópatas weave fabrics out of cotton or agave-fibre, such as blankets or serapes, and cloth with colored threads in neat designs and figures; these nations also manufacture matting from reeds and palm-leaves. Their loom consists of four short sticks driven into the ground, to which a frame is attached to hold the thread. The shuttle is an oblong piece of wood, on which the cross-thread is wound. After passing through the web, the shuttle is seized and pressed close by a ruler three inches in breadth, which is placed between the web and supplies the place of a comb. When any patterns are to be worked, several women assist to mark off with wooden pegs the amount of thread required. The Yaquis and Ceris manufacture common earthen ware, and the Tarahumares twist horse-hair into strong cords; they also use undressed hides cut in strips, and coarse aloe-fibres.885

PROPERTY OF CERIS, ÓPATAS, AND YAQUIS.

No boats or canoes are employed by any of the natives of this region; but the Ceris, the Tiburones, and the Tepocas make rafts of reeds or bamboos, fastened together into bundles. These rafts are about eighteen feet long and tapering toward both ends; some are large enough to carry four or five men; they are propelled with a double-bladed paddle, held in the middle and worked alternately on both sides.886

Subsequent to the conquest, the Ópatas and Yaquis accumulated large flocks of sheep, cattle, and bands of horses; the latter are good miners, and expert divers for pearls. Their old communistic ideas follow them in their new life; thus, the landed property of the Tarahumares is from time to time repartitioned; they have also a public asylum for the sick, helpless, and for orphans, who are taken care of by male and female officials called tenanches. Pearls, turquoises, emeralds, coral, feathers, and gold were in former times part of their property, and held the place of money; trade, for the most part, was carried on by simple barter.887

The Northern Mexicans make no pretensions to art; nevertheless, Guzman states that in the province of Culiacan the walls of the houses were decorated with obscene paintings. They are all great observers of the heavenly bodies and the changes in the atmosphere; the Yaquis count their time by the moon. They are good musicians, imitating to perfection on their own instruments almost any strain they happen to hear. Their native melodies are low, sweet, and harmonious. In Petatlan they embroidered dresses with pearls, and as they had no instrument for piercing the jewel, they cut a small groove round it, and so strung them. With pearls they formed on cloth figures of animals and birds.888

I find nowhere in this region any system of laws or government. There are the usual tribal chieftains, selected on account of superior skill or bravery, but with little or no power except in war matters. Councils of war, and all meetings of importance, are held at the chief's house.889

MARRIAGE AND POLYGAMY.

The Ceris and Tepocas celebrate the advent of womanhood with a feast, which lasts for several days. The Ahome maiden wears on her neck a small carved shell, as a sign of her virginity, to lose which before marriage is a lasting disgrace. On the day of marriage the bridegroom removes this ornament from his bride's neck. It is customary among most of the tribes to give presents to the girl's parents. The Tahus, says Castañeda, are obliged to purchase a maiden from her parents, and deliver her to the cacique,890 chief, or possibly high priest, to whom was accorded the droit de seigneur. If the bride proves to be no virgin, all the presents are returned by her parents, and it is optional with the bridegroom to keep her or condemn her to the life of a public prostitute. The Bauzarigames, Cabezas, Contotores, and Tehuecos practice polygamy and inter-family marriages, but these are forbidden by the Ceris, Chinipas, Tiburones, and Tepocas. Different ceremonies take place upon the birth of the first child. Among some, the father is intoxicated, and in that state surrounded by a dancing multitude, who score his body till the blood flows freely. Among others, several days after the birth of a male child, the men visit the house, feel each limb of the newly born, exhort him to be brave, and finally give him a name; women perform similar ceremonies with female children. The couvade obtains in certain parts; as for instance, the Lagunero and Ahomama husbands, after the birth of a child, remain in bed for six or seven days, during which time they eat neither fish nor meat. The Sisibotaris, Ahomes, and Tepehuanes hold chastity in high esteem, and both their maidens and matrons are remarkably chaste. The standard of morality elsewhere in this vicinity is in general low, especially with the Acaxées and Tahus, whose incestuous connections and system of public brothels are notorious. According to Arlegui, Ribas, and other authors, among some of these nations male concubinage prevails to a great extent; these loathsome semblances of humanity, whom to call beastly were a slander upon beasts, dress themselves in the clothes and perform the functions of women, the use of weapons even being denied them.891

Drunkenness prevails to a great extent among most of the tribes; their liquors are prepared from the fruit of the pitahaya, mezquite-beans, agave, honey, and wheat. In common with all savages, they are immoderately fond of dancing, and have numerous feasts, where, with obscene carousals and unseemly masks, the revels continue, until the dancers, from sheer exhaustion or intoxication, are forced to rest. The Ópatas hold a festival called torom raqui, to insure rain and good crops. Clearing a square piece of ground, they strew it with seeds, bones, boughs, horns, and shells; the actors then issue forth from huts built on the four corners of the square, and there dance from sunrise to sunset. On the first day of the year they plant in the ground a tall pole, to which are tied long ribbons of many colors. A number of young maidens, fancifully attired, dance round the pole, holding the ends of the ribbons, twisting themselves nearer or away from the center in beautiful figures. Upon other occasions they commemorate, in modern times, what is claimed to be the journey of the Aztecs, and the appearance of Montezuma among them. Hunting and war expeditions are inaugurated by dances. Their musical instruments are flutes and hollow trunks beaten with sticks or bones, and accompanied with song and impromptu words, relating the exploits of their gods, warriors, and hunters. They are passionately fond of athletic sports, such as archery, wrestling, and racing; but the favorite pastime is a kind of foot-ball. The game is played between two parties, with a large elastic ball, on a square piece of ground prepared expressly for the purpose. The players must strike the ball with the shoulders, knees, or hips, but never with the hand. Frequently one village challenges another as upon the occasion of a national festival, which lasts several days, and is accompanied with dancing and feasting. They have also games with wooden balls, in which sticks are used when playing. The players are always naked, and the game often lasts from sunrise to sunset, and sometimes, when the victory is undecided, the play will be continued for several successive days. Bets are freely made, and horses and other property staked with the greatest recklessness.892

CUSTOMS IN NORTHERN MEXICO.

Loads are carried on the head, or in baskets at the back, hanging from a strap that passes across the forehead. Another mode of carrying burdens is to distribute equally the weight at both ends of a pole which is slung across the shoulder, à la Chinoise. Their conceptions of the supernatural are extremely crude; thus, the Ópatas, by yells and gesticulations, endeavor to dispel eclipses of the heavenly bodies; before the howling of the wind they cower as before the voice of the Great Spirit. The Ceris superstitiously celebrate the new moon, and bow reverentially to the rising and setting sun. Nuño de Guzman states that in the province of Culiacan tamed serpents were found in the dwellings of the natives, which they feared and venerated. Others have a great veneration for the hidden virtues of poisonous plants, and believe that if they crush or destroy one, some harm will happen to them. It is a common custom to hang a small bag containing poisonous herbs round the neck of a child, as a talisman against diseases or attacks from wild beasts, which they also believe will render them invulnerable in battle. They will not touch a person struck by lightning, and will leave him to die, or, if dead, to lie unburied.893

MEDICAL TREATMENT.

Intermittent and other fevers prevail among the people of Northern Mexico. Small-pox, introduced by Europeans, has destroyed many lives; syphilis was introduced among the Carrizos by the Spanish troops. The Tarahumares suffer from pains in the side about the end of the spring. The Ópatas of Oposura are disfigured by goitres, but this disease seems to be confined within three leagues of the town. Wounds inflicted by arrows, many of them poisoned, and bites of rattlesnakes are common. Friends, and even parents and brothers leave to their fate such as are suffering from contagious diseases; they, however, place water and wild fruits within the sufferer's reach. To relieve their wearied legs and feet after long marches, they scarify the former with sharp flints. In extreme cases they rub themselves with the maguey's prickly leaf well pounded, which, acting as an emollient on their hardened bodies, affords them prompt relief. The Carrizos cure syphilis with certain plants, the medicinal properties of which are known to them. As a purgative they use the grains of the maguacate, and as a febrifuge the cenicilla (teraina frutescens). With the leaves of the latter they make a decoction which, mixed with hydromel, is an antidote for intermittent fevers. They also use the leaves of the willow in decoction, as a remedy for the same complaint. In Sinaloa, the leaf and roots of the guaco are used by the natives as the most efficacious medicine for the bites of poisonous reptiles. The Ópatas employ excellent remedies for the diseases to which they are subject. They have a singular method of curing rattlesnake bites, a sort of retaliative cure; seizing the reptile's head between two sticks, they stretch out the tail and bite it along the body, and if we may believe Alegre, the bitten man does not swell up, but the reptile does, until it bursts. In some parts, if a venomous snake bites a person, he seizes it at both ends, and breaks all its bones with his teeth until it is dead, imagining this to be an efficacious means of saving himself from the effect of the wounds. Arrow wounds are first sucked, and then peyote powder is put into them; after two days the wound is cleaned, and more of the same powder applied; this operation is continued upon every second day, and finally powdered lechugilla-root is used; by this process the wound, after thoroughly suppurating, becomes healed. Out of the leaves of the maguey, lechugilla, and date-palm, as well as from the rosemary, they make excellent balsams for curing wounds. They have various vegetable substances for appeasing the thirst of wounded persons, as water is considered injurious. The Acaxées employ the sucking processes, and blowing through a hollow tube, for the cure of diseases. The Yaquis put a stick into the patient's mouth, and with it draw from the stomach the disease; the Ceris of Tiburon Island also employ charms in their medical practice.894

I find nothing of cremation in these parts. The dead body is brought head and knees together, and placed in a cave or under a rock. Several kinds of edibles, with the utensils and implements with which the deceased earned a support while living, are deposited in the grave, also a small idol, to serve as a guide and fellow traveler to the departed on the long journey. On the lips of dead infants is dropped milk from the mother's breast, that these innocents may have sustenance to reach their place of rest. Among the Acaxées, if a woman dies in childbirth, the infant surviving is slain, as the cause of its mother's death. Cutting the hair is the only sign of mourning among them.895

CHARACTER.

The character of the Northern Mexicans, as portrayed by Arlegui, is gross and low; but some of these tribes do not deserve such sweeping condemnation. The Mayos, Yaquis, Acaxées, and Ópatas are generally intelligent, honest, social, amiable, and intrepid in war; their young women modest, with a combination of sweetness and pride noticed by some writers. The Ópatas especially are a hard-working people, good-humored, free from intemperance and thievishness; they are also very tenacious of purpose, when their minds are made up—danger often strengthening their stubbornness the more. The Sisibotaris, Ahomamas, Onavas, and Tarahumares are quiet and docile, but brave when occasion requires; the last-mentioned are remarkably honest. The Tepocas and Tiburones are fierce, cruel, and treacherous, more warlike and courageous than the Ceris of the main land, who are singularly devoid of good qualities, being sullenly stupid, lazy, inconstant, revengeful, depredating, and much given to intemperance. Their country even has become a refuge for evil-doers. In former times they were warlike and brave: but even this quality they have lost, and have become as cowardly as they are cruel. The Tepehuanes and other mountaineers are savage and warlike, and their animosity to the whites perpetual. The Laguneros and other tribes of Coahuila are intelligent, domestic, and hospitable; the former especially are very brave. In Chihuahua they are generally fierce and uncommunicative. At El Paso, the women are more jovial and pleasant than the men; the latter speak but little, never laugh, and seldom smile; their whole aspect seems to be wrapped in melancholy—everything about it has a semblance of sadness and suffering.896