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Show 276 WESTERN WILDS. band, the result being a pasty flour. Of this and water they make a mixture no thicker than starch, which they cook on hot stones. The fire is built in a small hole, on which is placed the flat stone, no more than an inch thick; when sufficiently hot, the squaw thrusts her hand into the starchy solution, and rapidly draws a handful, which she spreads upon the stone. In a half- minute it is cooked in the form of a brown wafer, no thicker than card board. Another and another follows till they have a layer some inches thick, which is rolled up conveniently for carrying. They are the only wild tribe I know who do not scalp dead ene-mies. They never had that practice. In fact, they never touch a dead body, even of their own people. Each hogan is so constructed that the weight rests mostly on two main beams. When one . dies in a hogan, they loosen these two outside, and let it drop upon him. If one dies on the plain, they pile enough stones upon him to keep oif the coyotes, but never touch the body. This observance is a serious drawback in one respect: it prevents them from building permanent dwellings. It is said to be a part of their religion, but I apprehend it originated during some plague, when contagion resulted from touch-ing the dead. One surprising fact to me was that an Indian would sunburn by exposure as readily as a white man. But many of our current notions about the Indian are erroneous. For instance, it is a great mistake to suppose they can travel so long without eating. They know the country, and what roots are nourishing or poisonous. In many places over this section between the two Coloradoes grows a species of milky weed, with tough, stringy root, in taste resembling the " sweet hick-ory " the boys use to pull and chew, along the Wabash. The Nava-joes cook this in boiled milk, or with bacon when at home, and on journeys without supplies take it raw. They get poor as snakes on such food ; but it does keep soul and body together for awhile, and prevent the deadly faintness resulting from complete fasting. But they endure thirst much better than we, and for obvious reasons. Their food contains no salt, their bread no chemicals ; they rarely get intoxicating liquors, and use very little tobacco. With unsalted bread, a scant indulgence in bacon, and coffee night and morning, I soon found I could go half a day without water with no inconvenience whatever. I also tried the practice of riding bareheaded, and found that an easy accomplishment. In short, though it takes forty years to civilize an Indian, I am positive a well- disposed white man could ffo wild in six months. |
