THE SO-CALLED CALIFORNIA '^DIGGERSr 



209 



The following story on tliis point was told to me by a civilized 

 Indian woman : 



Her grandmother was a great belle and had many suitors. 

 There was one whom she hated but was forced to marry because 

 he could pay the highest price for her. He was the chief of a 

 village and had great possessions, but he was middle-aged and 

 lame, while Napana was young, strong, and beautiful. 



He had asked her father and been invited to eat, and, having 

 turned over the stipulated price, Napana was his. In this case 

 the price was so large that the bride 

 was even denied her chance of win- 

 ning freedom by the accustomed 

 race. When Captain Lofonso came 

 to take Napana away she refused to 

 go and he had to carry her. Before 

 he reached his home his strength 

 gave out and he was obliged to stop 

 for rest. 



An Indian woman never had the 

 right to beg for her freedom, but 

 she had the privilege of struggling 

 for it. Napana's strength increased 

 as she realized her unhappy situa- 

 tion, and she fought madly for free- 

 dom ; for if she could escape from 

 him and get back to her own home 

 before she had entered his she 

 would be free, and he would lose 

 his wife as well as the price paid 

 for her. Captain Lofonso lacked 

 the strength to get Napana on his 

 back again, but he was determined 

 that she should not get away, for 

 his lameness would deprive him of 

 all hope of catching her. Night 

 came on, and still he held her tight 



by both wrists, while her strong jerks and pushes swayed both 

 bodies back and forth until they sank to the ground exhausted. 

 Toward morning his strength failed and he fell asleep. As she 

 felt his hands loosen their hold on her wrists she mustered all her 

 remaining strength and crawled back toward her home ; but she 

 never reached it. Just as the sun rose over the mountain above 

 her home she sank insensible at the threshold. Here Lofonso 

 found her and bore her back to his home with never an opposing 

 struggle. 



Childbirth was of no inconvenience to the average Indian 



Papoose in his Gebei.le made of 

 TuLE AND Soft Tanned Leather. 



