and strained. Water is added if the ‘“‘imé”’ juice is too 
strong. When the bubbling of the fermenting process 
begins to slow down, a handful of ground wheat (7'riti- 
cum aestivum) is added. Then, within five to six hours, 
the ‘‘sugui™’ is ready to drink. If the drink is not to be 
used for several days, the pot is sealed with a board and 
mud. This will keep the drink from going bad for six 
to eight days. Agave bovicornuta is said to make a 
stronger ‘‘sugui’” than the other species. 4. americana 
and 4. vilmoriana are the only species not used for 
making the fermented drink. 
Tarahumaras also dry the roasted mescal so that it will 
last five to six months (during the dry season). The outer 
fibres are removed from the cooked leaf-bases and the 
meat is mashed, as when making “‘sugui’’, and then 
ground on the ‘‘majta’’ (Spanish: metate). It is then 
shaped into a cylindrical cheese form and placed in the sun 
to dry for a week. This *‘mesagoli”” or “‘imé cha’ poli’, 
mescal bread, is especially good food for long trips. It is 
‘carried in a bag of ‘‘cobisi’’ (Spanish: pinole), toasted 
corn grain that is ground dry into a powder and later 
mixed with water to drink, and used as a trail food. 
. 
al. pacifica is not used to make ‘‘mesagoli’’, since it is not 
so sweet, has less meat and the fibres are harder to chew. 
The emergent flower stalks, ‘‘balila’* (Spanish : quiote), 
are eaten as well. A young, tender stalk can be cut from 
the plant and roasted on coals. Then it is peeled and 
eaten. The taste is similar to that of the squash. It can 
also be chopped up, boiled, and mixed with the whey 
left over from making ranch-style cheese. When a stalk 
has elongated about a yard, the top foot is cut off and 
the remainder is peeled and roasted in the pit-oven along 
with mescal hearts and leaf-bases. The decapitated plant 
is allowed to grow and is cut the following year for pit- 
baking when it is sweeter. In other parts of the Tara- 
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