414 ETHNOLOGY. 



is drawn first into the brush and thence shaken to the winds, and by- 

 standers keep a respectful distance for fear of inhaling the disease when 

 it is shaken from the brush. Some doctors pretend to destroy sickness 

 by shooting painted arrows from i>ainted bows at imaginary evil spirits 

 supposed to be hovering in the vicinity of the patient. 



The Pimas know many herbs which they use as food at times when 

 wheat is scarce, but they have no knowledge of medical properties of 

 herbs or minerals, with the only exception of a small weed, called colon- 

 driua by the Mexicans, which, applied as a poultice, is a certain remedy 

 for the bite of a rattlesnake. 



It is believed that all efforts to christianize the Pimas would fail, not 

 because any of them would oppose such attempts, but because they 

 all would be entirely indifferent to the new teachings. 



Burial of the dead. — The Pimas tie the bodies of their dead with 

 ropes, passing the latter around the neck and under the knees, and 

 then drawing them tight until the body is doubled up and forced into a 

 sitting position. They dig the grave from four to five feet deep, and 

 perfectly round, (about two feet diameter,) and then hollow out to one 

 side of the bottom of this grave a sort of vault large enough to contain 

 the body. Here the body is deposited, the grave is filled up level 

 witk the ground, and i)oles, trees, or pieces of timber placed ui^on the 

 grave to protect the remains from the coyotes, (a species of wolf.) 

 Burials usually take place at night without much ceremony. The 

 mourners chant during the burial, but signs of grief are rare. The 

 bodies of their dead are buried, if possible, immediately after death has 

 taken place, and the graves are generally prepared before the patients 

 die. Sometimes sick persons (for whom the graves had already been 

 dug) recovered ; in such cases the graves are left ojjen uutd the persons 

 for whom they were intended die. Open graves of this kind can be 

 seen in several of their burial-grounds. Places of burial are selected 

 some distance from the village, and, if possible, in a grove of mesquite 

 bushes. Immediately after the remains have been buried, the house 

 and personal effects of the deceased are burned, and his horses and 

 cattle killed, the meat being cooked as a repast for the mourners. The 

 nearest relatives of the deceased, as a sign of their sorrow, remain 

 within their vdlage for weeks ; and sometimes months, the men cut off 

 about six inches of their long hair, while the women cut their hair (juite 

 short. (The Pima men wear their hair very longj many have hair 

 thirty-six inches long, and often braid it in strands; only the front hair 

 is cut straight across, so as to let it reach the eyes. The women, who 

 also cut the front hair like the men, i^art their hair in the middle, and 

 wear it usually long enough to let It reach a little below the shoulders. 

 The hair is their only head covering. The men are proud of long- 

 hair, braid it and comb it with care, and to give it a glossy ai)pearance 

 frequently plaster it over with a mixture of black clay and mesquite 

 gum. This preparation is left on the hair for a day or two and is then 



