416 ETHNOLOGY. 



womau that, with patient hard hxbor, winnows the chaif from the wheat 

 and then carries the latter upon her head to the store of the trader, 

 where the husband — who has preceded her on horseback — sells it," 

 spending perhaps all the money received for it in the purchase of articles 

 intended only for his own use. Pima women rarely ride on horseback. 

 The husband always travels mounted, while the wife trudges along on 

 foot, carrying her child or a heavily laden ki-ho (basket) on her head and 

 back. Women, during child-birth, and during the continuance of their 

 menses, retire to a small hut built for this purpose in the vicinity of 

 their own dwelling-place. Men never enter these huts when occupied 

 by women, and the latter while here have separate blankets and eat 

 from dishes used by no one else. 



Weapons and manner of fighting. — The only Aveapons used by 

 the Pimas before the introduction of fire-arms were the bow and arrow 

 and war-club. For defensive purposes they carried a round shield, about 

 two feet in diameter, made of rawhide, which, when thoroughly dry, 

 becomes so hard that an arrow, even if sent by a powerful enemy at a 

 short distance, cannot penetrate it. These weapons are still used by 

 them to a great extent, and, like all Indians, they are good marksmen 

 with the bow, shooting birds on the wing and fishes while swimming in 

 the shallow waters of the Gila Eiver. For hunting fishes and small 

 game they use arrows without hard points, but the arrows used in battle 

 have sharp, two-edged points made of flint, glass, or iron. "When going 

 on a scout against the Aj^ache Indians, their bitter foes, the Pimas fre- 

 quently dip the points of their arrows into putrid meat, and it is said 

 that a wound caused by such an arrow will never heal, but fester for 

 some days and finally produce death. The war-club is made out of mes- 

 quite wood, which is hard and heavy. It is about sixteen inches long, 

 half being handle, and the other half the club proper. With it 

 they strike the enemy on the head. This weapon is even now 

 very much used, for the Pimas rarely attack their enemies in open day- 

 light. They usually surround the Apache rancheria at night, some 

 warriors placing themselves near the doors of all huts ; 'then the terrible 

 war-cry is sounded, and when the surprised Apaches crawl through the 

 low doors of their huts the war-clubs of the Pimas descend upon their 

 heads with a crushing force. The Pimas never scalp their dead enemies; 

 in fact, no Pima will ever touch an Apache further than is necessary to 

 kill him. Even the act of killing an Apache by means of an arrow is 

 believed to make the Pima unclean whose bow discharged the fatal 

 arrow. They firmly believe that all Apaches are possessed of an evil 

 spirit, and that all who kill them become unclean and remain so until 

 again cleansed by peculiar process of j)urification. The Pima warrior 

 who has killed an Ai^ache at once separates himself from all his com- 

 panions, (who are not even permitted to speak to him,) and returns to 

 the vicinity of his home. Here he hides himself in the bushes near the 

 river-bank, where he remains secluded for sixteen days, conversing with 



