THE PIMA INDIANS OF ARIZONA. 417 



DO one, and oniy seeing duriug the whole period of the cleausiug process 

 an old woman of his tribe who has been api)ointed to carry food to him, 

 but who never speaks. During the twenty-four hours immediately fol- 

 lowing the killing the Pima neither eats nor drinks ; after this he par- 

 takes of food and water sparingly, but for the whole sixteen days he can- 

 not eat meat of any kind nor salt, nor must he drink anything but river- 

 water. For the first four days he frequently bathes himself in the 

 river ; during the second four days he plasters his hair with a mixture of 

 niesquite gum and black clay, which composition is allowed to dry and 

 become hard upon his head, and is washed out during the night of the 

 eighth day. On the ninth naorniug he again besmears his head with black 

 clay without the gum ; on the evening of the twelfth dny he washes his 

 hair, combs it, braids it in long strands, and ties the end with red ribbon 

 or a shawl ; and then for four days more frequently washes his whole body 

 in the Gila River. On the ev^euing of the sixteenth day he returns to 

 his village, is met by one of the old men of his tribe who, after the Avar- 

 rior has placed himself at full length upon the ground, bends down, 

 passes some of the saliva in his mouth into that of the warrior, and 

 blows his Itreath into the nostrils of the latter. The warrior then 

 rises, and now, and not until now, is he again considered clean ; his 

 friends approach him and joyfully congratulate him on his victory. 



The Apache Indians, the most savage on the continent, during the 

 X)ast twenty years have murdered hundreds of whites and Mexicans, 

 and have thus obtained a large supply of fire-arms and ammunition. 

 In order to cope with them successfully the Pimas have purchased many 

 guns and pistols, and are now tolerably well armed with improved 

 weapons. Xo restriction has ever been placed on the sale of arms and 

 ammunition to these people. 



The Pimas never capture Apaclie men. These are killed on tiie field, 

 but women and girls and half grown boys are brought back to the reser- 

 vation at times, though frequentl}" all the inhabitants of the Apache 

 village are killed. 



Apache prisoners are rarely treated in a cruel manner. For the first 

 week or two they are compelled to go from village to village and are 

 exhibited with pride and made to join the war-dance. Often, too, the 

 peculiar war-whoop of the Apaches is sounded by some old Pima squaw 

 as a taunt to the prisoners, but after the lapse of a few weeks they are 

 treated kindly, share food and clothing with their captors ; and generally 

 become domesticated, learn the Pima language, and remain upon the 

 reservation. Instances have occurred when Apache prisoners have 

 attempted to escape, but they have invariably been overtaken and killed 

 as soon as recaptured. Quite a number of captured Apache children 

 are .sold by the Pimas to whites and Mexicans. These children, if prop- 

 erly trained, are said to become very docile and make good house-ser- 

 vants. 



In rare instances a Pima will even inarrvan Apache woman after she 

 27 s 71 



