REFORT OF THE SECRETARY. 61 



Iloslikaiiii (lauce, it has several days of secreC rites with elaborate 

 symbolic sand pictures, aud one uight of public dauces, less varied and 

 interesting- than those of the Hoshkaun. Dr. Matthews was permitted 

 to witness the whole performance and to take as many notes and sketches 

 as were necessary. 



From the Haystacks Dr. Matthews went to the Indian agency at 

 Fort Defiance, Ariz., where he secured the services of one of the oldest, 

 and most learned (in their own peculiar lore) of the Navajo priests, and 

 from him he obtained full explanations of all these rites, and of the sym- 

 bolism of the i)ictures and masked characters, with a complete recital 

 of the long and elaborate myths on which the ceremonies depend, and 

 the text and translations of the very numerous songs which form the 

 ritual of the ceremonies. 



During the summer and fall of 1885, Dr. H. G. Yarrow, acting as- 

 sistant surgeon U. S. Army, visited interesting points in Arizona and 

 Utah. In the vicinity of Springerville, Apache County, Arizona, in 

 company with Mr. E. W. Kelson, he visited a number of ancient pueblos 

 and discovered that the people formerly occupying- the towns had 

 followed the custom of burying their dead just outside the walls of 

 their habitations, marking the places of sepulcher with circles of stones. 

 The graves were 4 or 5 feet in depth, aud with the dead had been de- 

 l^osited various household uteusils. Mr. Nelson, who had made a care- 

 ful search for these cemeteries, informed him of the whereabouts of 

 hundreds of them. Unfortunately for anthropometric science, most of 

 the bones are too much decayed to be of practical value. The places 

 of burial selected at these pueblos are similar to the buriul places dis- 

 covered in 1874 near the large ruined pueblo of Abiquiu, in the valley 

 of the Chama, New Mexico. He also visited the Moki pueblos in x\ri- 

 zona, and obtained from one of the principal men a clear aud succinct 

 account of their burial customs. While there lie witnessed the famous 

 snake-dance, which occurs every two years, and is supposed to have the 

 effect of producing rain. From his knowledge of the reptilian fauna of 

 the country he was able to identify the species of serpents used in the 

 dance, and from personal examination satisfied himself that the fangs 

 had not been extracted from the poisonous varieties. He thinks, how- 

 ever, that the reptiles during the four days that they are kept in the 

 estufas are somewhat tamed by handling, and possibly are made to 

 eject the greater part of the venom contained in the sacs at the roots 

 of the teeth, by being teased and forced to strike at different objects 

 held near them. He does not think that a vegetable decoction in which 

 they are washed has a stupefying effect, as has been supposed by some. 

 He also obtained from a Moki high priest a full accouut of the attend- 

 ant ceremonies of the dance. Through the hospitality of Mr. Thomas 

 V. Kcam, of Keam's Canon, Arizona, aud Mr. A. M. Stephen, he was 

 able to procure from a noted Navajo wise man, an exact account of the 



