28 HUGO RIED's account of the INDIANS 



the authors had recourse to paper; at the top of the sheet 

 was a representation of the brand used, and beneath the 

 regular number of short and long lines, denoting the decimal 

 system of recording. Sometimes small rings were inserted 

 at every tenth point, instead of the longer vertical stroke. 



When a rancheria possessed cattle only, there was no neces- 

 sity for notching the end of the stick to denote " cattle," as 

 there was no cause for error. Consequently the sticks were 

 cut off transversely, without any specific pointing or notching. 

 The same was adopted, also, where horses were owned, ex- 

 clusively. 



Tattooing was practised and nearly all of the older mem- 

 bers of the tribe still bear faint lines upon the chin; this is 

 noticeable to a greater extent among the women than the men. 

 At present, personal ornamentation is done in colors only, 

 applied in the form of vertical lines upon the chin, transverse 

 bars upon the cheeks, or both. The tattoo design worn by a 

 laud-owner, formerly served as a property mark by being cut 

 or painted, upon trees or posts selected to indicate the boun- 

 daries. These marks were almost equivalent to the owner's 

 uame, and were known to the remainder of the tribe. In 

 this respect of engraving tattoo marks upon the bark 

 of trees, there is great resemblance to a custom prac- 

 tised by the natives of New Zealand, where the facial deco- 

 rations of a dead man are reproduced upon ti'ees near his 

 grave ; this is equal to an autograph and can be readily inter- 

 preted by a native. 



Knotted cords were used by some of these Indians, in busi- 

 ness transactions, a custom adopted after their northern 

 neighbors, the Palonies, — a sub-tribe of the Chemeliuevi, — 

 so called by the Spanish settlers, on account of wearing the 

 hair cut so short as to suggest the idea of "baldheadedncss." 

 The method of using knotted cords was in the following 

 manner : Each year the Paloni selected a certain number of 

 their tribe to visit the settlement to sell native blankets, and 

 every one who sent goods provided the salesman with two 

 cords, twisted out of the hair of some animal, on one of 

 which a knot was tied for every real received, and on the 

 other, the number of blankets sold. When the amount 

 reached one dollar, a double knot was made. Upon the return 

 of the agent, each person would select his own cords, count 

 up the number of blankets sold and the amount received for 

 the goods, lor which the ^;eller was responsible. 



