235 



midway between Mazatlan and Durango, about 60 miles N. E. 

 of the former, in latitude 24® N. and longitude 28^ W. If she 

 is from this neighborhood, she probably does not belong to the 

 Opate tribe, as located and described by Mr. Bartlett. Such an 

 incongruity is of little consequence to the naturalist, as the girl, 

 without doubt, belongs to some one of the Indian tribes between 

 the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Gulf of California, in the 

 Mexican provinces of Sonora and Cinaloa ; and whatever may 

 be the particular tribe of a scattered race which may claim her, 

 she is just as much a curious, rare, and interesting specimen of 

 humanity. 



As to her tribe living in caves, in a naked state, on an equality 

 with brutes, and partaking of their food, that would degrade her 

 to a level with the Digger Indians of California, who, though 

 very degraded, are yet far above the brutes. The locality of the 

 Digger Indians is several degrees further North than the Sierra 

 Madre range. This resemblance to the brute is mentioned, as 

 the popular belief seems to be, in her case as in the Aztec 

 children, that she is a specimen of a race, half human and half 

 brute. 



The girl is modest, playful in her disposition, pleased with 

 playthings like a child, and, at times, rather hard to manage, from 

 her obstinate and impulsive character. She is quite intelligent, 

 understands perfectly every thing said to her, can converse in 

 English, and also in Spanish ; she has a good ear for music, and 

 can sing tolerably well ; she can also sew remarkably well, and 

 is very fond of ornament and dress. Her appearance is far less 

 disgusting than the representations of her, although the enormous 

 growth of hair on the face, and the prominence of the lips, from 

 diseased gums, give her a brutish appearance. Her hair is long, 

 very thick, black, and straight, like that of the American Indian ; 

 hair, of the same color and character as that on the top of her 

 head, grows on the forehead, quite to the eyebrows, varying from 

 one half to an inch in length, having been partially cut off in the 

 middle of the forehead ; the eyebrows are very thick and shaggy, 

 and the lashes remarkably long ; the hair also grows along the 

 sides and ala3 of the nose, upper lip, cheeks, and about the ears, 

 which are large, and with very large lobes ; the chin is also well 



