ii6 



THE MUSEUM. 



sacred meal, which they do, over the 

 snakes, the dancers and the ground, 

 from shallow dishes held in their 

 hands. The snakes are kept in train- 

 ing by a snake attender, with his 

 wand, called the eagle wand, consist- 

 ing in a painted rod-like handle of 

 wood, with two eagle feathers at the 

 extremity. 



Outside the estufa all are eagerly 

 awaiting the approach of the dancers; 

 the entire pueblo has turned ont, and 

 all are decked in their best holiday 

 costumes. The dance takes place 

 around the sacred rock, and they also 

 erect a small hide lodge and plant a 

 Cottonwood sapling, around all which 

 objects the dancers pass alter they 

 emerge from the den of the estufa. 



Finally all is ready, and out they 

 ' file — a sight most imposing indeed, 

 and one that makes a never-to-be-for- 

 gotten impress upon the memory. 



Three old dignitaries, in costumes 

 most remarkable, marching in single 

 file, lead the van. Then, also in sin- 

 gle file, follow eight boys, wearing and 

 carrying their own distinctive para- 

 phernalia. Following these come 

 about fifty bearers of the eagle wands, 

 whose duty it is to attract the atten- 

 tion of the snakes, while they are be- 

 ing carried between the teeth of the 

 other men dancers, in order to pre- 

 vent them from biting them. Much 

 singing is done, and a monotonous 

 noise is kept up with bead-covered 

 gourds and rapidly whirled slings held 

 in the hands of especial dancers. 

 There are also peculiar ceremonies to 

 be enacted at the sacred rock, the 

 sacred lodge and the tree. But every- 

 thing is done according to a prescrib- 

 ed programme, which dates far back 

 into the ages. Some of the male 

 dancers are nearly naked, having their 

 bodies painted in the most extraordi- 

 nary manner. Above all, however, 

 the ghastliest sight is to see them han- 

 dle the great five-foot "rattlers." 

 These they carry in their mouths with 

 impunity, cast on the ground, step on, 

 and gather up by the handful. 



The sight is positively blood-curd- 

 ling, and they keep constantly chang- 

 ing the snakes for fresh and more vig- 

 orous ones in the estufa, taking back 

 those that have been used in the 

 dance. 



My space will by no means admit 

 of a detailed account of this remark- 

 able ceremony. The snakes are fin-- 

 ally (after a closing and most impos- 

 ing formality) piled up in a circle and 

 completely covered with the sacred 

 meal and prayed over, when "the In- 

 dians of the second division then 

 grasped them convulsively in great 

 handfuls, and ran with might and 

 main to the eastern crest of the preci- 

 pice, and then darted like frightened 

 hares down the trails leading to the 

 foot, where they released the reptiles 

 "to the four quarters of the globe." 



Diamonds; How Formed- 



Since the late discovery of diamonds 

 in a meteorite, speculation has been 

 rife as to the origin of this gem, and, 

 as is often the result, hasty and — it 

 appears to the writer — unwarrantable 

 conclusions have been formed. Not 

 the least of those theories is one which- 

 would relegate diamond production, in 

 every case, to meteoric disturbances. 

 Even the geologists at Washington 

 have pronouned their fiat in this di- 

 rection, and have attributed the find 

 at Kimberly to a possible impact of 

 meteorites in that district. D Professor 

 Sayce has said, "A single solid fact 

 which can be observed and handled by 

 science is worth more than a dozen 

 brilliant theories." Let us, then, in 

 seeking to solve this problem in sober 

 earnestness, deal with known facts 

 and leave wild theorizing to speculat- 

 ive minds, remembering that for one 

 happy hit they make, countless are 

 the mistakes. Chemistry has long 

 told us what the diamond is — a crystal- 

 ized form of pure carbon — but further 

 progress seemed barred. Analysis 

 had done much, but all attempts at 

 synthesis failed. From their compo- 



