Miscellaneous Papers. 



269 



at one end, and with these they rolled the snakes around, waved 

 the feathers over them till they became bewildered and uncoiled, 

 if they had coiled. They then picked them up one by one with 

 their bare hands, put them in large earthen jars, covered them over 

 in the jars with a buckskin covering, and then carried the jars on 

 their heads to the central estufa. These they placed around the 

 central post in that house. Then around them, in the presence of 

 their idols and the symbolic paintings of the house, they danced, 

 sprinkled sacred dust, and prayed for a considerable time. 



J«U6. 





M•mAa,o-M^ i^irtA-xo-MA «a«-TA-au-MA wis«-Me. 



MUSIC (Song) 

 Used in the round dances in the estufas. 



Then men, dressed only in breech-cloths and bearing no weap- 

 ons whatever, left the pueblo one after another, in a long-drawn-out 

 procession, and marched with majestic tread to a point on the adobe 

 flat about two miles northwest of the village. This being reached, 

 all lined up abreast, facing the village. Then, at a given signal of 

 the chief antelope priest, the snake race was on. Instantly the 

 competitors were running like deer over the parched ground. For 

 a few moments all kept pace with each other. Then four or five 

 began to lead out. Then two of these made gains on the others. 

 Then one of them began to outstrijj the other. Nearer and nearer 

 the goal they came. Across the public dancing area the leader 

 dashed to the estufa. With one bound he leaped upon the roof, a 

 tall, muscular, powerful Indian, with gleaming, piercing eyes. Amid 



