W. J. HOFFMAN. ANTIQUITIES OF XEW MEXICO AXD ARIZONA. 115 



for ornaments and in the arts, had turquoises, which were, no doubt, 

 (ihtained from the Xew Mexican mines, and for which articles of equal 

 value were sent in return.* Amongst the debris of the older ruins we 

 also find several species of marine shells which had been perforated 

 and worked into pendants and for necklaces, indicating previous com- 

 munication with the Pacific coast. 



The turquoise found in New^Mexiccj is 

 usually of a pale bluish-green tint, though 

 small specimens of a finer color sometimes 

 occur. This mineral is still eagerly sought 

 for by the inhabitants of the pueblos loca- 

 ted nearest the oKl mines, and those fit 

 for use are perfurated by means of stone 

 tipped drills, an illustration of which is 

 given in Fig. 408^7. 



A writer in a recent number of the 

 Rocky Motditit in Prt'shyterixDi says "the 

 Moqui received that name in 1855 on ac- 

 tount of the ravages caused by an epi- 

 demic of small-])ox which carried ofl^^ nearly 

 two-thirds of the population, this name 

 being given them l)y their neighbors be- 

 cause it means deaths The Aztec tniqui 

 signifies the same'thing, and it js'evident 

 that the name was applied at a much 

 earlier period, if applied at all, as Vargas, 

 whose expedition set out for this region in 

 169;^, employs the word Moqui in his nar- W 



rative. 40527 



* C'orouado >ays of the Pueblo.s, " tliey liave no cotton-wool growing, be- 

 cause the country is too cold, yet tliey wear mantles thereof, aiid true it is 

 tiiat there was found within their houses certain yarn made of cotton-wool." 

 The payment of turi[Uoises to .Mexico is mentioned bv C'lavigero (Cullen's 

 trans.) I, 3."J1. 



For further informal ion regarding tlie green-stones used by the nation re- 

 ferred to, see article entitled "The Chalchihuitl of the .Vncient ilexicans: its 

 Locality and Association and its Identity with Turquois." By W. P. Blake. 

 Aiii.Jour. Sci. ArtK. XX\' (2d ser.) IWS. pp. 227-283. Also, '" Obseiwations 

 on the Chalchihuitl of ^lexico and Central America." E. G. Squier. Ann. Lye. 

 Hist. X.Y..V0I.IX, lS(;i», p. 2-t(i-2(J.j, tig. I. .Air. Squier doubts if the truechalchi- 

 huitl was turquois. and says that they [the Mexican.s] used the stone described 

 iiy Dr. Blake for certain purposes, for there exists in the museum of the late 

 Mr. Henry Christy in London, a human skull completely encrusted with a 



