The Days of a Man 1:1898 



these were supplemented by the purchase of local 

 supplies — a haunch of goat and a few pounds of 

 cornmeal ground in primitive fashion with a stone 

 metate. As the native maize is purplish or deep 

 lavender in color, from it I prepared, as my choicest 

 contribution to the bill of fare, a most aesthetic- 

 looking bread and porridge. 

 Camera The Acomas, like other Indians I have met, ob- 



'"''^"' ject to being photographed, their idea being that 

 the picture magically steals away an outer skin of 

 whatever it represents. Nevertheless, through the 

 charming but timorous children of the table-land, 

 won by a generous largesse of sweetmeats, I finally 

 succeeded in reaching the hearts of their parents, 

 whereupon, by Lummis' ingenuity, reluctance toward 

 the camera was partially overcome. 

 Dizzy In the course of our six days at Acoma we trav- 



""^^^ ersed several strange and narrow ways, among them 

 the treacherous ''split trail" and the unique "Camino 

 del Padre" ^ by which we, like the good Father, first 

 climbed to "the city in the sky." Our leader him- 

 self went up and down the long-abandoned and 

 practically impassable north trail twisting over 

 bulging precipices — a feat never before accom- 

 plished by a white man. 



In the central square we passed the obscure 

 trapdoor leading to a sacred underground chamber 

 in which, it is said, primordial rites are still observed; 

 and exploring a score of rocky nooks hid beneath 

 the overhanging promontories, we now and again 

 touched the brink of other ancient mysteries. In 



^ "Outside of the pueblo towns there is not another footway so picturesque 

 in all the three Americas." Lummis, "Three Weeks in Wonderland"; The 

 Land of Sunshine, August, 1898. 



i: 630 J 



