GOOD-BYE TO ARIZONA 129 



evil-disposed toward the traveler, and their vis- 

 its to travelers' camps are prompted by a natu- 

 ral curiosity to see the white man and the white 

 man's outfit, and occasionally they come to bar- 

 ter. But the main object is always the com- 

 parative certainty of securing a square meal 

 and a smoke. Indians are ever ready to eat, 

 and tobacco is dear to their hearts. 



Some writers who have visited the Navajo 

 country describe in highly colored, sensational, 

 and sometimes even blood-curdling terms the 

 Indians' descent upon their camps. They tell 

 of whooping, screeching Indians riding down 

 upon them with horses at a run and then watch- 

 ing them with suspicious and sinister looks; and 

 the traveler tells us how his party keeps vigil 

 through the night, hourly expecting to be at- 

 tacked by the blood-thirsty savages! He im- 

 presses upon us how very brave he is to ven- 

 ture into the territory of these wild Indians. 



All this is nonsense. The Indian habitually 

 rides at a canter. Very often he whoops upon 

 approaching a camp, but this is to herald his 

 coming, that the camper may not be startled 

 by his unannounced arrival. He who feels even 

 the least tingle of fear or apprehension through 

 the Indian's visit is a timid creature indeed. 

 These "adventures" have a place with the 



