68 ETHNO-BOTANY OF THE COAHUILLA INDIANS 



called nd-vo. I would call attention to the similarity of this word to 

 the general Coahuilla word for cactus fruit, na-vit. No vocabulary of 

 the Panamints has ever been published, 1 but they are undoubtedly of 

 the same great stock as the Coahuillas and such verbal similarities are 

 to be expected. 



Mu-tal is another of the opuntia, with flat, ugly jointed stems, 

 growing low and spreading over the ground in the most arid stretches 

 of the valleys. The flat joints, the size of one s palm, are crowded 

 along their edges with buds as big as the last joint of a man s thumb. 

 They are gathered in large quantities, brushed, and dried. They are 

 &quot;often stored for subsequent use, and when needed for food are pre 

 pared by boiling in water with a little salt and lard. Very frequently 

 also the fruit is allowed to ripen for its seeds. The figs, after being 

 dried, are spread out on a hard, smooth, dirt floor and then the woman 

 sits down beside the pile of cactus heads and with a flail, made 

 from the leaf stem of the desert palm, thoroughly threshes out the 

 seeds. These are then winnowed from the chaff and stored for winter 

 use. Along through the winter, as needed for food, they are pounded 

 into meal and cooked into an atole. These seeds are called wi-al and 

 they are obtained /from several species of cactus besides the mu-taL 



There are two cacti growing along the slopes of Torres mountain 

 that in growth and structure much resemble the Opuntia Tuna. I 

 have not seen them in bloom and know nothing of their flowers. Both 

 yield luscious fruit in large quantities. Ti-nup-em might readily be 

 mistaken for a neglected and stunted growth of the cultivated tuna. 

 Na-u-tem is not so thrifty and grows low on the ground. Its flat stems 

 have exceptionally long spines, two to three inches. The a-yu-vi-vi is 

 a very small cactus, only about four inches high and covered with little 

 hooked spines. It has a very small, sparse fruit. 



The cho-kal is a very furry cactus, with round jointed stems two to 

 three feet high. It is light brown in color and grows in communities, 

 sometimes covering a rocky canon side for a half mile to the exclusion 

 of almost everything else. It throws off extremely disagreeable balls 

 of spines which fasten in a horse s fetlocks and give instant trouble. 

 Its fruit, which I have never seen, is said to be very good. 



U-a-chim is one of the cylindrical or barrel-shaped cacti, light col 

 ored and furry. It has an edible fruit. 



Ko-pash is the famed &quot; nigger head,&quot; the Echinocactus cylindrids. 

 It appears above the sand simply as a round fluted globe, a little larger 



* A Panamint vocabulary has, however, been collected by Mr. Henshaw, but I think nowhere pub 

 lished as yet. 



