IN CALIFORNIA 135 



it seems ridiculous that one should bother to collect 

 such small matters for a man's meat. They are 

 exceedingly abundant, however, in each little pod, 

 and when it is remembered that there is nutrition 

 enough in a teaspoonful of seeds to support a man 

 for a day on a forced march (according to the state- 

 ment of the late Dr. Cephas L. Bard of Ventura, 

 who made a study of native plants), the job of chia 

 harvesting is not so hopeless as might appear at 

 first blush. The Indians managed it in two ways. 

 They either gathered stalk and all, threshing and 

 winnowing it afterwards like grain; or, as was the 

 usual California custom, they went afield with 

 baskets and paddles and beat the seeds directly from 

 the plant as it stood, into the basket. Chia seed is 

 utilized for both food and drink. The raw seeds, 

 soaked in water, produce a refreshing, nutritious, 

 mucilaginous beverage, with a slightly aromatic 

 flavor characteristic of the mint tribe to which the 

 plant belongs. A touch of civilization may be given 

 to it by adding sugar and a little lemon juice, and 

 you have a summer drink whose novelty will bring 

 any hostess fame in this blase age a drink that is 

 grateful even to a nauseated stomach. The more 

 usual disposition of the seeds, however, was first to 

 toast them by tossing in a basket with live coals, as 

 in the case of other pinole, then grinding them in a 



