380 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



fornia, where, at least once a year, public ceremonies are held. 

 One of these places in San Francisco, a chapel about eighteen 

 feet wide, by thirty long, and twelve high, has at one end an 

 idol of life-size in a squatting position, painted with Venetian 

 red. Around this idol are placed banners and curtains of silk, 

 and boards with inscriptions painted and carved in Chinese 

 characters. In front of the idol is a table, on which are lighted 

 candles, sticks of incense burning without a blaze, and filUng 

 the place with smoke, and various fantastically shaped dishes 

 of Avhite metal and brass. On another table are placed flow- 

 ers, vegetables, and various articles of food, such as pieces of 

 roast pig and chicken, fish, and other articles, the names of 

 which are unknown to Americans. The ceremonies are per- 

 formed by men dressed in long robes and acting as priests, 

 who march round the room, make genuflexions and bows be- 

 fore the idol, and occasionally kneel and recite forms of prayer. 

 Many of the Chinamen have in their dwellings little images of 

 Buddha, before which they keep tapers burning. Once a year 

 they go out in procession with music to the public cemetery, 

 where their dead are buried, and set a table there as a feast for 

 the spirits of the deceased. 



The wild Indians have no clearly defined religious ideas ; and 

 the tame ones, or those who live among the whites, are so igno- 

 rant that their faith is little better than a gross superstition. 



§ 267. Calif or niatiisms. — The Californians have introduced 

 certain words into the Englisli language, or at least have adopt- 

 ed them in common use in the state, and a list of them, with 

 their pronunciation and definition, may not be out of place here : 



Aparejo (a par ay' ho), a Mexican pack-saddle. 



Adobe (a do' ba), a large sun-dried, unburned brick, some- 

 times two feet long, a foot wide, and four inches thick. 



Arroyo (ar ro' yo), a brook, or the dry bed of a brook or 

 small river. 



Arastra (a ras' tra), a primitive mill for crushing quartz. 



Alforja (al for' hah), a bag, usually made of raw cowhide, 

 used for holding the articles to be carried by a pack-horse. 



