SOCIETY. 391 



causes of war is the capture of women. They have no heredi- 

 tary slavery. They have no marriage ceremony, and the 

 duration of the marriage relation depends entirely upon the 

 pleasure of the husband. Polygamy is permitted by many of 

 the tribes. The women are not prolific, or at least the children 

 are few, and mostly boys. The girls are neglected, or inten- 

 tionally killed soon after birth, and this policy will, of course, 

 if continued, soon cause an extinction of the race in California. 

 In certain tribes on the northern coast, if a mother, having an 

 infant child, dies, the child is buried with her. Most of the 

 tribes burn their dead, commencing the cremation in the even- 

 ing, and keeping up the fire all night, while the friends watch, 

 and the women relatives utter plaintive cries until daylight. 

 They have no religious ceremonies ; or no ceremonies to which 

 they attach ideas clearly religious. Every year, usually in the 

 spring, they hav^e a dance, as it is called. They assemble, 

 build a large fire, and the men surround it, and keeping their 

 knees, elbows, and backs bent, they beat time with their feet to 

 a monotonous song, which they sing with the assistance of 

 the squaws, who sit off on one side. In some tribes, several 

 of the men have pipes, from which they elicit a few notes as 

 an accompaniment for the song. 



The squaws are treated like slaves. They are required to 

 do all the work, and to attend to every want of their husbands. 

 They must collect vegetable food, prepare it, and carry all the 

 movable property in times of migration. They are beaten on 

 the slightest provocation. The men never consult them 

 about the management of public or private afiairs. They are 

 bought as merchandise from the parent, and treated as slaves 

 after the purchase. 



Most of the wild Indians have no permanent place of resi- 

 dence. Each tribe has a territory wiiich it considers its own, 

 and within w^hich its members move about. Each family has 

 a hut, and a cluster of these huts is called a rancher ia. The 

 ranc'herias are usually established on the banks of streams, in 

 the vicinity of oak-trees, horsechestnut bushes, and patches 



