306 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



spear-heads of flint, or pij^es and battle-axes of stone, as are 

 found in the state of Ohio. There is nothing to indicate that 

 any of the inhabitants of the country, previous to the ariival 

 of the Spaniards, were above a very Ioav degree of savagism. 

 They have no domestic animals save the dog, and that of a 

 very low kind. They have so little skill in the preservation 

 of food, that, like wild beasts, they grow grossly fat in the 

 spring and poor in the winter. The Mojave Indians in the 

 Colorado Desert, dej^end for their subsistence chiefly on culti- 

 vated food. They plant wheat, grass, pumpkins, and musk- 

 melons. After the annual ovei'flow of the bottom land, a small 

 patch of ground is cleared off" with the help of knives and fire; 

 then small holes are made, the seeds are deposited, and the 

 field is left to orrow up as well as it mav. The musk-melons 

 are eaten fresh ; the pumpkins are eaten fresh, or sliced and 

 dried ; the wheat and grass-seeds are ground, made into a yjaste 

 with water and dried in cakes. The mezquit bean, next to 

 the cultivated grains, pumpkins, and squashes, is the most 

 important article of food with the Indians in the Colorado 

 Desert. These beans are prepared for eating in the same 

 manner with the wheat and grass-seed. 



The preceding remarks relate to the wild Indians only, and 

 are intended to illustrate the natural habits, character, and 

 capacity of the race. During the last fifteen years, however, 

 they have all been influenced so much by intercourse with the 

 whites, that they have lost many of their wild habits and ac- 

 quired new ones. In some districts they have fire-arms ; in 

 others they obtain much of their food and clothing from their 

 Caucasian neighbors. In the counties along the southern coast, 

 there are many civilized Indians, who live in adobe-houses, 

 and support themselves by herding cattle, breaking horses, 

 and working in the grain-fields, orchards and vineyards. They 

 have lost much of the savage expression of countenance, and 

 some of them have become very industrious and trustworthy 

 laborers; but the majority are idle and dissipated in their 

 habits. They have all learned a vulgar dialect of the Spanish, 



