10 HUGO RIED'S ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS 



mountains and islands. It is sometimes called the moun- 

 tain cherry, although it partook little of either, having a 

 large stone wrapped in fibre and possessing little pulp. 

 This, cooked, formed a very nutritious, rich, sweet ali- 

 ment and looked much like dry frijoles. Chia, which is 

 a small, gray, oblong seed, was procured from a plant 

 apparently of the thistle kind, having a number of seed 

 vessels on a straight stalk, one above the other like sage. 

 This roasted and ground made a meal which was eaten, 

 mixed with cold water, being of a glutinous consistence 

 and very cooling. Pepper seeds were also much used, 

 likewise the tender tops of wild sage. Salt was used spar- 

 ingly, as they considered it having a tendency to turn 

 the hair gray. All of their food was eaten cold or nearly 

 so. 



The men wore no clothing ; the women of the interior 

 wore a short waist skirt of deer-skin, while those of the 

 coast had otter-skin. Covering for sleeping consisted of 

 rabbit-skin quilts. 7 The women wore ear-rings, the men 

 passing a piece of cane or reed through the ear lobe. 

 The ear-rings of the women were composed of four long 

 pieces of whale's tooth ground smooth and round, about 

 eight inches in length, and hung, with hawks' feathers, 

 from a ring of abalone shell. Their necklaces were very 

 large and heavy, and consisted of their money beads, of 

 beads made of black stone 8 and pieces of whales' teeth, 

 ground round and pierced. They used bracelets of very 

 small shell beads on both wrists. 



LETTER VII. 



Marriages. 



Chiefs or captains had one, two, or three wives, as 

 their inclinations dictated. Their subjects only one. 

 When a person wished to marry, and had selected a suit- 



