HRDLicKA] PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 35 



last tho jj^roatcM- part of tlio iii^ht, at which is manifested unusual 

 physical endurance by both sexes. 



The life of the Tepehuane, in Durango, a])peared to the writer sim- 

 ple and quite regular. The ])eople were partially civilized by the 

 priests, and, living mostly at several days' distance from whites, they 

 had to a large extent escaped degradation. In character the Tepehuane 

 now are rather timorous, suspicious, averse to all innovations, and 

 very deliberative. While there are men as well as women among 

 them who are bright, or inspire respect, the majority impress one as 

 having no special aptitude. Their village life and feasts, and their 

 sedentary, agricultural habits remind one even more than do the 

 Tarahumare, of the Pueblos. 



The Tepecano, Iluichol, and Cora are still practically self-governing 

 tribes, and, like the Tarahumare in the north, these people, particu- 

 larly the Huichol, preserve many primitive habits of life. The 

 Huichol have the reputation among the Mexicans of being rather 

 treacherous and dangerous, but such an opmion must be taken with 

 caution. They are afraid of whites, and are in general of a timid dis- 

 ])osition. Wliile it is true that they have killed a few Mexicans, the 

 provocation, judging from what could be observed of the treatment 

 accorded them by some whites, must have been great. Like all 

 Indians, they are averse to miners and prospectors, fearing for their 

 native land; yet the utmost harm to a prospector that could be veri- 

 fied was the filling with stones in his absence of the hole he was work- 

 ing in. The people are much involved in their cult; they are very 

 artistic in their apparel, embroidery, ceremonial objects, and in 

 other respects ; they are apt and devoted players on their little home- 

 made violins, and manifest in numerous ways appreciation of the 

 beautiful in nature and art. They are also skillful hunters and 

 fishermen. Wlien excited by drink, they fight among themselves; 

 la3mig down their machetes antl other things, they catch one another 

 by the hair and grapple roughly. 



The Cora, somewdiat more civilized than the Huichol, are of a 

 rather cheerful disposition and more open and aggressive. Thev 

 fought well on more than one occasion in the past against the Mexi- 

 cans and even yet have not given up the thought of armed resistance. 



The Otomi are very ignorant, superstitious, and bigoted, the most 

 so w^here they live near the "A^ecinos" (i. e., Mexicans). The moral 

 tone of the people and family life are, except in the purest-blood settle- 

 ments — where the Indians are in general superior — of a low^ order; 

 drunkenness is very common; clandestine mixture with the lower class 

 of Mexicans is quite prevalent. 



The Tarasco and the Mazahua retain more of their primitive cus- 

 toms than the Otomi, nevertheless their mode of life has been much 

 modified by the influence of the whites. They are in general less 



