260 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 34 



somewhat similarly prepared cactus cakes farther south; in whatever 

 form it is consumed it has no ill effects. 



Mesquite beans, or tzi-mu-kui-la, are used extensively as food. 

 The pods are crushed on the metate, mixed with w^ater and a little 

 salt, and the whole is drunk or eaten. The beans also are occasionally 

 used, being crushed and eaten as mush. No bread is made from 

 either pods or beans. 



The tuna, or prickly pear, the fruit of the ordinary broad-and-flat- 

 leaved cactuses, is collected, peeled, split, freed as much as possible 

 from the seeds, and spread upon the grass for drying, like peaches. 

 When well dried it is usually pounded and broken into smaller pieces, 

 and thus preserved. In this form the fruit is called h-te' , or Tie-te' . 

 Before being eaten it is soaked in water, the mixture afterwards being 

 stirred. Occasionally the Tie-te' is eaten as it is; it is never cooked. 



A-a, or a-ag, is the fruit of the gigantic cactus, a variety closely 

 related to the more southern pitahaya. Most of this fruit is consumed 

 fresh, but some is peeled, then crushed and allowed to dry. It is 

 eaten fresh or dried and generally without further preparation. Occa- 

 sionally the diy fruit is soaked in water to make a pleasant-tasting 

 drink. 



E-m-tak is the seed of a certain grass which grows in the mountains. 

 The seed is gathered during the summer. The women roast it in 

 baskets by mixing it with hot charcoal; they then crush it on the 

 nictate. After adding water the mixture is eaten in the form of mush 

 or whey. 



E-iat, or i-iai, is a berry, the fruit of a low bush that grows in the 

 valleys. It is gathered in summer. The women spread it on a clean 

 exposed place, and leave it for a week or ten days in the sun to dry. 

 In this form it is tied up in muslin and kept. Before being eaten the 

 dried berries are moistened, crushed, and mixed with cold water. 

 Sometimes, however, they are eaten dry. 



Me-chir-k, or me-chir-ke, is the seed of a bunch grass, which grows to 

 about 2 5 feet in height, in the mountains. The seed is roasted with 

 charcoal, crushed on the metate, boiled, and eaten with the addition 

 of a little salt, as mush. 



Ke-the-e' is a red berry which grows on a bush whose stems are used 

 in basketry. The berries are first dried in the sun on the ground. For 

 use as food, they are crushed, mixed with water, sweetened wdth mescal 

 or sugar, and eaten in a more or less li(|uid state. 



S-le is the seed of a grass growing in the valleys in bunches to about 

 1 foot in height. The seed is gathered in summer. It may be eaten 

 either raw or roasted. After being crushed on the metate it is boiled, 

 and eaten as nmsh; or it is roasted, crushed, and eaten mixed with 

 water. 



Wi-yal, or mescal; similar to plant known under the name else- 

 where, though the species is undetermined. The Walapai dig large 



