RUSSELL] THE FOOD SUPPLY 75 



Tiio beans are prepared for use 1)}' being pounded up in a mortar 

 with a stone pestle, or, if a large quantity is required, wdth a large 

 wooden one. The pods may be ground with the beans. Another 

 method of preparation is to separate the beans from the pods, parch 

 them by tossing them up in a pan of live coals, and reduce them to 

 meal by grinding, whereupon tliej' may be eaten as pinole. Tliis 

 has a sweetish taste and is reputed to be very nourishing. 



The catkins of the mesquite are eaten witliout preparation by strip- 

 ping from the stem lictween the teeth. 



Tlie white gum which exudes from the mesquite limbs is used in 

 making candy. 



Tlie inner bark is emploj-ed as a substitute for rennet. 



Ko'kih-ihiitali, Parkinsonia microphylla (in tlie footliills) ; P. tor- 

 reyana (on the mesas) (pi. x, h). The paloverdc bean was formerly 

 eaten either as gathered or after being poimded in the mortar. It 

 was not eaten as pinole, but was sometimes mixed with mesquite 

 meal. 



Ko'mHIf. The heads are gathered and washed, sometimes twice, 

 then boiled in an olla with a little water. AMieat flour and a sea- 

 soning of salt are added and the whole is stirred until the heads fall to 

 pieces. 



Ko'-okwpaltHk. According to tradition the seeds were eaten in prim- 

 itive times, but no one now knows how they were prepared. The 

 plant is now boiled with meat as greens. 



Ko'Htnlt, Pros()]iis pubescens. Screw beans are abundant along 

 the banks of the Gila. They are cooked in pits wliich are lined with 

 arrow bushes set on end. The beans are placed in layers alternating 

 with cocklcbur leaves, the whole covered with earth and loft to stand 

 three or four days, after which they are taken out and spread to dry. 

 They are then ready to use or store away in the arrow-bush basket 

 bins on the house tops. They are further prepared for food by ])ound- 

 ing up in a mortar, the fine flour then being read}'' to be eaten as 

 pinole. The coarser portion is taken up in the hands with water, 

 the juice sucked through the fingers, and the remainder rejected. 



Kim'aolf, Licium fremontii var. The red berry is boiled and eaten. 



Ma-aUMl: . Tliis is described as resembling asparagus. The stems 

 may be eaten raw or boiled or roasted in the ashes. 



Me'ln, Citrullus vulgaris Shrad. Watermelons are among the most 

 important crops of the Pimas aiid are eaten during at least six months 

 of the 3^ear. 



Naf , Opuntia engelmamii. The thonis are brushed off the fruit 

 of the prickly pear before it is gathered. It is then peeled and eaten, 

 the seeds being thrown away. The Papagos make a sirup from the 

 fruit (which is said to cause fever in those not accustomed to its use) 



