cusnmc.J THE HUNT. 35 



which the hunter wears suspended over the left breast (or heart) by a 

 buckskin thong, which is tied above the right shoulder. With it he 

 returns home, where he hangs it up in his room and awaits a ftxvorable 

 rain or snow storm, meanwhile, if but a few days elapse, retaining the 

 fetich in his own house. If a hunter be not a member of the orders 

 above mentioned, while he must ask a member to secure a fetich for 

 him, in the manner described, still he is quite as privileged to use it as 

 is the member himself, although his chances for success are not sup- 

 posed to be so good as those of the proper owner. 



During his journey out the hunter picks from the heart of the yucca, 

 or Spanish bayonet, a few thin leaves, and, on reaching the point where 

 an animal which he wishes to capture has rested, or whence it has 

 newly taken flight, he deposits, together with sacrifices hereinafter to 

 be mentioned, a spider knot (ho-tsa-na mu kwi-ton-ne;, made of four 

 strauds of these yucca leaves. This knot must be tied like the ordinary 

 cat-knot, but invariably from right to left, so that the ends of the four 

 strands shall spread out from the center as the legs of a spider from its 

 body. The knot is further characterized by being tied quite awkwardly, 

 as if by a mere child. It is deposited on the spot over which the heart 

 of the animal is supposed to have rested or passed. Then a forked 

 twig of cedar is cut and stuck very obliquely into the ground, so that 

 the prongs stand in a direction opposite to that of the course taken by 

 the animal, and immediately in front, as it were, of the fore part of its 

 heart, which is represented as entangled in the knot. 



This process, in conjunction with the roar of the animal, which the 

 fetich represents, and which is imitated by the hunter on the. conclu- 

 sion of these various ceremonials, is supposed to limit the power of 

 flight of the animal sought, to confine him within a narrow circle, and, 

 together with an additional ceremonial which is invariably ijerformed, 

 even without the other, is supposed to render it a sure prey. This is 

 performed only after the track has been followed until either the animal 

 is in sight, or a place is discovered where it has lain down. Then, in 

 exactly the spot over which the heart of the animal is supposed to hav'e 

 rested, he deposits a sacrifice of corn pollen (ta-6n-ia), sacred black war 

 paint (tsu-ha-pa) — a kind of iilumbago, containing shining i)articles, 

 and procured by barter from the Ha-va-su-pai (Co9oninos), and from 

 sacred mines toward the west — and i)rayer or sacred meal, made froQi 

 white seed-corn (emblematic of terrestrial life or of the foods of man- 

 kind), fragments of shell, sand from the ocean, and sometimes tiirkois 

 or greenstone, ground \evy fine, and invariably carried in pouches by 

 all members of the sacred societies of ZniJi. To this mixture sacred 

 shell beads or coral are sometimes added. Then, taking out the fetich, 

 he breathes on it and from it, and exclaims "Si!", which signifies "the 

 time has come," or that everything is in readiness. The exact meaning 

 may, perhaps, be made clearer by an example. When all preparations 

 have been made complete for a ceremonial, the word "Si!", uttered by 



