sicGEE] USES OF THE HUPF 239* 



breaking wood for fuel. (9) Dethoriiing okatilla steins, by sweeping 

 centripetal strokes delivered adzwise from top toward hntt of a biineh 

 of steins lying ou the ground. (10) Severing a stout hair cord; in this 

 nse it was grasped between the knees of a matron squatting on the 

 ground, while the cord was held in both hands and sawed to and fro 

 over the use-roughened thinner end. (11) Supporting a kettle (shown 

 in plate x) as one of the fire stones used in frontier mimicry of the 

 Papago custom. (12) Triturating face-paint by pounding and knead- 

 ing; in one case the specimen served as a hand iinplenient. wliile in 

 another case it took the place of the ahst, the ocher lump itself being 

 struck and rubbed against it. (13) Beating a troo]> of dogs from a pile 

 of bedding in a jacal; in this use the implement was held in the custom- 

 ary manner and used in swift centripetal blows, the matron relying on 

 her own swiftness and reach and not at all on jirojection to come within 

 reach of ber moviug targets; the blows usually landed well astern, 

 and were so vicious ajid vigorous as to have killed tlie agile brutes 

 had they chanced to fall squarely — indeed, one blow temporarily par- 

 alyzed a large cui-, which escaped only by running ou its fore feet and 

 dragging its hind quarters. In most of these uses the specimen was 

 employed in conjunction with an improvised ahst in the form of a stone 

 carried from the rancho. Several of the processes, notably those of 

 tissue-tearing and dog-beating, were executed with a vigor and swift- 

 ness quite distinct from the sluggish lounging of the ordinary day- 

 tide and, indeed, partaking of the tierce exaltation normal to the Seri 

 chase. When not in use the implement usually lay just within the 

 open end of the owner's jacal, though it was often displaced and some- 

 times kicked about the patio for liours. It was one of perhaps a dozen 

 similar implements brought across the desert from the coast by as many 

 matrons. All were regarded as personal belongings pertaining to the 

 custodians about as detinitely as articles of apparel, though rather 

 freely loaned, especially in the owner's clan. The specimen was pur- 

 chased from the possessor, who parted from it rather reluctantly, 

 though with the tacit approval of her clanswoiuen, at a rate im])lying 

 considerable appreciation of real or supposed value. Three or four 

 other matrons declined to barter their hupfs, either arbitrarily or ou 

 the ])lea that they were a long way from the source of supply. 



A common variety of hupf is illustrated in plate XLiv. It is of 

 pinkish, slaty tuff of ratlier low specific gravity, somewhat vesicular 

 and pulverulent, though moderately hard and tough. It weighs 17 

 ounces (0.48 kilogram). In form and surface it is essentially a wave- 

 worn jtebble. doubtless derived originally from the volcanic deposits of 

 Sierra Kunkaak. Its artificial markings are limited to slight battering 

 about the edges, especially at the thinner end (as shown in the edge 

 view); slight rubbing, striation, and semipolishing of the smoother 

 face (shown in the plate) ; a few grease spots and a stain showing use in 

 crushiug sappy vegetal matter, also on this face; and an inconspicuous 



