BOURKE. ] THE APACHE SPIRIT DANCE. 583 
Marion (St. Augustine, Fla.), in 1887, when the Chiricahua Apache were 
confined there as prisoners; although the accompanying figure repre- 
sents a ghost dance headdress seen among the Apache in the winter of 
1885. A great many of the band had been suffering from sickness of 
one kind or another and twenty-three of the children had died; as a 
consequence, the medicine-men were having the Cha-ja-la, which is en- 
tered into only upon the most solemn occasions, such as the setting out 
of a war party, the appearance of an epidemic, or something else of like 
portent. On the terreplein of the northwest bastion, Ramon, the old 
medicine-man, was violently beating upon a drum, which, as usual, had 
been improvised of a soaped rag drawn tightly over the mouth of an iron 
kettle holding a little water. 
Although acting as master of ceremonies, Ramon was not painted or 
decorated in any way. Three other medicine-men were having the fin- 
ishing touches put to their bodily decoration. They had an under-coat- 
ing of greenish brown, and on each arm a yellow snake, the head to- 
ward the shoulder blade. The snake on the arm of one of the party 
was double-headed, or rather had a head at each extremity. 
Each had insignia in yellow on back and breast, but no two were exactly 
alike. One had on his breast a yellow bear, 4 inches long by 3 inches 
high, and on his back a kan of the same color and dimensions. A sec- 
ond had the same pattern of bear on his breast, but a zigzag for light- 
ning on his back. The third had the zigzag on both back and breast. 
All wore kilts and moccasins. 
While the painting was going on Ramon thumped and sang with vigor 
to insure the medicinal potency of the pigments and the designs to 
which they were applied. Each held, one in each hand, two wands or 
swords of lathlike proportions, ornamented with snake-lightning in blue. 
The medicine-men emitted a peculiar whistling noise and bent slowly 
to the right, then to the left, then frontward, then backward, until the 
head in each case was level with the waist. Quickly they spun round 
in full circle on the left foot; back again in areverse circle to the right; 
then they charged around the little group of tents in that bastion, mak- 
ing cuts and thrusts with their wands to drive the maleficent spirits 
away. 
It recalled to my mind the old myths of the angel with the flaming 
sword guarding the entrance to Eden, or of St. Michael chasing the dis- 
comfited Lucifer down into the depths of Hell. 
These preliminaries occupied a few moments only; at the end of that 
time the medicine-men advanced to where a squaw was holding up to 
them a little baby sick in its cradle. The mother remained kneeling 
while the medicine-men frantically struck at, upon, around, and over the 
cradle with their wooden weapons. 
The baby was held so as successively to occupy each of the cardinal 
points and face each point directly opposite; first on the east side, fac- 
ing the west; then the north side, facing the south; then the west side, 
