550 THE MIWOK. 
bank of the Fresno, the Po’-ho-ni-chi. There were probably others besides 
on the plains, but they have been so long extinct that their names are for- 
gotten. Dr. Bunnell mentions the ‘Potoencies”, but no Indian had ever 
heard of such a tribe; also, the “‘Honachees”, which is probably a mis- 
take for the Mo-na’-chi, a name applied by some Indians to the Paiuti. 
How extremely limited were their journeyings of old may be judged 
by the fact that all of them, no matter what two rivers they live between, 
always employ the same phrases: wa-hal'-u-mi tu'-mun (north river), and wa- 
kal'-u-mi chu'-much (south river). The only fixed name I was ever able to 
learn was O-tul/-wi-uh, which is the Tuolumne. 
The name ‘“ Walli” has been the subject of a great deal of discussion 
among white men, as to its meaning and derivation. Some assert that it 
is a word applied by the pioneers to the Indians, without any signification; 
others, that it is an aboriginal word, denoting ‘“‘friends”. Probably the 
latter theory is due to the fact that the Indians, in meeting, frequently ery 
out “Walli! Walli!” Asa matter of fact, itis derived from the word wal'-lim, 
which means simply ‘‘ down below”; and it appears to have been originated 
by the Yosemite Indians and others living high up in the mountains, and 
applied to the lower tribes with a slight feeling of contempt. The Indians 
on the Stanislaus and Tuolumne use the term freely in conversing among 
themselves, but on the Merced it is never heard except when spoken by the 
whites. 
For houses, the Miwok construct very rude affairs of poles and brush- 
wood, which they cover with earth in the winter; in summer, as the general 
custom is, they move into mere brushwood shelters. Higher up in the 
mountains they make a summer lodge of puncheons, in the shape of a 
sharp cone, with one side open, and a bivouac-fire in front of it. 
Perhaps the only special points to be noted in their .physiognomy are 
the smallness of many heads, and the flatness on the sinciput, caused by 
their lying on the hard baby-basket when infants. I felt the heads of a 
rancheria near Chinese Camp, and was surprised at the diminutive balls 
which lurked within the masses of hair. The chief, Captain John, was at 
least seventy years old, yet his head was still perceptibly flattened on the 
back, and I could almost encircle it with my hands. 
