112 



LIEUTENANT MICHLER'S REPORT. 



side to the prevailing wind is sloped towards tlie ground. They usually select a sandy spot, as 

 it is wanner in winter and cooler in summer. 



Mai 



( 



(th 



few inches deep, with a sharpened stick, having first removed the surface for an inch or two, as 



alt 



No 



further care is required hut t6 remove the weeds^ which grow most luxuriantly wherever the 

 water has been. They cultivate watermelons, muskmelons, pumpkins, corn, and beans. The 

 watermelons are small and indifferent, muskmelons large, and pumpkins good ; these latter 

 ■they cut and dry for winter use. Wheat is planted in the same manner, near the lagoans, in 

 'December or January, and ripens in May or June. It has a fine plump grain and well-filled 

 *heads. %rhey also grow grass-seed for food ; it is prepared by pounding the seed in wooden mor- 

 tars made of mezquite^ or in tlie ground. With water the meal is kneaded into a mass, and 

 then "dried ia the sun. Themezq^uite hean is prepared in the same manner, and will keep to the 



tiexf season. The pod-mezg^uite Ijegins to ripen the latter part of June ; the screw-hean a little 

 later. Both contain a* great deal of saccharine matter; the latter is so full, it furnishes, hy 

 i)oiling, a palatable molasses ; and from the former, by boiling and fermentation, a tolerably 



m 



-good drink may be n>ade. The great dependence of the Indian for food, besides the product of 

 his fields; Ib the mezquite-bean. Mules form a favorite article of food ; but horses are so highly 



• , - ■ - ■ 



prized, they seldom kill them, unless pressed by hunger or required by their customs.'' A 

 lithographic sketch accompanies this report^ depicting the appearance and dress of the Yumas, 

 or Cuchanos. 



Apart from my own observations of the Indians of the Colorado, I am very much indebted 

 for my acquaintance with their habits and customs to the very interesting report of Major 

 Heintzelman, from which I have taken the liberty to make some extracts, and also to frequent 

 conversations with Major George H. Thomas, Dr, Robert J. Abbott, and other officers of the 

 army stationed at Fort Yuma during our sojourn in its neighborhood. It may be pardonable 

 in me to render here, by a passing word, an acknowledgment of the great kindness and consid- 

 eration shown myself and assistants by all those officers whom we had the good fortune to meet 

 after reaching the shores of the Pacific. Our wants were always kindly supplied^ and all they 

 could do was done, to expedite the work. 



On examination, after arriving at Fort Yuma, it was found that the instruments were dis- 

 arranged^ and in some instances broken, in consequence of the numerous changes in the mode of 

 transportation, and the rough road travelled over ; they were, however, sooti repaired, as well 

 ^ circunistances would permit, and the work commenced very shortly after reaching the field of 

 our operations , 



Surveys of the meanderings of the rivers Gila and Colorado for short distances above their 



I 



junction-, and of the latter river from the junction down to the head of ship navigation, to- 

 gether with the roads in the neighborhood, were made by assistant surveyor A. C, V. Schott, 

 assisted by Messrs. E. A. Phillips, C. Michler, and T. Cozzens. Owing to the thick under- 

 brush along the banks, the work proved tedious. ' . 



Astronomical' and meteorological observations were daily made by myself, assisted by Mr. Gf. 

 Powep, and^ the computations made by Mr. J. O'Donoghue. At the same "time I cari'ied'ori the 

 triangulation " to a point on the Colorado river twenty English miles below its junction with the 



