CHAPTER XIV. 



The Pueblos — Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and In- 

 -. dustry — Traditional Descent from Montezuma — Their Lan- 

 guages — Former and present Population — The Pueblo of Pe- 

 cos— Singular Habits of that ill-fated Tribe— Curious Tradi- 

 tion — Montezuma and the Sun — Legend of a Serpent — Reli- 

 gion and Government — Secret Council — Laws and Customs — 

 Excellent Provisions against Demoralization — Primitive Pas- 

 times of the Pueblos — Their Architecture— Sinsfular Struc- 

 tares of Taos, and other novel Fortifications — Primitive state 

 of the Arts among the Pueblos — Style of Dress, Weapons, 

 etc. — Their Diet— The Ouayave. 



Allusion has so frequently been made to 

 the aboriginal tribes of New Mexico, known 

 as Los Pueblos, that I think I shall not be tres- 

 passing too much upon the patience of the 

 reader, in glancing rapidly at some of the more 

 conspicuous features of their national habits 

 and character. 



Although the term Pueblo m Spanish lite- 

 rally means the people, and their towns, it is 

 here specifically applied to the Christianized In- 

 dians (as well as their villages) — to those abo- 

 rigines whom the Spaniards not only subject- 

 ed to their laws, but to an acknowledgment 

 of the Romish faith, and upon whom they 

 forced baptism and the cross in exchange for 



