THEIR AMUSEMENTS. 275 



they undress, dance, and carouse, frequently 

 for two days in succession before seeing their 



families. 



Although the Pueblos are famous for hospi- 

 tality and industry, they still continue in the 

 mdest state of ignorance, ha^ting neither books 

 nor schools among them, as none of their 

 lanirnaores have been reduced to rules, and 



tauffht 



O ""O 



very few of their children are ever ta 

 Spanish. A degree of primitiveness charac- 

 terizes aU their amusements, which bear a 

 strong similarity to those of the wilder tribes. 

 Before the New Mexican government had be- 

 come so nmch impoverished, there was wont 

 to be held in the capital on the 16th of Sep- 

 tember of every year, a national celebration 

 of the declaration of Independence, to which 



the Pueblos were in\ 



and 



youths of each nation with a proportionate 

 array of dusky damsels would appear on 

 these occasions, painted and ornamented m 

 accordance with their aboriginal customs, and 

 amuse the inhabitants with aU sorts of gro- 

 tesque feats and native dances. Each Pueblo 

 generally had its particular uniform dress and 

 its particular dance. The men of one ^^llage 

 would sometimes disguise themselves as elKs, 

 with horns on their heads, moving on aU- 

 fours, and mimicking the annual they were 

 attempting to personate. Others would ap- 

 pear hi th? garb of a turkey, with large Wy 

 wings, and strut about in imitation of that 

 bhd But the Pecos tribe, aheady reduced to 

 seven men, always occasioned most diversion. 



