SOME DESERT INDIAN LORE 79 



The beans of the palo verde, and even of the cat- 

 claw, though not so good, were formerly pressed 

 into service. 



The curious martynia, with its great curved seed- 

 vessels and claws like spring steel, was not over- 

 looked. A use was found for it in basket-making, 

 and it also served for riveting broken pottery. Holes 

 were bored in the pieces to be joined, and the tough 

 hooks, inserted in them, gripped the parts together. 

 The seeds were chewed by Indian boys, who relished 

 their sweet taste. 



Many uses were found for the palm. Its fibres 

 were woven into baskets, though these were not of 

 the finest grade, and brushes were also made from 

 them. The broad fronds were excellent as thatch for 

 houses, and strips from them made material for 

 plaiting where close texture was not needed. The 

 leaf-stems were handy flails for threshing seeds, and 

 the fruit, which is small and hard, but with sweet, 

 date-like flavor, when ground entered into the com- 

 position of the all-embracing (jLtole. 



The sweet tooth is well developed among our des- 

 ert Indians, and Nature has provided for it by fur- 

 nishing many of the cacti with fruits that are sweet 

 and healthful. The flat-lobed Opuntias yield the 

 prickly-pear, or tuna, sometimes called Indian fig. 

 The little Mamillaria bears a small, red, pleasant- 

 tasting fruit : even the hateful cholla has a fruit that 

 is said to be agreeable, though I refuse to believe it. 

 The saguaro is held in highest regard by the tribes 

 that inhabit its range, for the lusciousness of its 

 fruit and for its many other uses, included in these 



