24 Our Araby 



menls, and persons with a nose for relics now and 

 then make interesting finds of pottery or basket- 

 ware that was cacJied by long-dead hands in cran- 

 nies of the rocks. Relic-hunters will find interest 

 also in the picture-writings which adorn the walls 

 of near-by caves, and in mortar-holes deeply sunk 

 in granite boulders, mute witnesses to the back- 

 breaking labors of departed generations of squaws. 

 An experience decidedly worth while is yielded 

 by the fiesta which is held in mid-winter of most 

 years. It is a celebration of remembrance for the 

 dead, and consists in dancing, in the chanting of 

 traditional songs of the tribe, in feasting, and in, 

 finally, the burning of effigies of those who have 

 passed away since the previous occasion. The 

 flicker - lighted gloom of the fiesta - house, the 

 rhythmic manoeuvrings, and the unearthly ulula- 

 tions that accompany them make a total sufficiently 

 weird, even without such an adjunct as the eating 

 of glowing coals from the fire by the medicine-man, 

 a star performer from a neighboring rancheria. 

 However, all this (which may well seem barbaric 

 to the reader) must be understood as merely a 

 belated survival from the dim old days, not by any 

 means an indication of the ordinary manner of life 

 of our thoroughly good friends and fellow-villagers, 

 the Indians of Palm Springs. 



