MOJAVE VALLEY—DESCRIPTION OF THE TRIBE. 71 
at entertainments given in his honor, and, if what Ireteba says is true, has been taking advan- 
tage of his absence from Mrs. Capitan to be altogether too much of a gallant. 
There has been a great deal to interest us among the people of this valley, and I regret that 
we have had to pass so hurriedly, and that we have been unable to learn more in regard to 
their habits and customs. Very few parties of whites have visited them, and none have 
remained longer than a few days. They are, therefore, in their native state, as they have 
: E=< 
Fig. 17Boundary Cone? 
existed for centuries. Of their religion or superstitions, I have not been able to learn any- 
thing. Government, they have so little of, that there cannot be much to learn, They are not 
at all communicative concerning their institutions. The marriage tie seems to be respected in 
more than an ordinary degree among Indians. I think that few, if any, have more than one 
wife. 
Their minds are active and intelligent, but I have been surprised to find how little idea of 
the superiority of the whites they have derived from seeing the appliances of civilization that 
surround those whom they have met. 
Fire-arms, and the Explorer’s steam-whistle, are the only objects that appear to excite their 
envy. In most respects they think us their inferiors. I had a large crowd about me one day, 
and exhibited several things that I supposed would interest them, among others a mariner’s 
compass. They soon learned its use, and thought we must be very stupid to be obliged to 
have recourse to artificial aid in order to find our way. Some daguerreotypes were shown to 
them, but these they disliked, and were rather afraid of. I heard one or two muttering, in 
their own language, that they were ‘‘very bad.’’ There being a few musicians and instru- 
ments in the party, the effect of harmony was tried, but they disapproved of the entertainment, 
as of everything else, and when the sounds died away, appointed two or three of their own 
