220 THE COCO-MARICOPA AND 
There was one practice of this chief that was not 
so agreeable to me, namely, that of helping his friends 
to the choicest bits from my table. When we took 
our places, they all assembled, and sat or stood gaping 
around. Francisco, during the meal, occasionally hand- 
ed them a piece of bread or meat; and when we had 
finished, he coolly piled up his plate, and passed it 
around among his friends. At first, I was rather 
amused at the fellow’s impudence; but on a subse- 
quent occasion, he carried the joke still further, not only 
giving them what he had collected on his own plate, 
but stripping the table of all that remained, so as to 
leave nothing for my cook and servant. As our sup- 
ply of provisions was limited, I had no idea of feed- 
ing so many hungry mouths, which had an abundance 
at home; consequently my second invitation to the 
chief, was the last. Yet he made his appearance reg 
larly every morning while we remained, and gave 
many hints about being hungry, expressing his. surprise 
to the cook that he did not have a scat at my table. 
I told him, finally, that it was not the custom among 
Americans, when they asked a friend to their table, to 
feed his whole tribe. -* 
This man afterwards became quite a bore to us; for 
nothing would satisfy his avarice. I gave him shirts, 
pantaloons, white cotton, and calico, besides beads and 
trinkets for his wife and children. Lieut. Paige, also, 
made him some valuable presents; but he constantly 
asked for more, and was most importunate for whiskey. 
I told him we had none; but this he seemed to doubt, 
declaring that we were the first party of Americans he 
had ever seen that did not drink whiskey. Eve'Y 
