iioFF^jAN.] ETHNOGKAPHIC OBSERVATIONS. 4G5 



Ciite that at a previous time some anxious lover frequented the locality 

 to learn bis fate. 



Wben an Apacb^ Indian bas made bis selection from among the maid- 

 ens of bis tribe, be watches her most frequented trail, upon which she 

 leaves camp for the purpose of gathering berries, grass-seed, or other food. 

 She becomes aware of the intentions of the young warrior through the 

 same means known to the sex "all the world over," and is prepared to 

 accept or reject his proposal, which remains an unspoken one. For the 

 furtherance of his object, the Indian visits a secluded spot through which 

 the trail in question passes, places a row of stones on both sides of it for 

 a distance of ten or fifteen paces. He then allows himself to be seen by 

 the maiden before she leaves camp, and running ahead, hides himself in 

 the immediate vicinity of the rows of stones. If she avoids them by 

 passing to the outside it is a refusal ; but should she continue on her 

 trail, and pass between the two rows, he immediately rushes out, catches 

 her, and * * * takes her triumphantly to camp. 



If a white man or a Mexican wishes to obtain a wife through the regu- 

 lar channel, he is required to deposit an amount of money or horses and 

 blankets with the girl's father for the period of one year. If at the end 

 of that time the lover should be of the same opinion, he takes his bride 

 and receives the articles deposited in return with her. The shortest 

 and simplest method usually pursued by strangers is, to take the woman 

 of his choice and leave the district until the ire of an infuriated parent 

 has subsided. 



2. FOGD. 



Some of the tribes will adhere to the most disgusting varieties of food, 

 in spite of the partial advantages of civilization with which they come 

 in contact. Under no consideration can any of them be induced to taste 

 vinegar a second time. Some of the Shoshonees obtain some food from 

 settlements, but subsist chiefly upon what game and fish they can secure 

 in addition to lizards, grasshoppers, etc. During the summer they all 

 engage in hunting for plants which furnish a tuberous root, known to 

 them as the yam-bitsi. * Their mode of preparing grasshoppers is iu 

 this wise: a fire is built covering an area of from 20 to 30 feet square, 

 and as the material is consumed to coals and ashes, all the Indians start 

 out and form an extensive circle, driving the grasshoppers with blankets 

 or bunches of brush toward the centre, where they are scorched or dis- 

 abled, when they are collected, dried, and ground into meal. With the 

 addition of a small quantity of water this is worked and kneaded into 

 dough, formed into small cakes, and baked in the sand under a fire. 



Generally ground grass seed is mixed with water, f baked, and eaten 

 alone, but frequently it is mixed with this insect flour, giving it a better 

 consistence. The Pah-XJtes on the banks of the Colorado Kiver use this 

 sort of food more generally than the Shoshonees. The latter raise some 

 corn, melons, and musk-melons, and store great quantities of i>inou nuts, 

 when in season. The Pah-Utes in the southwestern portion of Nevada, 

 and even across the line into California, consume the larvse of flies found 



* Yam-^M or Yaoi-pali. Fremont gives this in bis report as Anethum graveolens. 



tThe natives in the interior of Australia have a similar custom of eating a paste 

 made of ground grass-seed, Faviciim Ici'vinode. It is described as sweet and palatable. 

 < " Tropical Australia," Mitchell, London, p. 98. [Jour. Anthrop. lustit., vol. vii, No. 1, 

 1377, p. 4. (London).] 



The Congarre [Queensland] also grind grasses between two stones, and then make 

 it into a sort of damper. They have no word for flour. See "Aboriginal Dialects of 

 Queensland. II. Barlow." < Jour. Anthrop. Institute, vol. ii, 1873, p. 174. 



30 G 



