466 EEPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



upon the borders of some " alkali " lakes. * The organic matter washed 

 ashore is soon covered with flies, where they deposit their eggs; there 

 being not sufficient nourishment for all the worms, some die, when more 

 eggs are deposited, and so on ad infinitum, until there is a belt of swarm- 

 ing, writhing worms from 2 to 4 feet broad, and from an inch to 3 inches 

 in depth. This was the exact condition on the shore of Oweus's Lake, 

 California, in August, which appears to be the favorable season. At 

 such localities the Indians congregate, scoop up and pack all that can 

 be transported for present and future use. When thoroughly dried, it 

 is ground into meal, and prepared and eaten as by the Shoshonees. t 



The Seviches and Hualpais are as filthy in their tastes as the Pah- 

 Utes. Although game is not scare on the Colorado Plateau, they are 

 often unable to secure sufticient for their wants, on account of the small 

 number of horses in their possession, and the general absence of fire- 

 arms. They always prefer the entrails to the meat of an antelope or 

 deer, and they cannot be persuaded to part with the former under anj^ 

 conditions. The fruit of several species of Opuntia, grass-seed, gophers, 

 dried lizards, grasshoppers, and other large insects are eaten with appar- 

 ent relish. 



A Hualpai woman appeared perfectly contented in eating a half-decom- 

 posed gopher, and, when offered, politely refused a small dish of canned 

 peaches. 



Many of the Hualpais warriors besmear their faces and bodies with the 

 blood of a freshly killed antelope, then spread their fingers and draw 

 them over the face so as to leave it striped. Where the skin is thus 

 exposed it retains its natural dusky hue; but when the blood dries and 

 falls off, the bleached surfaces are exposed, giving the object a hideous 

 aspect. 



The Apaches, generally, are an unsettled race, and live upon such 

 game and fruit as they may be able to procure. The subtribe of Coy- 

 oteros, living about Camp Apache, were dependent upon the issues 

 served them by the government. They were furnished a certain number 

 of head of cattle every week, which were driven away to their slaughter- 

 ing-ground, where the warriors would cut the ham-strings of the animal, 

 slit open the abdomen, and tear out the entrails and devour them when 

 still warm, often merely pressing out the contents with their fingers. 

 iNone of these delicacies (?) are ever offered the women, who must be con- 

 tented with their allowance of plain meat. This custom extends also to 

 other tribes. | 



Their use of the "mezcal" or maguay plant is well known. § They 

 prepare an intoxicating beverage from the " heart" or centre of the un- 

 opened cluster of leaves, by first making a circular depression in the 

 ground and lining it with stones, when a fire is built into it until per- 

 fectly heated ; the mezcal is then piled into this receptacle, covered over 

 with stones and earth, when another fire is built over the surface and 

 kept up until the cores are thoroughly cooked. This may last from 

 three to fifteen days, the time depending upon the quantity to be pre- 

 pared. When the roots have been thoroughly cooked they are of a 

 semi-gelatinous consistence; they are then crushed in vessels made for 



* Often a scum of organic matter is found around tlie margin of alkali lakes, which 

 results, in part, from dead fish, who have come down from the streams and were over- 

 come by the alkalinity and perikhed. I presume this to be one reason, as skeletons are 

 not of uncommon occurence. 



tSee also " Rep. Explor. Exped. (Rocky Mts. 1842, Oregon and North Cal. 1843-44.) 

 By Bvt. Capt. J. C. Fremont, 1845, p. 154. 



+ Commerce of the Prairies, Gregg, New York, 1844, vol. ii, p. 296. 



? See also Pac. R. R. Rep., vol. iv, p. 9. 



