56 



over Pancho's early fire, a great file of cormorants passed 

 against the dawn, and many blue herons lumbered up from 

 their roosts in the brakes. 



During most of this day we crossed tips of the Cocopahs 

 and the rough, stony gullies between them. In the middle 

 of the forenoon we reached the settlement of Papa Laguna, 

 the grizzled head of a large Indian family which lived in 

 several wicker, mud-plastered houses, surrounded by well- 

 kept tilled patches and dog-proof racks of jerked beef. 

 Prompted by simple courtesy, we made the correct move 

 of shaking hands with old Laguna, and of asking his permission 

 before taking any liberties about his camp. He therefore 

 proved gracious, and after I had shown him a few photographs, 

 he consented to having his own picture taken, as well as those 

 of several of his grandchildren. First, however, he growled to 

 one of the women to find his hat, which apparently he wore 

 only on state occasions. 



These Indians call themselves Cocopahs,^ a name which 

 appears in other spellings on eighteenth century Spanish maps. 

 Together with the Yumas and Cahuillas, they are among the 

 last remnants of the autochthonous peoples of northern Baja 

 California. The Cocopahs dwell all along the delta plains 

 and cultivate considerable strips of the rich alluvial soil, in 

 which they raise corn, barley, potatoes, onions, melons, and 

 other garden truck. Many of the young men act as cowboys 

 for cattle syndicates, and so earn their right to a certain 

 amount of beef. The older men, such as Laguna, obtain some 

 of the commodities of civilization by plume-hunting, disposing 

 of their illicit wares to border smugglers. A few of them own 

 dilapidated shotguns, against the rules of the Mexican officials, 

 but as they can obtain ammunition only with much difficulty, 

 they do most of their rabbit and bird hunting with bows and 

 arrows. Most of the women never leave the wilderness or 

 see white people other than passing rurales. The Indians 

 have no schools or priests. Porfirio Diaz is said to have 



1 MacDougal (1906) gives a highly interesting account of the customs 

 and culture of these agricultural Indians, as well as data on the extra- 

 ordinary diminution of their numbers during recent times. 



