380 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 
fornia, where, at least once a year, public ceremonies are held. 
One of' these places in San Francisco, a chapel about eighteen 
feet wide, by thirty long, and twelve high, has at one end an 
idol of life-size in a squatting position, painted with Venetian 
red. Around this idol are placed banners and curtains of silk, 
and boards with inscriptions painted and carved in Chinese 
characters. In front of the idol is a table, on which are lighted 
candles, sticks of incense burning without a blaze, and filling 
the place with smoke, and various fantastically shaped dishes 
of white metal and brass. On another table are placed flow- 
ers, vegetables, and various articles of food, such as pieces of 
roast pig and chicken, fish, and other articles, the names of 
which are unknown to Americans. The ceremonies are per- 
formed by men dressed in long robes and acting as priests, 
who march round the room, make genuflexions and bows be- 
fore the idol, and occasionally kneel and recite forms of prayer. 
Many of the Chinamen have in their dwellings little images of 
Buddha, before which they keep tapers burning. Once a year 
they go out in procession with music to the public cemetery, 
where their dead are buried, and set a table there as a feast for 
the spirits of the deceased. 
The wild Indians have no clearly defined religious ideas ; and 
the tame ones, or those who live among the whites, are so igno- 
rant that their faith is little better than a gross superstition. 
§ 267. Californianisms.—The Californians have introduced 
certain words into the English language, or at least have adopt- 
ed them in common use in the state, and a list of them, with 
their pronunciation and definition, may not be out of place here: 
Aparejo (a par ay’ ho), a Mexican pack-saddle. 
Adobe (a do’ ba), a large sun-dried, unburned brick, some- 
times two feet long, a foot wide, and four inches thick. 
Arroyo (ar ro’ yo), a brook, or the dry bed of a brook or 
small river. 
Arastra (a ras’ tra), a primitive mill for crushing quartz. 
Alforja (al for’ hah), a bag, usually made of raw cowhide, 
used for holding the articles to be carried by a pack-horse. 
