SOCIETY. 3891 
causes of war is the capture of women. They have no heredi- 
tary slavery. -They have no marriage ceremony, and the 
duration of the marriage relation depends entirely upon the 
pleasure of the husband. Polygamy is permitted by many of 
the tribes. The women are not prolific, or at least the children 
are few, and mostly boys. The girls are neglected, or inten- 
tionally killed soon after birth, and this policy will, of course, 
if continued, soon cause an extinction of the race in California. 
In certain tribes on the northern coast, if a mother, having an 
infant child, dies, the child is buried with her. Most of the 
tribes burn their dead, commencing the cremagion in the even- 
ing, and keeping up the fire all night, while the friends watch, 
and the women relatives utter plaintive cries until daylight. 
They have no religious ceremonies; or no ceremonies to which 
they attach ideas clearly religious. Every year, usually in the 
spring, they have a dance, as it is called. They assemble, 
build a large fire, and the men surround it, and keeping their 
knees, elbows, and backs bent, they beat time with their feet to 
a monotonous song, which they sing with the assistance of 
the squaws, who sit off on one side. In some tribes, several 
of the men have pipés, from which they elicit a few, notes as 
an accompaniment for the song. 
The squaws are treated ite slaves. They are required to 
do all the work, and to attend to every want of their husbands. 
They must collect vegetable food, prepare it, and carry all the 
movable property in times of migration. They are beaten on 
the slightest provocation. The men never consult them 
about the management of public or private affairs. They are 
bought as merchandise from the parent, and treated as slaves 
after the purchase. 
Most of the wild Indians have no permanent place of resi- 
dence. Each tribe has a territory which it considers its own, 
and within which its members move about. Each family has 
a hut, and a cluster of these huts is called a rancheria. The 
rancherias are usually established on the banks of streams, in 
the vicinity of oak-trees, horsechestnut bushes, and patches 
