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THE MYSTIC TONIC OF THE 

 MOUNTAINS 



READING recently a tribal history 

 of the Navajo Indians, "the Ameri- 

 can Bedouins," I discovered that their reli- 

 gious beliefs are curiously entangled with 

 mountains. 



According to Navajo tradition, "the 

 First-Man and First-Woman" were com- 

 pelled, by reason of a deluge in their "un- 

 derworld," to come to "our upper-world." 

 As their only way to climb up was 

 through "a hollow reed," they could carry 

 as baggage only the one most precious 

 thing, and this one most precious thing 

 was, they quickly decided, a measure of 

 earth from the loved mountains of their 

 old home. As soon as "our upper-world" 

 was safely reached, the measure of earth 

 33 



