358 PAPAGUERIA 



faces are pitted by smallpox. Usually the body and extremities 

 are rather slender, but lithe and vigorous. 



Of late the men are addicted to intemperance in smoking and 

 drinking ; most of them smoke cigarettes whenever they can be 

 obtained, and nearly all drink mescal (an alcoholic liquor dis- 

 tilled from the mescal or agave plant) inordinately whenever 

 opportunity offers — e. g., during a stay of three days at Poso 

 Verde, near the international boundary in Sonora, only two men 

 were found not continuously intoxicated. It seems certain that 

 the natural features and probable that the stature and other 

 physical characters of the men have been injured by this exces- 

 sive use of narcotics and stimulants. The women are largely 

 free from these vices. 



Among both sexes the dignified hospitality and reserve noted 

 b}^ the Spaniards three centuries ago persist. Papago etiquette 

 demands an interval of affected unconsciousness of the presence 

 of a visitor, whether from neighboring village or strange lands; so 

 the visitor enters the village and rides to the very threshold of a 

 leading tribesman without receiving other attention than furtive 

 glances from the children; he dismounts in the shade of the 

 vah'-toh ( which takes the place of the porch or balcony of civili- 

 zation), and rolls his cigarette nonchalantly as in the desert. In 

 the course of five or ten minutes the head of the house for the 

 time, be it man, matron, or maid, addresses a casual remark to 

 him. At first the conversation is fitful, but gradually the inter- 

 vals of silence shorten, the host or hostess turns attention from 

 the occupation of hands or eyes toward the visitor, and cordial 

 relations are established. If the visitor is an old friend, the in- 

 terval of ceremonious silence is shortened and is sometimes termi- 

 nated by friendly greetings, though commonly these are reserved 

 for the parting; if a white man of distinguished bearing, a seat 

 is placed, or a mat spread, for his use soon after his presence is 

 recognized, and a melon or some other article of food, or a bowl 

 of water, is placed within his reach. The visitor may then ex- 

 tend a general invitation to the household or village to eat with 

 him in his camp, and may rest assured that, howsoever slender 

 his larder, there will not be too many guests, and will find, more- 

 over, that even after they present themselves at the camp, each 

 guest must be personally invited once, twice, or three times (the 

 custom varying in different villages) before he will be seated. 

 White visitors having no appearance of distinction are treated 

 with less consideration, and are usually expected to help them- 



