No. 2. Charm Stones. 25 



were dangerous and that the sight of them would 

 cause death. . Another weighty reason was, that the 

 missionaries used their utmost endeavors to eradicate 

 the use and knowledge of all their traditions and re- 

 ligious ceremonies. 



About twenty years ago the writer had an opportu- 

 nity to interview a very old Indian chief, named Con- 

 stancio, one of the two survivors of the tribe of 

 Napas, who formerly occupied the territory lying on 

 both sides of the Napa River. He was quite intelli- 

 gent and told me that he was about five years old 

 when he was brought to the Mission of San Jose, 

 then newly built. (This Mission was established in 

 1797). He called the plummet shaped stones Chi-la, 

 and said that they were found running in the ground 

 (that is burrowing under ground), before they are 

 captured. 



When they caught one they gave it four raps with 

 a stone to kill it, and to prevent it paralyzing its cap- 

 tors, afterwards it was used as a Charm Stone. A 

 string was tied around it and it was carried in a medi- 

 cine bag; when used it was suspended by a cord from 

 the end of a pole, one end of which was stuck into 

 the bank of a creek in such a manner as to leave the 

 Charm Stone suspended over the water where they 

 intended to fish. At other places they were suspend- 

 ed at points in the mountains favorable for hunting; 

 he said he had used one himself in front of his canoe. 



This will account for the asphaltum and string on 

 the implements, which Prof. Putnam says, "shows the 

 method by which they were fastened to fishing nets 

 or lines." 



The sinker or hammer stone, Fig. 22, he readily 

 distinguished from the Charm Stones, and called it 

 Lup~poo. 



In an article on "Pre-Historic California," read be- 

 fore the California Historical Society at San Francis- 

 co, March 20, 1888, I advanced the theory that the 

 majority of the Charm Stones found in Central Cali- 

 fornia'were manufactured by a previous race, who oc- 



