144 THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA. 
weapons placed by his side. If a woman her blanket en- 
closed her body, and a conical shaped basket, such as they 
carry burdens in, was put in the grave also, with the peak 
upwards. The widow of an Indian cut her hair short and | 
covered her head with ashes, and in the mountains they used 
tar for that purpose. Every night for weeks, after their be- 
reavement, the wails of these women were distracting. I 
do not know the exact time prescribed for mourning but I 
do not think it lasted more than six months. 
The language of the California Indians is composed of 
gutteral sounds, difficult to separate into words when spoken 
rapidly, and hard to pronounce or remember. The count- 
ing is done, as with all primitive people I have met, by deci- 
mals. Children in reckoning call off the fingers and toes 
of both hands and feet as twenty, when wishing to express a 
large number. In counting ten the following words are used : 
Weekum, Paynay, Sarpun, Tchuyum, Marctem, Suckanay, 
Penimbom, Penceum, Peleum, Marchocom. If eleven is to 
be expressed it is Marchocum Weekum, or Ten one ; Marcho- 
cum Paynay, ten two, and so on to twenty which is Mide- 
quekum. The general term for man is Miadim, and for 
woman Killem, and for a child Collem. A boy is Miadim 
collem and a girl Killem collem. Although this seems to 
indicate a poverty of distinctive terms, yet when it is found 
that every animal, bird, insect and plant has its own name, 
it will be seen that there is no want of materials to supply a 
stranger with words for book making, if his tastes lead him 
in that direction. 
After many years passed with these Indians, and having 
every opportunity to study their customs and character, I 
entertain pleasant recollections of their friendship which was 
never broken, and feel sadly when I realize that the im- 
provements of the white men have been made at the sacrifice 
of Indian homes and almost of the race itself. 
Feather River (Rio de Plumas), before its mines were 
washed for gold, was so clear that the shadows reflected on 
