TAHARUMARI INDIAN'S HOUSE. 



served along the trail, and on the highest 

 point of each divide there is always a rude 

 cross surmounting a small heap of stones. 



At Easter an extraordinary ceremony 

 takes place at the principal Indian towns. 

 On Good Friday a species of Passion play is 

 given, in which the scene of the crucifixion 

 is supposed to be reenacted. The leading 

 parts are taken by dummies, and Judas has 

 an extremely rough time of it. The next 

 day the Indians commence to repent of their 

 sins and lash one another. 



In the meantime all the old hags for miles 

 around have been busy preparing in enor- 

 mous cauldrons a succulent broth. Many 

 steers have been killed, and the young girls 

 have been working 16 hours at a time mak- 

 ing tortillas. There is merit in proportion 

 to the endurance displayed over this. 



Then comes the fiesta, food being free to 

 all. The native intoxicant, mescal, of course 

 figures largely, and the revelry is kept up 

 until all are drunk or worn out. 



The Mexican priests do not take part in 

 this affair, but presumably they countenance 

 it, and it is horrible to think that these wild 

 debaucheries are conducted in the name of 

 Christianity. 



Further evidence of Indian superstition 

 may be gathered from the following : 



An Indian came to one of the engineers 

 working for the railway, carrying one of his 

 fingers, which, owing to some accident, had 

 become severed from his hand. The engi- 

 neer explained that he could not reattach 

 the finger, and bound up the wounded 

 hand. The Indian, however, would not al- 

 low him to throw away the severed finger, 

 but carefully wrapped it up and ran with it 

 50 miles to the "Campo. Santo" of his own 

 tribe. There he buried the finger in his 

 own lot, returned the same distance in the 

 night, and resumed work the next morniner. 



Leaving Rochibo the scenery becomes ex- 

 ceedingly beautiful, and through the pine 

 trees one gets distant views of the country 

 ahead, range on range of mountains as far 

 as the eyes can see. Most of these moun- 

 tains are pine clad, but one remarkable 

 range, known as the Barranca de Cobre, 



which stands out pre-eminently, has no veg- 

 etation and presents a grim and rugged as- 

 pect. The altitude at that point is 8,000 

 feet, and there are evidences of game. Sev- 

 eral times we saw whitetail deer from the 

 trail, but were not fortunate enough to get 

 a shot. 



On one occasion one of our party saw a 

 bunch of turkeys cross the trail in front of 

 him. He at once dismounted and ran with 

 his rifle in the direction in which they had 

 disappeared. Later he understood better the 

 extraordinary rapidity with which these 

 birds cover the ground, and learned that it 

 is useless to pursue them. On that occa- 

 sion, however, he ran himself to a standstill 

 without catching a second glimpse of them, 

 and then started to retrace his steps. He 

 crossed the trail without realizing that he 

 had done so, and he soon began to realize 

 that he had lost his way. He was not badly 

 lost, however, and a shot in answer to his 

 own helped him back to the trail. I men- 



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