690 The American Naturalist. : [July, 
The phonographic record to which I look forward with the greatest 
hope is that of a Zufii ritual to which writers have from time to time 
referred. This ritual, which has been designated by the dignified title 
of a Zufii Epic, is of considerable length, and is regarded with great 
reference by the Zufii people themselves. Haluta, the reciter of it at 
the time of its delivery, is said to be regarded as a most sacred per- 
sonage, and when, prior to its recital, he is brought into the Pueblo 
his feet, it is said, are not allowed to touch the ground. It is thought 
probable that a phonographic record of the ritual would be an addition 
to our knowledge of Zufian mytholo 
The extracts from this ritual, which are tidy translated from memory 
by Mr. Cushing in his interesting paper on Zuñi Fetishes, indicate that 
it is a valuable account of the mythological history of the race. He 
had not at his command an ifistrument to record the words of those 
portions of the ** Kaklan ’’ which he heard, and consequently was un- 
able to give it in the original diction in which it is given before the 
members of certain priesthoods, to whom alone itis recited. He sa 
that many of the words are in old Zufii, not understood at present. 
The records which I have are good enough to enable me to write out 
the ritual, which, however, at the present state of my knowledge ot 
the language I am unable to translate. With the help of those who 
understand the language, as well as English, I have no fear but that in 
my final paper I can. publish a translation of the ritual as told by 
Haluta on the cylinder of the phonograph. 
I have, after several failures, been able to get this recital on the pho- 
nograph, where it fills a long series of cylinders. Before the value of 
this record, both linguistic and mythological, can be appreciated, it 
must be carefully written out and studied. This will take a long time, 
as many of the words are old Zufiian, and the task of extracting the 
meaning from the ritual will found to be a difficult one. A permanent 
preservation of it is, however, a step in the interpretation, and when 
once indelibly fixed on phonographic cylinders its true character and 
significance can be investigated. 
One of the most interesting of the Zufii songs is that of the hunters. 
This song has many beautiful parts in it, and outside of its interest in 
the study of the customs of the hunters, is well worth preserving as a 
specimen of aboriginal music. I have thought it worthy of a place in 
my collection, and with it I have also preserved certain of the prayers 
to the fetishes used in the hunt, some of which have been written out 
and translated by Mr. Cushing. The harvest which a study of the 
_ hunting customs of the Zufiians offers is great, and the collection of 
