932 Mythic Dry-Paintings of the Navajos. [October, 
Indian skin tent. It is about twenty-five feet in diameter at the 
base, internally, and about eight feet high under the apex. The only 
apertures are a smgke-hole above and a door, communicating 
through a short passage-way, in the east. The fire is built in the 
center of the floor except when the pictures are being made, then 
it is removed further to the east to make room for them. It is so 
dark in the lodge that on a brief winter day the artists must begin 
their work before sunrise if they would finish before night-fall 
and this it is essential they should do. 
When the call is sounded in the morning, several young men 
go forth and bring in a quantity of dry sand in blankets; this is 
thrown on the floor and spread out over a surface twelve feet or 
more in diameter, to the depth of about three inches; it is leveled 
and made smooth by means of the broad oaken battens used in 
weaving. 
The drawings are begun as much towards the center as the 
design will permit, due regard being paid to the precedence of 
the points of the compass; the figure in the east being begun 
first, that in the south, second, that in the west, third, that in the 
north, fourth. The figures in the periphery come after these. 
The reason for working from within outwards is a practical one; 
it is that the operators may not have to step over and thus risk the 
safety of their finished work. 
While the work is in progress the chief shaman does little 
more than direct and criticise ; a dozen or more young men per- 
form the manual labor, each working on a different part. These 
assistants have had a certain ceremony of initiation performed 
over them before they are admitted to the lodge or allowed to 
help when these pictures are made; but they need not be skilled 
medicine-men or even aspirants to the craft of the shaman. They 
t nothing for their pains but their food, which, however, 15 
abundant. Three times a day the person, for whose benefit the 
dance is performed, sends in enough mush, corn-cake, soup and 
roasted mutton to satisfy to the utmost the appetites of all in the 
lodge. The shaman, or hathali (chanter or singer), as the Nava- 
: S __ jos call him, gets a rich present for his services. 
_ The pictures are drawn according to an exact system, except 
_ in certain well-defined cases, where the limner is allowed to in- 
_ dulge his fancy. -This is the case with the embroidered pouches 
e gods carry at the waist (see Plate xxx). Within reasonable 
