MODKKN IM KHLOS. 121 



spring;. This he must surreiulor to any one |)assing 

 him so that the winner arrives with it at the viUa^e. 

 As tlie runners approach the mesa, they are joined on 

 the eighth morning by antelope priests and on the 

 ninth morning })y snake priests. Boys follow them up 

 the mesa trails with freshly cut corn stalks. When the 

 runners have passed, the girls of the village snatch 

 these corn stalks from the boys and carry them to the 

 houses to be used as decorations. 



About noon of the ninth day an interesting feature 

 of the ceremony takes place in the snake kiva. A 

 liquid is prepared in a vessel kept for the purpose and 

 the snakes are dipped into it. At Oraibi they are 

 placed on some sand to dry in the sun where at that 

 hour it shines through the hatchway. At Walpi, 

 how^ever, they are thrown with considerable violence 

 upon the sand painting of the altar. 



PubUc performances in the plaza take place in the 

 afternoon of the eighth and ninth days. The antelope 

 priests first come from their kiva, and go in procession 

 four times around the plaza. As they pass in front of 

 a booth w^hich has been provided for the snakes, each 

 man stamps on a plank which has been placed there to 

 represent the place of exit from the low^er world. 

 When the fourfold circuit has been completed, they 

 form in a fine at either side of the booth. The snake 

 priests then come out and make a similar circuit four 

 times around the plaza and form in a line facing the 

 booth and the antelope priests. Each line is led by its 

 head-priest. The antelope priest is also accompanied 

 by a sprinkler w^ho carries a vessel filled with hquid. 



