512 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII , No. 174 



snake carried nothing in his hands. I have been 

 told that the men who took this part kept their 

 eyes tightly closed during the whole performance. 

 This, however, I did not notice myself, though 

 these dancers were always led back to the hut 

 when it was desired to procure more snakes. The 

 snake is held in the mouth between the lips, not 

 between the teeth ; and the mouth is filled with 

 some substance, resembling meal in appearance, 

 to avoid biting the snake when the dancer becomes 

 excited. When a snake became unmanageable, 

 the dancer simply opened his mouth, letting it 

 fall to the ground. 



Each of the couples described was followed by 

 a single man or boy, wiiose duty it was to pick up 

 the snakes as they were dropped. These also car- 

 ried feather w^ands. I shall hereafter refer to 

 these as collectors. As the snakes were dropped 

 haphazard, at any place, and at any time, and as 

 they manifested a lively disposition to get out of 

 the way as soon as possible, the position was 

 hardly a sinecure. 



This second figure of the dance occupied about 

 twenty minutes ; though, after the first round, 

 the order became somewhat broken, the collectors 

 being grouped in the centre, and darting here and 

 there after snakes, while the dancers pranced 

 around in an irregular circle. Each performer, as 

 he dropped his snake, was led back to the hut by 

 the companion for a new one ; and this continued 

 until the supply was exhausted. The low chant 

 of the antelopes, the dismal though rhythmical 

 clank of the tortoise-shell rattles, the peculiar 

 motion of the dancers, the breathless attention of 

 the spectators, — all gave this part of the per- 

 formance a weird character. 



The latter part of the figure, when the snakes 

 had accumulated in the hands of the collectors, 

 and the dancers became excited, was very inter- 

 esting. One of the collectors had a dozen or more 

 snakes in his hands and arms. When the number 

 became too great for proper management, part of 

 them were turned over to the antelope-men, who 

 remained in line on either side of the hut, and 

 were held in their hands until the final figure. 



The final figure w as the most exciting. One of 

 the performers, going a little to one side, drew in 

 sacred meal a circle about thirteen feet in circum- 

 ference. Two diameters at right angles were 

 drawn, and another 1 in« • passing obliquely through 

 their intersection, representing the cardinal points 

 and the zcnit li and nadir. The latter arc expressed 

 by the line drawn from north- west to south-east. 



The chant suddenly ceased, and all those hold- 

 ing snakes made a rush for this circle, and dropped 

 them into it. The snakes formed a writhing mass, 

 nearly filling the circle longitudinally, and about 



six inches in height, so nearly as could be dis- 

 tinguished, as the whole figure lasted but a few 

 seconds. The snake-men then literally threw 

 themselves into the circle. Each man seized as 

 many of the reptiles as he could, and made off 

 with them at full speed, through the passage by 

 which the procession had entered, and through 

 the other opening ; and the public part of the 

 performance was finished. 



The snakes thus carried off were taken down to 

 the foot of the mesa, and there released. On our 

 way back to camp we met several parties return- 

 ing from the performance of this duty. 



The object of this part of the ceremony, as 

 nearly as could be made out from the various de- 

 scriptions which we received, was this : the snakes 

 were released at the four quarters of the earth in 

 order that they might find a rain-god (whose form 

 is that of a gigantic serpent), wherever he might be, 

 and tell him of the honor which his children had 

 done him, and of the urgent need of rain among 

 them. This is symbolized in the circle and cross 

 lines before mentioned. The part of the heavens 

 from which rain came indicated the region where 

 the god was at the time that he received the mes- 

 sage. This helps somewhat to explain the rever- 

 ence, we might almost say fondness, which the 

 Moki feels for the snakes. The released snakes 

 act not only as messengers, but also as ambas- 

 sadors, to the rain-god ; and a snake which had 

 been well treated would present the Moki's prayer 

 much more forcibly than one which had been 

 roughly handled. 



Snakes of all varieties procurable were used, 

 including the rattlesnake, about twenty per cent 

 of the latter. Many of them were numbed from 

 long confinement and frequent handling, though 

 when given a chance to escape, as when they were 

 dropped on the ground, they showed decided signs 

 of life. A great rivalry is said to exist among 

 the dancers as to who shall handle the largest and 

 finest rattlesnakes ; but, I must confess. I failed to 

 see it. On the contrary, there seemed to be a pref- 

 erence for a small, thin snake, not poisonous (the 

 whip-snake, I think). Several of the dancers held 

 two of these in the mouth, and one man even had 

 three. When a man happened to get a rattle- 

 snake, however, he did not seem to mind it much ; 

 though, when a snake of this variety was dropped 

 by one of the dancers, the collectors did not show 

 any great eagerness to pick it up. Several of 

 these rattlesnakes were in a very ugly mood, and, 

 when dropped, immediately coiled themselves, 

 sounding their rattles, and showing a disposition 

 to light, These were not picked up quickly, as 

 the others, but were given a wide berth by daneew 

 and collectors alike. One of the elder collectors, 



