52 
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.—ORNAMENTS 
high relief, hut are much worn. It hears no date. It is obviously one of the medallions dis-* 
tributed by the early Jesuits. The effigies of Loyola are on one side, those of St. Francis 
Borgia on the other. 
I. Small shell gorget, worn by married women only. They part with it reluctantly, and 
seem to prize it as if it were a wedding gift. 
K, L. A Mojave flute and fife ; the former rather over two feet in length, and of the natural 
bore of an inch cane. It consists of a little more than two joints of the reed, with the natural 
diaphragms or partitions—one at the middle, and another near each end. The latter have been 
bored through at the centre, leaving irregular shaped openings §-inch diameter. The surface is 
very elaborately, though rudely, carved and colored. The extremities have bandages of red and 
blue cloth, set off with tassels formed of strings of buckskin, that hangover the orifices. The player 
puts his mouth to one end, and blows directly into the tube, just as South American Indians 
play on their bone fifes. Like them, too, these have stops for the fingers of but one hand. 
Unlike them, however, in another feature, these instruments give no sound till a finger is 
placed over the central opening. The linger, in fact, forms a part of the musical aperture or 
whistle, and, by varying its position and pressure, the tone is varied. As this may furnish a 
hint to our musicians and instrument-makers, a section of the flute is added. In fig. 3, a and b 
show the perforated diaphragms, and c represents the central one, xvhich is left whole, and forms 
a tongue or side of the whistle ; the oblong opening communicates with the interior on both 
sides of the diaphragm. 
The fife acts precisely on the same principle, except that, instead of the player’s finger, a thin 
band of leather goes around and is tied at x. This he slides down till it covers a portion of one 
or both openings. 
These instruments* are common with the Coco-Maricopas, and Yumas, or Cuchans; and 
among the tribes on the Colorado, young men serenade their female friends with them. 
Of numerous articles not figured in the plates, a few may be noticed here : 
A piece of cedar, fifteen inches long, and four inches in diameter, part of a beam found in 
place, in the very ancient ruins on the summit of Inscription rock. There is nothing in its 
appearance that indicates the action of a cutting-tool. The remaining portion of the beam had 
been destroyed, or buried in the ruins. 
Mojave armlets of thick leather. 
A Navajo shield of raw hide, with an alleged head of Montezuma painted on it, and set off 
with streamers and feathers ; apparently identical with those used before the discovery. Such 
are common among the Apaches, Navajos, and the Pueblo Indians. In battle, the Indians 
never stand still or straight, but keep moving and throwing up the shield to divert aside 
arrows, while at the same time they use their bows. This shield is represented onplate21, page 
30, in the figure of the Indian from whom it was taken. 
Netting made of the fibre of the maguey or yucca plant. The cord is hard and strong, feeling- 
like whipcord. Made by the Mojaves. 
A cord of human hair, over twelve feet long, | of an inch thick, and consisting of six double 
strands. The color is brownish black. It was obtained from the Pimas. 
Several strings of “ pook”|—one five feet long—consisting of bits of thin white shells, broken 
into pieces varying from to f- of an inch diameter, and drilled in the centre. The most 
interesting query about these and kindred things is the facility with which they are perforated. 
A peace-offering of the Comanches, left on a mound at one of their deserted encampments, 
consisting of a few small strings of colored beads, and a bracelet of soft brass. Having no 
s The form of this musical instrument is doubtless purely an Indian invention. The principle of its construction is 
believed to be different from any known among other tribes or nations. 
f When I first visited the Colorado Indians in 1849, strings of this wampum were used by them as money—two yards of 
it representing about the value of a horse. I have known a young Indian to refuse $20 for his necklace.—A. W. W. 
