430 
FOREST AND STREAM 
April s, 1913 
Among the Mexican Troglodytes 
By EDWARD HOEFLICH 
Illustrated from Photographs taken by the Author 
F rom Yoquibo we continued our journey to¬ 
ward Guachichic. Near the former village a 
high plateau commences with a wonderful 
vegetation of wild flowers and trees of immense 
size. I noticed white pines more than 100 feet in 
height and nine or ten feet in circumference at 
the base. Instead of following the straight 
road, old chief Pena induced me to take a side 
trip toward Zapuri, where there are supposed 
to be excellent hunting grounds. Almost im¬ 
mediately he struck the trail of a deer, but I 
was hardly able to follow the old Indian and 
his runners, although I was on horseback. 
After a six hours’ run, I finally had a chance 
to kill an old buck of exceptional size. The 
Indians told me that, in former years, they had 
to fight many bears, mountain lions and jaguars, 
which often bothered their small herds. There 
are deer in numbers, but the Indians enjoy 
most hunting squirrels. Wild turkeys (tschivi) 
are to be found in great abundance, but, on ac¬ 
count of the broken grounds, they are very hard 
to hunt. Besides turkeys, there are many kinds 
of eagles, large owls, ravens and woodpeckers 
almost everywhere. The latter are hunted 
mercilessly, on account of their feathers, which 
are supposed to be of use in preserving the 
Indians’ health. 
We continued our hunt until nightfall, and, 
toward midnight, we reached our camp, where 
old Pena remained over night, and the next 
morning took leave, going back to his caves. 
Traveling onward toward Guachichic, we 
reached this Indian village, without any inci¬ 
dent whatever, late next day. The medicine 
man was advised of my coming, and, although 
his dignity would not permit him to advance to 
greet me, he was rather cordial when I entered 
his house and shook hands with me. By this 
time I understood a few words of the Tara- 
humare language, and, with signs, we under¬ 
stood each other very well. He invited me to 
his best room, where he, his family, and all his 
animals, lived together. Upon my suggestion, 
however, he was willing to visit me in my tent, 
where I spread out for him a royal meal of 
canned goods and good cognac. Here I had 
almost the same experience as at the Baranca 
del Cobre, but, knowing better the Tarahumare 
character, I made friends more rapidly with 
them. Next day I had occasion to be present 
at a court proceeding. The simplicity and 
justice meted out was rather a revelation to 
me. The case was as follows: 
About a year before, a married man ran 
away with ano'ther woman. They remained in 
hiding all this time, but, finally, the curiosity 
of the woman gave the guilty couple away. 
They were brought back to the village, and the 
medicine man, together with the chiefs, held 
court in the open square. The prisoners were 
brought in by five policemen who were armed 
with bayonets tied to bamboo sticks. The court 
appointed an attorney for the defendants, but, as 
(Continued from last week.) 
they acknowledged their guilt it took the court 
about five minutes to pass sentence. The man 
and woman were ordered whipped on the spot. 
Without the twitching of a muscle, the Indian 
walked a few steps to the post, turned his back 
to the policemen and received without a groan 
his whipping. The same operation was per¬ 
formed with the woman. The second part of 
the sentence was that the man, who begged to 
be permitted to live with his sweetheart, must 
return to his lawful wife, and the woman must 
be married immediately to any one who would 
have her. There was a short suspense, be¬ 
cause no one seemed to want to become her 
husband. Finally a young chap, about eighteen 
years old, stepped forward, declared his willing¬ 
ness to cast his lot with that of the woman, and 
a few minutes afterward they were man and 
wife. 
In Guachichic, Noragagachic, Tomachic 
and Guachochic live more than 9,000 Tara- 
humares. This part of the Tarahumare country 
is considered the most thickly settled, and here 
most of the Indians continue to observe their 
pagan rites, though they have a mixture of 
Christianity. The family life is about the same 
as everywhere else, though I have had occasion 
to note some different features. The women, 
who are rather comely, are usually occupied 
with needlework and pottery-making, when 
their household duties give them time for it. 
Their family life is rather happy; the mother is 
very fond of her children, and while there I 
had a chance to see the peculiar custom of 
kissing each other on the belly, as they do not 
know the mouth kiss. They are very hos¬ 
pitable, but to make a visit is a tedious job. 
When a neighbor wants to visit, he covers himself 
with a serape, slowly approaching the house so 
that he cannot be seen. There he will sit down 
and wait until invited to enter. The family to 
be visited is often at dinner, or doing some kind 
of work, and the first thing they do is hold a 
family council as to whether they should invite 
their would-be guest to come inside. This 
council often lasts for hours, and the visitor 
awaits patiently the decision. Finally, the 
owner of the house steps outside with great 
dignity and invites the other to enter. Com¬ 
ing in. he is offered tesgiiino, and they often 
chat for hours. If it is a stormy night, the 
guest is always invited to remain within the 
house for the night. 
Although the Tarahumares are of rather 
moderate habits, their home-brewed beer, 
tesguino, plays an important role in their home 
life and in their religious ceremonies. Tesgiiino 
is made in the following manner: The corn is 
moistened until it sprouts, when it is crushed 
and boiled, and, to make it ferment, a seed of 
some herb, which looks like wheat, is used. 
For a Tarahumare it is a feast of the gods to 
drink good tesgiiino and eat a few roasted field 
mice with it. 
Their religion is very simple. The men 
pray to the sun, and the women to the moon. 
STREET MARKET IN MEXICO. 
