506 THE PIMAS. Book III. 
garobbia-pods. They belonged to the heathen remains of 
that nation who dwell on the Gila, while its greater part, 
under the name of the Papagos, live in the State of Sonora, 
forming an essential portion of its civilized and Christian 
population. This party consisted of men, women, boys, 
and girls, who were at once on friendly terms with us. 
The Pimas 1 have been mentioned favourably by various 
travellers, and they produce, indeed, a pleasing impression. 
The dwelling-places of the tribe, the so-called Pima-villages 
on the Gila, are known to geographers, and marked down 
on all maps. The small party near us on the Laguna 
was merely temporarily here. When the pods of the 
algarobbia are ripe, this tribe disperses in the thickets near 
the river to gather in this important article of food, which 
I have nowhere else found in similar perfection. This 
year it was to them especially important : the river had 
little water, and only a few fields could be cultivated, as 
their productive power entirely depends on irrigation from 
the river. 
The pod of the algarobbia, or so-called mezquite-bean, 
has also been described by travellers, and their importance 
to the inhabitants of the Gila and Colorado districts, as 
well as to the herds of cattle which pass this way on their 
route to California, is well known. I will therefore only 
make a few observations in order to present the reader with 
an illustration of the subject I speak of. Let him imagine 
a small tree with thorny branches and a feathery foliage, 
full of green or yellowish pods, which do not dry on the 
branch, but fall off as soon as they are in a certain state of 
maturity. At these times the ground of the mezquite 
woods is often covered with them inch-deep. In this state 
Not "Pimos," as many North Americans write. 
