METHODS OF HUNTING.
The Ceris of Tiburon Island depend for food entirely on fish and game. They catch turtle by approaching the animal and suddenly driving the point of their spear into its back, a cord being attached to the weapon by which they drag the prize on to the raft as soon as its strength has become exhausted. According to Gomara, the natives of Sonora in 1537 were caught poisoning the deer-pools, probably for the skins, or it may have been only a stupefying drink that the pools were made to supply. The Sinaloans are great hunters; at times they pursue the game singly, then again the whole town turns out and, surrounding the thickest part of the forest, the people set fire to the underbrush and bring down the game as it attempts to escape the flames. A feast of reptiles is likewise thus secured. Iguanas are caught with the hands, their legs broken, and thus they are kept until required for food. For procuring wild honey, a bee is followed until it reaches its tree, the sweet-containing part of which is cut off and carried away. The Tarahumares hunt deer by driving them through narrow passes, where men are stationed to shoot them. Others make use of a deer's head as a decoy. For fishing they have various contrivances; some fish between the rocks with a pointed stick; others, when fishing in a pool, throw into the water a species of cabbage or leaves of certain trees, that stupefy the fish, when they are easily taken with the hands; they also use wicker baskets, and near the Pacific Ocean they inclose the rivers, and catch enormous quantities of smelt and other fish, which have come up from the sea to spawn. The Laguneros of Coahuila catch ducks by placing a calabash on their heads, with holes through which to breathe and see; thus equipped, they swim softly among the ducks, and draw them under water without flutter or noise. Tatéma is the name of a dish cooked in the ground by the Tarahumares. The Laguneros make tortillas of flour obtained from an aquatic plant. The Zacatecs make the same kind of bread from the pulp of the maguey, which is first boiled with lime, then washed and boiled again in pure water, after which it is squeezed dry and made into cakes. Most of the people use pozole, or pinolatl, both being a kind of gruel made of pinole, of parched corn or seeds ground, the one of greater thickness than the other; also tamales, boiled beans, and pumpkins. The Ceris of Tiburon eat fish and meat uncooked, or but slightly boiled. The Salineros frequently devour uncooked hares and rabbits, having only removed their furs.880
HOW ARROWS WERE MADE AND POISONED.
The weapons universally used by these nations were bows and arrows and short clubs, in addition to which the chiefs and most important warriors carried a short lance and a buckler. The arrows were carried in a quiver made of lion or other skins. The Tarahumares and some others wore a leathern guard round the left wrist, to protect it from the blow of the bow-string. Flint knives were employed for cutting up their slain enemies. The Ceris, Jovas, and other tribes smeared the points of their arrows with a very deadly poison, but how it was applied to the point, or whence obtained, it is difficult to determine; some travelers say that this poison was taken from rattlesnakes and other venomous reptiles, which, by teasing, were incited to strike their fangs into the liver of a cow or deer which was presented to them, after which it was left to putrefy, and the arrows being dipped into the poisonous mass, were placed in the sun to dry; but other writers, again, assert that the poison was produced from a vegetable preparation. The wound inflicted by the point, however slight, is said to have caused certain death. The arrows were pointed with flint, or some other stone, or with bone, fastened to a piece of hard wood, which is tied by sinews to a reed or cane, notched, and winged with three feathers; when not required for immediate use, the tying was loosed, and the point reversed in the cane, to protect it from being broken. The Ceris and Chicoratos cut a notch a few inches above the point, so that in striking it should break off and remain in the wound. Their clubs were made of a hard wood called guayacan, with a knob at the end, and when not in use were carried slung to the arm by a leather thong. Their lances were of Brazil wood, bucklers of alligator-skin, and shields of bull's hide, sufficiently large to protect the whole body, with a hole in the top to look through. Another kind of shield was made of small lathes closely interwoven with cords, in such a manner that, when not required for use, it could be shut up like a fan, and was carried under the arm.881
Living in a state of constant war, arising out of family quarrels or aggressions made into each other's territories, they were not unskilled in military tactics. Previous to admission as a warrior, a young man had to pass through certain ordeals; having first qualified himself by some dangerous exploit, or having faithfully performed the duty of a scout in an enemy's country. The preliminaries being settled, a day was appointed for his initiation, when one of the braves, acting as his godfather, introduced him to the chief, who, for the occasion, had first placed himself in the midst of a large circle of warriors. The chief then addressed him, instructing him in the several duties required of him, and drawing from a pouch an eagle's talon, with it proceeded to score his body on the shoulders, arms, breast, and thighs, till the blood ran freely; the candidate was expected to suffer without showing the slightest signs of pain. The chief then handed to him a bow and a quiver of arrows; each of the braves also presented him with two arrows. In the campaigns that followed, the novitiate must take the hardest duty, be ever at the post of danger, and endure without a murmur or complaint the severest privations, until a new candidate appeared to take his place.882
WAR CUSTOMS IN NORTH MEXICO.
When one tribe desires the assistance of another in war, they send reeds filled with tobacco, which, if accepted, is a token that the alliance is formed; a call for help is made by means of the smoke signal. When war is decided upon, a leader is chosen, at whose house all the elders, medicine-men, and principal warriors assemble; a fire is then lighted, and tobacco handed round and smoked in silence. The chief, or the most aged and distinguished warrior then arises, and in a loud tone and not unpoetic language, harangues his hearers, recounting to them heroic deeds hitherto performed, victories formerly gained, and present wrongs to be avenged; after which tobacco is again passed round, and new speakers in turn address the assembly. War councils are continued for several nights, and a day is named on which the foe is to be attacked. Sometimes the day fixed for the battle is announced to the enemy, and a spot on which the fight is to take place selected. During the campaign fasting is strictly observed. The Acaxées, before taking the war-path, select a maiden of the tribe, who secludes herself during the whole period of the campaign, speaking to no one, and eating nothing but a little parched corn without salt. The Ceris and Ópatas approach their enemy under cover of darkness, preserving a strict silence, and at break of day, by a preconcerted signal, a sudden and simultaneous attack is made. To fire an enemy's house, the Tepagues and others put lighted corn-cobs on the points of their arrows. In the event of a retreat they invariably carry off the dead, as it is considered a point of honor not to leave any of their number on the field. Seldom is sex or age spared, and when prisoners are taken, they are handed over to the women for torture, who treat them most inhumanly, heaping upon them every insult devisable, besides searing their flesh with burning brands, and finally burning them at the stake, or sacrificing them in some equally cruel manner. Many cook and eat the flesh of their captives, reserving the bones as trophies. The slain are scalped, or a hand is cut off, and a dance performed round the trophies on the field of battle. On the return of an expedition, if successful, entry into the village is made in the day-time. Due notice of their approach having been forwarded to the inhabitants, the warriors are received with congratulations and praises by the women, who,