In their aboriginal manners and customs they differ but little, so little, in fact, that one description will apply to the whole division within the above-named limits. The reader will therefore understand that, except where a tribe is specially named, I am speaking of the whole people collectively.
The conflicting statements of men who had ample opportunity for observation, and who saw the people they describe, if not in the same place, at least in the same vicinity, render it difficult to give a correct description of their physique. They do not appear to deteriorate toward the coast, or improve toward the interior, so uniformly as their northern neighbors; but this may be accounted for by the fact that several tribes that formerly lived on the coast have been driven inland by the settlers and vice versa.
PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES.
Some ethnologists see in the Californians a stock different from that of any other American race; but the more I dwell upon the subject, the more convinced I am, that, except in the broader distinctions, specific classifications of humanity are but idle speculations. Their height rarely exceeds five feet eight inches, and is more frequently five feet four or five inches, and although strongly they are seldom symmetrically built. A low retreating forehead, black deep-set eyes, thick bushy eyebrows, salient cheek-bones, a nose depressed at the root and somewhat wide-spreading at the nostrils, a large mouth with thick prominent lips, teeth large and white, but not always regular, and rather large ears, is the prevailing type. Their complexion is much darker than that of the tribes farther north, often being nearly black; so that with their matted, bushy hair, which is frequently cut short, they present a very uncouth appearance.505
The question of beard has been much mooted; some travelers asserting that they are bearded like Turks, others that they are beardless as women. Having carefully compared the pros and cons, I think I am justified in stating that the Central Californians have beards, though not strong ones, and that some tribes suffer it to grow, while others pluck it out as soon as it appears.506
DRESS IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.
During summer, except on festal occasions, the apparel of the men is of the most primitive character, a slight strip of covering round the loins being full dress; but even this is unusual, the majority preferring to be perfectly unencumbered by clothing. In winter the skin of a deer or other animal is thrown over the shoulders, or sometimes a species of rope made from the feathers of water-fowl, or strips of otter-skin, twisted together, is wound round the body, forming an effectual protection against the weather. The women are scarcely better clad, their summer costume being a fringed apron of tule-grass, which falls from the waist before and behind nearly down to the knees, and is open at the sides. Some tribes in the northern part of the Sacramento Valley wear the round bowl-shaped hat worn by the natives on the Klamath. During the cold season a half-tanned deer-skin, or the rope garment above mentioned, is added. The hair is worn in various styles. Some bind it up in a knot on the back of the head, others draw it back and club it behind; farther south it is worn cut short, and occasionally we find it loose and flowing. It is not uncommon to see the head adorned with chaplets of leaves or flowers, reminding one of a badly executed bronze of Apollo or Bacchus. Ear-ornaments are much in vogue; a favorite variety being a long round piece of carved bone or wood, sometimes with beads attached, which is also used as a needle-case. Strings of shells and beads also serve as ear-ornaments and necklaces. The head-dress for gala days and dances is elaborate, composed of gay feathers, skillfully arranged in various fashions.507
PERSONAL ADORNMENT.
Tattooing is universal with the women, though confined within narrow limits. They mark the chin in perpendicular lines drawn downward from the corners and centre of the mouth, in the same manner as the Northern Californians; they also tattoo slightly on the neck and breast. It is said that by these marks women of different tribes can be easily distinguished. The men rarely tattoo, but paint the body in stripes and grotesque patterns to a considerable extent. Red was the favorite color, except for mourning, when black was used. The friars succeeded in abolishing this custom except on occasions of mourning, when affection for their dead would not permit them to relinquish it. The New Almaden cinnabar mine has been from time immemorial a source of contention between adjacent tribes. Thither, from a hundred miles away, resorted vermilion-loving savages, and often such visits were not free from blood-shed.508 A thick coat of mud sometimes affords protection from a chilly wind. It is a convenient dress, as it costs nothing, is easily put on, and is no incumbrance to the wearer. The nudity of the savage more often proceeds from an indifference to clothing than from actual want. No people are found entirely destitute of clothing when the weather is cold, and if they can manage to obtain garments of any sort at one time of year they can at another.
DWELLINGS IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA.
Their dwellings are about as primitive as their dress. In summer all they require is to be shaded from the sun, and for this a pile of bushes or a tree will suffice. The winter huts are a little more pretentious. These are sometimes erected on the level ground, but more frequently over an excavation three or four feet deep, and varying from ten to thirty feet in diameter. Round the brink of this hole willow poles are sunk upright in the ground and the tops drawn together, forming a conical structure, or the upper ends are bent over and driven into the earth on the opposite side of the pit, thus giving the hut a semi-globular shape. Bushes, or strips of bark, are then piled up against the poles, and the whole is covered with a thick layer of earth or mud. In some instances, the interstices of the frame are filled by twigs woven cross-wise, over and under, between the poles, and the outside covering is of tule-reeds instead of earth. A hole at the top gives egress to the smoke, and a small opening close to the ground admits the occupants.
Each hut generally shelters a whole family of relations by blood and marriage, so that the dimensions of the habitation depend on the size of the family.509
Thatched oblong houses are occasionally met with in Russian River Valley, and Mr. Powers mentions having seen one among the Gallinomeros which was of the form of the letter L, made of slats leaned up against each other, and heavily thatched. Along the centre the different families or generations had their fires, while they slept next the walls. Three narrow holes served as doors, one at either end and one at the elbow.510 A collection of native huts is in California called a ranchería, from rancho, a word first applied by the Spaniards to the spot where, in the island of Cuba, food was distributed to repartimiento Indians.
FOOD AND METHODS OF OBTAINING IT.
The bestial laziness of the Central Californian prevents him from following the chase to any extent, or from even inventing efficient game-traps. Deer are, however, sometimes shot with bow and arrow. The hunter, disguised with the head and horns of a stag, creeps through the long grass to within a few yards of the unsuspecting herd, and drops the fattest buck at his pleasure. Small game, such as hares, rabbits, and birds, are also shot with the arrow. Reptiles and insects of all descriptions not poisonous are greedily devoured; in fact, any life-sustaining substance which can be procured with little trouble, is food for them. But their main reliance is on acorns, roots, grass-seeds, berries and the like. These are eaten both raw and prepared. The acorns are shelled, dried in the sun, and then pounded into a powder with large stones. From this flour a species of coarse bread is made, which is sometimes flavored with various kinds of berries or herbs. This bread is of a black color when cooked, of about the consistency of cheese, and is said, by those who have tasted it, to be not at all unpalatable.511 The dough is frequently boiled into pudding instead of being baked. A sort of mush is made from clover-seed, which is also described as being rather a savory