water of the Gila River to their fields, and also produced abundant crops. Their women were virtuous and industrious; they spun the native cotton into garments, made beautiful baskets of the bark of trees, and were particularly skilled in the manufacture of earthen ware. (Remains of the old canals can be seen to this day, and pieces of neatly-painted pottery ware are scattered for miles upon the site of the old city. There are several ruins of ancient buildings here, the best preserved one of which is said to have been the residence of King Si'-va-no. This house has been at least four stories high, for even now three stories remain in good preservation, and a portion of the fourth can be seen. The house was built square; each story contains five rooms, one in the center, and a room on each of the outer sides of the inner room. This house has been built solidly of clay and cement; not of adobes, but by successive thick layers of mortar, and it was plastered so well that most of the plastering remains to this day, although it must have been exposed to the weather for many years. The roof and the different ceilings have long since fallen, and only short pieces of timber remain in the walls to indicate the place where the rafters were inserted. These rafters are of pine wood, and since there is no kind of pine growing now within less than fifty miles of the Casas Grandes, this house must either have been built at a time when pine timber could be procured near the building site, or else the builders must have had facilities to transport heavy logs for long distances. is certain that the house was built before the Pimas knew the use of iron, for many stone hatchets have been found in the ruins, and the ends of the lintels over doors and windows show by their hacked appearance that only blunt tools were used. It also appears that the builders were without trowels, for the marks of the fingers of the workmen or women are plainly visible both in the plastering and in the walls where the former has fallen off. The rooms were about six feet in height, the doors are very narrow and only four feet high, round holes, about eight inches in diameter, answered for windows. Only one entrance from the outside was left by the builders, and some of the outer rooms even had no communication with the room in the center. There are no stairs, and it is believed that the Pimas entered the house from above by means of ladders, as the Zuni Indians still do. The walls are perfectly perpendicular and all angles square.)

It

The empire of King Si'-va-no became so populous after a while that some of its inhabitants found it necessary to emigrate. One of the sons of the king, with numerous followers, went, therefore, to the Salt River Valley, and there established a new empire, which, in course of time, became very prosperous. Indeed, the inhabitants became so wealthy that they wore jewelry and precious stones upon their persons, and finally erected a beautiful throne for the use of their monarch. This throne was manufactured entirely of large blue stones, (probably silver or copper ore.)

In course of time a woman ascended this throne, She was very beautiful, and many of the warriors adored her, but she refused all offers of marriage, and seemed to be fond of no one except a pet eagle which lived in her house. The rejected suitors, jealous of the eagle, determined to kill him, but he, a wise bird, discovered their intentions, said farewell to his mistress, and flew away toward the rising of the sun, threatening destruction to those who had contemplated to take his life. At the death of the queen, who married after the departure of the eagle, the government of the nation fell to her son, who was but a child in years, and weak and incapable. During the reign of this boy the eagle returned, conducting the Spaniards to his former home. These came, well armed and some mounted on horses, which before this time had been unknown to the Pimas.

The Spaniards approached in three strong columns; one marched down the Gila River, one came from the north, and the third one from the south. These armies of strange white men terrified the Pimas, who, without competent leader and good arms, were soon defeated. The enemy devastated the whole country, killed most of the inhabitants, and leveled their fine buildings to the ground. The throne of the king was broken into small pieces, and the birds of the air came and swallowed the small blue stones, which, afterward, they spit out wherever they happened to be. This, say the Pimas, accounts for the fact that these blue stones are found but rarely and in very different localities now. (Stones of this kind are highly prized by the Pimas, and worn as charms.) But few of the Pimas escaped the general massacre, and hid themselves in the neighboring mountains, whence they returned to the valley after the departure of the Spaniards. They found all their wealth destroyed, their towns in ruins, their fields devastated, their friends and relatives slain or carried off by the enemy, and the survivors were in despair. Some few, hoping to be able to liberate some of their kindred who had been captured, followed the white men toward the south and finally settled in Sonora, where their descendants live to this day. The others remained in the Salt River Valley, increased in numbers, and again tilled the soil. But the Apaches, always bitter enemies of the Pimas, took advantage of the situation, and encroached upon their fields to such an extent that the Pimas finally returned to the Gila River Valley, where they still live. They never re-erected the stately mansions of their forefathers, but, humbled by defeat, were content to live in the lowly huts which are occupied by the Pimas of the present day. Their women were virtuous and strong, and in the lapse of time numerous children were born; the tribe increased in numbers, and, not many years after their defeat by the Spaniards, the Pimas were strong enough to cope with the Apaches, against whom they have carried on a bitter warfare ever since. At one time they were very poor indeed. Owing to the poverty of the tribe, their leaders never returned to the luxurious style of living of the former kings. They were simply called "chiefs,"

but the supreme control of the tribe was still in the hands of the old royal family, and descended from father to son. These head-chiefs were brave warriors, and under their leadership the Pimas achieved many victories. At one time the Comanche Indians came from the east, but the Pimas repulsed them after a bloody battle, which was fought near the present mail-station Sacaton. At last the reign descended to Shóntarl-Kör'-li, (old soldier,) the last, in a direct line, of the old royal house. He was a bold warrior, and highly esteemed by the whole tribe. During his reign the Maricopa Indians, imposed upon and persecuted by the Yumas and Mohaves, came to the country of the Pimas in two dif ferent parties, one from the southwest and the other from the northwest. The new-comers asked a home and protection, promising to aid the Pimas in their scouts against the Apaches. Their request was granted, and when the Yumas, who had given pursuit to the Maricopas, appeared near the country of the Pimas, the latter turned out in force, and, united with the Maricopas, defeated the Yumas in a battle fought near the present Maricopa Wells. Since then the Yumas have not dared to molest the Maricopas. The latter remained with the Pimas, were permitted to cultivate a small portion of their land, and have been ever since on friendly terms with them. The Maricopas of to-day have two villages on the reservation, and number three hundred and eighty-two. The Pimas have intermarried with the Maricopas; still the latter preserve their own language, which is that of the Yumas, Cocopas, and Mohaves. At last Shón-tarl-Kör'-li, the chief, was fatally wounded by the Apaches, receiving a musket-ball in his forehead. Upon his death-bed this old chief, who had no sons to succeed him, recommended that Stjö'-e-teck-e-mús, one of the sub-chiefs, who was a renowned warrior, should be elected head chief. This was done, and Stjö'-e-teck-emús, who was the father of the present head-chief, reigned for years, respected and beloved by all his tribe. Young Antonio Azul, or A-vá-at-Kájo, (the man who lifts his leg,) as he is called by the Pimas, accompanied his father, the chief, on all his scouts when he became old enough to use arms, and at one time went with him to Sonora and visited some of the Mexican towns. Stjö'-e-teck-e-mús led the Pimas many times against the Apaches, was repeatedly wounded, but finally died in consequence of sickness. Upon his death Antonio Azul assumed the position of his father, but dissension arose in the tribe. Many claimed that Antonio had no title to the supreme command; that his father had been chosen chief on account of his boldness and wisdom; that these virtues did not necessarily descend from father to son, and that the choice of a new chief ought to be left to the warriors of the tribe. Some asserted that a distant relative of the chief proper was among the tribe, who, having the royal blood in his veins, ought to govern.

Árispa, a petty chief, well known for his bravery in the field, and withal a crafty and unscrupulous man, took advantage of the general confusion, and, with the intention of usurping Antonio's place, accused

the latter of witchcraft. Antonio was tried and declared not guilty, and since then has been generally recognized as head-chief. Still the followers of Árispa, who are the worst Indians on the reservation, refuse to be guided by Antonio, and the latter evidently believes his position to be insecure, and therefore temporizes with the bad men of the tribe rather than run the risk of a revolution and possible loss of his rank by compelling them to behave themselves. Of course the Indians know him thoroughly, and take advantage of his weakness.

Since Antonio Azul has become the head-chief of the tribe the overland road from Texas to California, which passes through the Pima land, has been established, and in consequence thereof these Indians have been thrown in contact with the Americans. In 1859 a reservation, containing one hundred square miles, was set aside for them by act of Congress, and upon and near it they have resided ever since. Eight years ago the small-pox raged among them to an alarming extent, and many, particularly children, died of this disease.

It is a lamentable fact that the Pimas have retrograded since the advent of the white men among them, both morally and physically. Fifteen years ago, when Butterfield's mail-coaches first passed through their land, the Pimas were a healthy race, the men brave and honest, the women chaste. To-day foul diseases prevail to an alarming extent, many of the women are public prostitutes, and all will pilfer whenever opportunity offers.

RELIGION.-The Pimas believe in the existence of a Supreme Being or Creator, whom they call "Prophet of the Earth," and also in an evil spirit, (che-á-vurl.) They believe that, generally, their spirits will pass to another world when they die, and that there they will meet those who have gone before them. They say that whenever any one dies an owl carries the soul of the departed away, and hence they fear owls, (which they never kill,) and they consider the hooting of this bird a sure omen that some one is about to die. They give a confused account of some priests, (pár-le,) who, they state, visited their country years ago and attempted to convert them to Christianity. These priests were French, and to this day the Pimas call the French " pár-le-sick;" plural, "pá-parle-sick." It does not appear that these missionaries met with success.. The Pimas have no form of worship whatever, and have neither idols nor images. They know that the Mexicans baptize their children, and sometimes imitate this ceremony. This baptism is applied, however, only as a charm, and in cases of extreme sickness of the child. When the ceremonies and charms of the native physicians (má-ke) fail to produce a cure, then the sick infant is taken to some American or Mexican, and even Papago when he is known to have embraced the Christian faith. Generally Mexican women perform the ceremony. If the child recovers it receives a Spanish name, by which it is known ever after; but these names are so much changed in pronunciation that strangers would hardly recognize them. Pedro, for instance, becomes Pí-va-lo; Emanuel, Má

norl; Cristobal, Kís-to; Ignazio, I'-nas; Maria, Már-le, etc. It is certain that their religion does not teach them morality, nor does it point out a certain mode of conduct. Each Pima, if he troubles himself about his religion, construes it to suit himself, and all care little or nothing for the life hereafter, for their creed neither promises rewards in the future for a life well spent, nor does it threaten punishment after death to those who in this life act badly. They have no priest to counsel them, and the influence of their chiefs is insufficient to restrain those who are evil-disposed. The whole nation lives but for to-day, never thinks of the wants of the future, and is guided solely by desires and passions. They believe in witches and ghosts, and their doctors (má-ke) claim to know how to find and destroy witches. Almost anything is believed to be a witch. Usually it is a small piece of wood, to which is tied a piece of red flannel, cloth, or calico by means of a horse-hair. Should one of these be found in or near one of the Pima huts, the inhabitants thereof would at once abandon it and move elsewhere. They believe that all sickness, death, and misfortunes are caused by witches. If, therefore, a Pima is taken sick, or loses his horse or cow, he sends for one of the medicine-men, whose duty it becomes to find and destroy the evil spirit who has caused the mischief. The medicine-man on these occasions masks his face and disguises himself as much as possible. He then swiftly runs around the spot supposed to be infested, widening his circles as he runs, until, at last, he professes to have found the outer limits. of the space of ground supposed to be under the influence of the witch. Then he and his assistants (the latter also masked) drive painted stakes into the ground all about the bewitched spot. These sticks, painted with certain colors found in the mountains, are said to possess the power of preventing the escape of the witch. Now begins the search for the witch; everything is looked into, huts are examined, fences removed, bushes cut down, until, at last, the medicine-man professes to find the witch, which usually is the above-described stick, horse-hair and red cloth. Of course, this so-called witch has been hidden previous to the search, by some of the assistants of the medicine-man. It is burned at once, and the uninitiated fondly believe that, for a time at least, they will be free from the evil influences of the witch thus destroyed. Of course, this mode of treatment seldom produces a cure of sick people, but the Pimas know nothing whatever of medicines; their medicine-men never administer anything internally, and the above ceremony is the principal attempt made to cure the sick. Sometimes, for instance, in case of pains in the chest or stomach, they scarify the patients with sharp stones or place burning coals upon the skin, and in rare instances the patient is placed upon the ground, his head to the west, and then the medicine-man gently passes a brush, made of eagle feathers, from his head to his feet; after which he runs several paces, shakes the brush violently, and then returns to the patient to repeat, again and again, the same manoeuver. They believe that, by this operation, the sickness