Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/252

237 YsoPBTJt vteamvsB thb honors. 23f But here w the citation ifcaelf:, "Tbm. chief feature of the race ia the kicki&c of sMcIn, which the leader ot each side phioes acroM Mm toalk at the base of the to^s. These sticks are rooad' eid aad of tht »vto of the middle finger; they are piek}- eA op with the toes and kicked forward, when bao of the set, Or partners of the one kicking, renews the feet, kaeipinK up rapid speed. Mr. Hodge saye the distance covered by one race was twc^nty-five milte, and the time consumed only two hours. It is well known that the Tarahnmara Indians of Mexico are so nained from their custom of racing while driTJng bo- fore them a wooden ball by means of the feet alone. It is said that frequently; seventy or eighty mil6s are thus covered in a single race." Do not forget that the people we are writing of were God^s children; they are admitted by the men who first saw them to be magnificent physical specimens of humans, and they had nothing else to do but cultivate the body so as to make themselves strong, agile and swift, so they could battle with na- ture, animals and enemies; and further bear in mind that the ten miles was without obstr'uctions, and pleasedon't fail to note where twenty -five miles was made in two hours they were picking up a s^lck with their toes. Just as soon as the chief and judges announce that Ysopete is the winner of the prize offered by CJor- onado, which is a sword and scabbard with belt at- tached, the swiftest runner is presented to the chief, who in true Indian manner presents the bright sharp awful big knife to the smiling native, '" ■ '"""^