Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 5.djvu/599

Rh corned by himself and wife, who at once seated us comfortably on sheep-skin rugs spread on the bare earthen floor; bread and water were forthwith handed us, these constituting the simple but recognized symbol of great hospitality among this people.

After a pleasant hour in the company of our guide and his wife, we sallied forth to see the town. Coming to one of the larger houses, we gained ready admission, and were hospitably received. Our presence, however, was the occasion of much comment among the women, of whom we found six in one room. Their peculiar chattering, accompanied by hearty laughter and strange gesticulation, though unintelligible to us, was construed into joking at our expense. The men were in the field at work, while the children were enjoying a bath in the



muddy waters of the Rio Zuni. The women were engaged in grinding corn and wheat, an operation effected by means of several pairs of large, flat stones, some of coarse and others of fine material. Between the first set of stones the grain is merely mashed, each successive pair rendering the particles smaller and smaller, the last turning out fine flour. Two other women, in another room, were engaged in baking bread, which is made into thin cakes, or wafers, similar to the