Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 5.djvu/600

582 marros of the Jews, only the latter are the harder. On inspecting the house, we found each apartment whitewashed, both walls and ceiling, well ventilated, and in every respect neat and clean; exceeding good order seemed to prevail in the domestic appointments throughout the establishment. The furniture consisted of but few articles, these being principally sheep-skins, Navajo blankets, and water-vessels, the latter used also for cooking-purposes. These vessels are of their own manufacture, of burnt earth, and, in many instances, highly embellished with fanciful designs of neat pattern, the figures being either brown or black, on a ground-work of white. No beds are seen in the house, blankets alone serving as such; the occasional bird-skin, hanging by a string in some corner, serves as a charm. Live eagles and sparrow-hawks, tamed by these people, are seen about almost every house,



great veneration being had for these members of the feathered tribe, which are considered the sacred birds of Montezuma. Each dwelling is provided with a loom, which forms a conspicuous part of the furniture. It consists of two sticks, between which the threads, of the width of the blanket to be made, are spread, the whole arrangement being fastened to the floor and ceiling by raw-hide strings. The