Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 5.djvu/601

Rh squats on the ground, using for a shuttle a stick to which the wool for the cross-threads is fastened. The operation of weaving is skillfully performed, although a long time is required in the manufacture of one of their blankets.

The domestic animals of the Zuni are goats, fowl of all kinds, a few head of cattle and donkeys—every family owning several of the latter, which, while serving for transporting wood great distances, as well as for riding, are used chiefly in cultivating the fields. One specimen among the goats had four horns, as shown in the engraving, and was said to belong to the species formerly common among the Navajos, called cimeron. The sheep are raised for their wool.



Outside the town there is a large farm, of which a sketch is presented. It is cultivated in common by the Zuni, although divided into patches, or small gardens, one of which belongs to each family. No rains occurring for long periods, irrigation is resorted to, the water being supplied by the Rio Zuni, in the vicinity of the town; this water is salty. For drinking-purposes, wells are sunk at different points, good water being everywhere abundant at a moderate depth. The staple products are wheat and corn; vegetables are raised in abundance, chiefly onions, chile (Spanish pepper), and caraway. From close conversation with the people, however, one would suppose their partiality for the first-mentioned vegetable predominated. Melons and pumpkins are also considerably cultivated.

Sauntering about the village, several underground courts were encountered, as well as subterranean passages from one square to another, and to the old Catholic church. This church is of adobe, and at least 200 years old; it is 120 feet long, 40 feet wide, and, within, 130 feet in height. The altar is covered with a profusion of carving, which still shows in traces gilding and colors; it has a painted altar-piece of rude construction, representing the ascension of the Virgin Mary; here and there are carved statues of saints, while on the walls are two illegible inscriptions in Latin. In this church, we were told, a zealous priest celebrated the rites of the Romish Church for a brief period; but no Gloria or Te Deum has been heard within its wall for upward of a hundred years.

The Zuni authorities are a governor and high priest; the latter is