they confided to Don Andres
that "It was no good that that man went away; it might happen that
he carried the rain with him." They even seemed to delight now in
posing before my mysterious camera, which they imagined to be a
powerful rain-maker. I heard no more excuses for not wanting to
be photographed. They no longer told me that it would cause their
death, and that their god would be angry with them; nor was there
any more of that unwillingness expressed by one Indian who told me
that, inasmuch as he did not owe me anything, he did not want to be
photographed. Thus, almost without knowing it, I established friendly
relations with the people.

However, it must not be thought that all my troubles were ended
yet. The Indians are very clannish, and, although my damaged prestige
was now almost restored, and, no doubt, favourable rumours heralded
me wherever I went, still the good-will of each district had in a way
to be won. Many months later, when I found myself among the pagans
farther south, I was interpellated quite persistently on the subject
of the skulls in Yoquibo. They wanted to know why I had dug them
up. My Mexican interpreter, whom they took to task on the subject,
advanced an explanation, which was no doubt strictly in accordance
with his best knowledge and belief. He declared that my object had
been to find out whether those people had been properly baptised--a
reason which apparently perfectly satisfied the Indians.

I travelled in a southeasterly direction, making my way back to
Guachochic, over the highlands of Humarisa (humashi = to run). This
locality is of considerable elevation, with the Indian ranches lying
about here and there on strips of level land, which run in among
the rocky hills like _fjords_. Bears are quite common here, and the
Indians have difficulty in guarding their fields against them. They
are not even to be frightened by stones, and at night they will eat
corn until they have enough, and then walk away.

The time of the year in which it is most difficult for the Indians
to subsist had passed, and the copious rains of the past months had
developed ears of corn. Rarely or never do the Indians plant corn
enough to last them all the year round, and they have, therefore,
during the summer to depend for support mainly on herbs, roots, fruits,
etc. The leaves and flowers of the ash-tree are cooked and eaten,
and the flowers of the pine-tree. They never suffer from hunger when
living nea