of yarn, a stick of ari against so many arrows, etc. At big
races the wagers may amount to considerable heaps of such articles,
and the position of manager requires a man of decision and memory,
for he has to carry all the bets in his head and makes no written
record of them. The total value of the wagers may reach a thousand
dollars, and what to the Indians are fortunes may change hands in
accordance with the result of the race. One man on one occasion had
$50 worth of property at stake.

The scene is one of great animation. As many as two hundred people
may assemble, among them women and children. At the gathering-point,
which is called in Tarahumare "the betting-place," all the bets are
made, and here the race is started and concluded. Here the managers
also place a row of stones, one stone for each circuit to be run,
and whenever a circuit is completed one stone is taken away. In
this way the count is kept. The runners walk about wrapped in their
blankets like the rest of the people. They have had nothing to eat
all day but pinole and tepid water, and their legs have been rubbed
with warm water in the morning by the managers.

When finally all the people have arranged their stakes the gobernador
steps forward and makes a speech, in which he specially exhorts the
runners not to throw the ball with their hands; if they do, they
certainly will go to hell! He also warns them against cheating of
any kind.

At a given signal, quick as lightning, the runners throw off their
blankets, and one man in each party, previously selected, throws his
ball as far as he can, and all the runners start after it. A second
ball is always kept in reserve, in case the first should be lost.

The racers wear rattles of deer-hoofs and bits of reeds tied together
on a strip of leather, which they stick in the backs of their girdle
or hang over their backs. The magic rattling keeps them from falling
asleep while running, so they say; besides, the deer-hoofs lend
them the swiftness of the stag. Some runners adorn themselves with
feathers from various birds, preferably the macaw and the peacock,
tying them to short sticks. The few Tarahumares who have ever seen
a peacock think a good deal of this bird, because it is considered
light-footed and mystic, being foreign to their country. Some runners
may be seen who paint their faces and legs with white chalk, near
Batopilas, for instance.

They do not run at an extraordinary speed, but very ste