saying, "How pretty
she is!" to which the interpreter, in a dejected mood, replied: "Yes,
but she will not sell anything, and I have been struggling hard." "Of
course, she will sell," said I, "handsome as she is!" at which remark
of mine I noticed she smiled. Though I judged from the way in which
she wore her hair, in two braids, hanging in a loop in the neck, that
she had been in association with the Mexicans, I did not expect that
she could understand Spanish so well. I immediately returned to my
camp to fetch some beads and a red handkerchief to make an impression
on my obdurate belle. But on my way back to her I met my interpreter,
who brought the glad tidings that she had made up her mind to sell, and
that I might send for the animal whenever I wanted it. The price was
one Mexican silver dollar. So I sent my "extras" along with the money,
and in return received a fine sheep with long white wool, when all
we had hoped for was only a goat. There is not the slightest doubt in
my mind that my felicitous compliment brought about this happy result.

During our travels along the river, every day we came upon traps for
catching fish. The Tarahumares have various modes of fishing. Sometimes
they manage to catch fish with their hands in crevices between stones,
even diving for them. In the shallow parts of the rivers and in the
brooks, following the course of the stream, two stone walls a foot or
two high are built. These walls converge at the lower end and form a
channel, in which is placed horizontally a mat of stalks of the eagle
fern (_Pteris aquilina_). When the fish attempt to cross this mat,
through which the water passes freely, they are intercepted. Often
the fish caught in this way are only an inch long, but none is too
small for a Tarahumare to reject.

Other similar walls form square or oblong corrals, where the fish
can easily enter, but not so readily find a way out. After dark the
owners come with lighted torches and carefully examine the corrals,
turning up every stone. The fish are blinded by the glare of the
light and can be caught and thrown into baskets. Frogs, tadpoles,
larvae, and water-beetles are also welcome.

In the central part of the country they use a spear made of a thin
reed and tipped with thorns of the nopal. Sometimes it is shot from
a diminutive bow, like an arrow. But a more interesting way is to
hurl it by means of a primitive throwing-stick, which is nothing but
a freshly cut twig fro