members of the family, and gives one piece to each. They tie them
around their necks and wear them for one year. Afterward they are mixed
with Some other material and from them a ribbon or girdle is made.

On the fifth day the dead is despatched from this world. In the
small hours of the morning the shaman, with his plumes and pipe,
and a jar of water into which some medicinal herbs have been thrown,
leads the procession toward the west, while the people, including
women and children, carry branches of the zapote-tree. They stop,
while it is still dark, and the shaman steps forward and despatches
the deceased. He returns very soon, and sprinkles water on the people
and toward the west, where the dead has gone.

Chapter XXVII

Inexperienced Help--How to Acquire Riches from the
Mountains--Sierra del Nayarit--The Coras--Their Aversion to
"Papers"--Their Part in Mexican Politics--A Dejeuner a la
Fourchette--La Danza.

It is practically impossible to travel from tribe to tribe in Mexico
without changing muleteers, not only because the men generally
object to going so far from their homes, but also because it is not
advantageous to employ men who do not know the country through which
they are passing. Whenever the Indians understood something about
packing mules, I preferred them to the Mexicans, because I could learn
much from them on the way. The latter part of my travels I employed
none but Indians.

The unwillingness of desirable men to leave their homes makes a
frequent change very embarrassing. My next destination from Pueblo
Viejo was Santa Teresa, the most northern of the Cora pueblos, and
everybody thought it was too far away. I had finally to take whatever
I could get in the way of carriers. For instance, I had only one man
on whom I could depend, a civilised Tepehuane, who was bright and
knew his business well, but he was hampered by an injured arm. Then
I obtained another man, somewhat elderly. He, too, became suddenly
aware that his right arm was crooked and not strong enough to lift
heavy burdens, while the two remaining carriers had never loaded a
mule in their lives. The first two directed the other pair how to
proceed, and thus I was treated to the ludicrous spectacle of four
men engaged in packing one mule. Naturally it took all day to load my
ten animals, and when this was accomplished, it was too late to start,
so that the day's work turned out to be nothing but a dress-reh