took her lot very contentedly among "these people whom
no one ever knows," as she expressed it. She liked the climate, and
the security of life and property. Her husband had been working here
for four years. The children, of course, have first to learn Spanish,
and there is no school from June till September. The youngsters seemed
bright and well-behaved, but the Coras told me that they had not yet
learned to read.

Most of the Cora Indians are slightly bearded, especially on the
chin. In this respect, however, there was no uniformity, some being
absolutely beardless, while others looked rather Mexican. They all
insisted, nevertheless, that there is among them no intermixture
with Mexicans, or, for that matter, with the Tepehuanes, and the Cora
women have very strong objections to unions with "neighbours." On the
other hand, it should be remembered that during the latter half of the
last century the tribe was subjected to a great deal of disturbance,
incidental to the revolution of Manuel Lozada, a civilised Aztec
from the neighbourhood of Tepic, who, about the time of the French
intervention, established an independent State comprising the present
territory of Tepic and the Cora country. He had great military talent,
and it was said that whenever he liked he could gather thousands of
soldiers without cost. He was able to maintain his government for a
number of years, thanks chiefly to the Coras, who were his principal
supporters. At one time they had to leave their country, and to live
for five years in an inaccessible part of the Sierra Madre above
San Buena.

Among themselves, the Coras use their own language, but all the
men and most of the women speak and understand Spanish to some
extent. Though the people now dress like the "neighbours," they
are still thoroughly Indian, and proud of it. There are about 2,500
pure-bred among them. They call themselves Nayariti or Nayari, and in
speech, religion, and customs they are akin to the Huichol Indians,
who, however, do not care very much for their relatives, whom they
call Hashi (crocodiles). Yet some intercourse is maintained between
the two tribes, the Coras bringing to the Huichols red face-paint,
wax, and the tail-feathers of the bluejay, while the services of
the Huichol curing shamans are highly appreciated by the Coras. An
interesting home industry is the weaving of bags or pouches of cotton
and wool, in many beautiful designs.

The Coras are not good runners