Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1874-06-13
THE MOOUIS PUEBLOS.
AppotiEiug Habits OF Our Red Rel
ntiOns.

nllOnSs
A traveller in Colorado gives the fol-
lowing incidents of his soiourn among
the natives of that region:
Before retiring for the night, went
up into the town and paid the chief a
visit, during which ! witnessed a scene
that may be set down as q remarkable
example of Indian refinement.
While we were RECALLING ourselves on
wrtermelons and vegetables, the old
gentleman's wife came in and seated
herself in front Of us, followed by her
daughter, ten years of age, gotten up
in all the perfection of a natural toilet,
i. e., perfectly naked. | supposed that
they were about to join us at supper !;
but, instead of this, the old lady delib-
erately began picking the lice from the
child's head, and cracking them between
her teeth, with dexterity that could
only have been acquired by long prac-
tice.
am not generally accused of having
delicate appetite bur confess that,
upon this occasion, my desire for food
vas easily satisfied nor was it until |
got ont my old pipe and began to
smoke, that my stomach resumed its
natural tone.
Lice eating is not confined to the Mo-
quis, for, in the "Andes aud the Anna
IONS" Orton says "We found the
chief, one day, taking lice for his lunch.
Sitting behind his little boy, he picked
ont the little parasites with his nails,
and crushed them between his teeth
with look of satisfaction. Eating
lice is an old Indian custom, and uni
versal in the Andes. We have seen
half dozen women sitting on the
ground in a row, picking ont vermin
from each others heads. We thought
the arrangement was little unfair, for
the first in the series had no lice to cat,
and the animals were left to roam I'M
disturbed in the capillary forest of the
last"
Custom is everything and, willie to
an eastern man this must seem anything
but a choice taste, it appears the dainty
Of dainties to the Indian epicures, and
is in proof of what I have before men
toned, that, while the Moquis are
cleanly to degree rare among the alb
original tribes, still they have habits
that are extremely filthy.
While disgust is excited by many of
the peculiarities of this people, there
still remains much to commend, in the
women especially, who spend a good
par of their time in washing them
selves and combing their hair, thus
keeping their persons extremely tidy.
Their mode of bathing is worth notice.
The women bring water for drinking
and culinary purposes in large earthern
pots or jugs these they sling over their
shoulders in a blanket, which is tied
over the forehead. Every morning a
large concourse of water carriers go
down to the pools for the days supply.
Stepping down into the pool, and wad-
ing in up to their knees, they fill their
Jugs; then, placing them on the bank,
they return to the water, where they
wash their faces and hands, and some
times the entire body, all the time
laughing and splashing round like a
flock of ducks.
As the first bathers are followed by
others with jugs, until fifty or a hun
dred families are supplied, it might ma
turally be supposed hat the last of the
water thus obtained is not very pure.
Not being a Moquis, l made point of
arising and filling my canteen just be-
fore daybreak, while the pools were yet
undisturbed