Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-03-07

upon the unsuspecting MarlcopaS.
The sequel showed that with In
dians, as with white men, "the
best laid plans of mice and men
gang aft aglee." The Cocopahs
had been invited to join the oonfed-
eracy and they not only declined
| but sent swift runners out to the
Maricopas to advise them Of the
impending peril. The latter were
not slow in acting on the Napoleon
ic axiom of beating your enemy in
detail. They appreciated the ne
cessity of pouncing upon the Yumas
before the Mojaves could join them;
and the former were surprised as
we'll as appalled, when, in the fam
cied security of their camp, the
Maricopas fell upon and anuihilat-
ed them almost TO a man. After
the lapse OF a week or so three or
four warriors, all that were left of
the flower of the tribe, dragged
| themselves into Yuma, weak,
| wounded and despairing. Then
went up great lamentation. Ev-
erything belonging to the ttibe
was burned, including the growing
crops. Had 1t not been for Gen.
HeintZe.man, at that time a cap
tain in the regular army and COM
mandant at Yuma, starvation
would have completed what the
fsrocIty of the Maricopas had left
undone towards the entire oblitera-
ton of the tribe. Gen. Heintzel-
man dealt out the commissary
stores of the United States with a
liberal hand and preserved the
remnant of the Yumas. II is i'm.
possible, however, to learn their
numbers at the present day, the
chiefs being very reticent on the
subject.
| NOVEL WAYoF GETTING FAT.
The Yumas are really parasites,
hanging on the skirts of the whites.
The men are In the habit of ship.
ping on the Colorado steamboats,.
IA gang of them will offer them
selves as deciShands. They will be-
as lean as the famous kline of Pha-
roah's dream when they go on
board the steamer. In the ten days
or two weeks occupied in the trip
they will fatten up wonderfully.
They are careful to make amends for
all the previous starvation. That
gang, having built up their ply
siques, give way to new set. 1t
is principle of honor with the
"bucks" never to ship for two sue
cessive trips, believing, as they do,
that their brethren ought to have a
chance at the boats trencher.
The Yumas make capital porters.
Their value in fetching and carry
ing is recognized by boat captains.
Anything you can get on the backs
Of these Indians they will walk off
with, instances being known of
some of the stronger men of the
J tribe carrying easily packages
} weighing five hundred pounds.
A NOCTURNAL INCIDENT.
At Stanwix our attention was at.
, tracted to n novel phase of Indian
life. About eleven o'clock Mt night q
curious noise reached our ears. The
cleaning of half dozen camp fires
over the plain contributed to pique
our curiosity, and we made for the
nearest one. The voices OF two In-
dlans singing snatch which sound
ed very much like "Mf.tee, Mi tee,
wolla VOLTA" accompanied by a
rattliug sound not unlike that made
by castanets, thrilled on the air,
When we arrived at this scene ol
nocturnal revelry We found two In.
dians lying in the sand beside q fire
which might have been carried of
on q good sized dinner plate. They
were perfectly naked with the ex-
ception of their breech clouts and a
slip of calico over them which
barely reached up to their waists.
One of the two had child's rattle
in his hand, and he was accom-
panying their joint song by vig-
orous shaking. The line "pleased
with rattle and tickled with a
straw" required to our mind as we
contemplated these children or na-
ture. They lie thus in the sand all
night, however cold the weather.
When 1t becomes exceedingly cold
they get up and build q little more
fire, scatter its ashes about and
"snugger' down in the heated sand,
literally keeping the fire warm.
The curious part of the whole thing
Is that these people never have
coughs, catarrhs, bronchitis, or any
of the thousand ills that civilized
alias pampered flesh is heir to. II
is little comical, nevertheless, to
see them get up in the early morn
Ing and go round bent forward from
the excessive cold. The first rays
of the morning sun, though, warm
them into jocund life again and
they are ready for their unendipg,
vacant and purely animal routine.