Morning journal and courier., 1882-01-25
The Digger Indians.

When California was first invaded by the crowd of gold diggers in 1S49, beyond the few thousands who had collected round the Spanish missions in Lower California, and were in state of the most abject subjection to and dependence on the priests, there must have roamed over the wide region more than 100, 900 Indians, living in state of freedom and of nature, as complete as the elk, sn- teiope or sage rabbit, which furnished their then by no means precarious ivei- hood. 4 head-dress of feathers, with scanty coat of paint on his face, was the full dress of a brave, while fringe of bark or grass suspended from her waist furnished a complete wardrobe for his squaw. To this day the males go naked during the sum- mer, if livirg at a distance from the whites sThe men have no beard, this being plucked out by the squaw with 8 couple of shells as soon as it appears. They all wear ornaments in the ears-or at least did. The children had theirs bored at an early age, larger and larger pieces of stick being inserted until the aperture was capable of taking in one of the larger bones of pelican's wing-fye or six inches long, carved in rude style, and deco rated at the end with crimson feathers-which is worn permanently. The back hair of the men is fastened up in net, and made fast by a pin of wood pushed through both hair and net, the large end being ornamented with crimson feathers obtained from the head of the ''carpentere" woodpecker, and sometimes; also, with the tall feathers of an eagle Ths women, before the advent of the whites, wore no hair nets or ornaments. Before being corrupted by the rude gold diggers and lum- bermen, they were not a bad kind of people on the whole. The men were treachsrous,
 but-unless i'll l-treated-harmless enough, and the girls frank and even confding-perhaps quite much as young grizzly bears. But then the men always were ill-treated, and the children could scarcely be expected to be very confding to a paleface, when from infancy a white man was the bug bear used to frighten them into submission to the maternal will A California boy could no more tell you when he first learned to swim than he could say when he remembered to have first walked. The boy has a bow and
 arrow put into his hand as soon as he can use them; while girls learn to weave blank cts and make bread of acorns. They are much more familiar with the points of the compass than their northern neighbors. If a | ball or an arrow is lost, instead of searching
 about in all directions for it, the one who saw it fall will say, "To the east; little
 north now three steps northeast, and so on. Even in the darkest night an Indian ! will fetch water from a spring, by follow l ing the directions of a companion who
 had been there previously Three hundred | steps east and twenty north" They are ex- cellent trackers of game, and say it is impos- sible to mistake a white mans foot, even il
 bare, for it is deformed by the pressure ot
 boots or shoes while the Indians foot
 never trammeled by any such foot-gear, i,
 so formed that he can use his toes to holc | arrows whilst he is making them. They
 roam about from place to place, ss the at 1 fractions of game or other food may incline,
 and hence are generally well acquainted witi
 a wide range of country.-From "Ihe Peo
 ples Qf the World" 9y Dr. Robert BrotoH.