The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-05-18

Ihfse Ainis arc an agricultural people.
Ihey never Seem to have taken any part
in wy, and this may account for their
survival over their more oparrelsome
nelgnieoIs. They dig in the ground for
theIr nylng, and they never lack for the
necessitles Of life. They do not depend
on rains, which are uncertain and far
betW,qen IN that country; but irrigation
iurnl4hes a reliable and Sufficient mois-
ture, The little streams that flow down
the valley are fed from melting SHOWS
in me ranges OF mountains, 10 be seen
in the distance. Thus, there is no fail
ure q crops on account Of drouth.
So lar as Icould see the work Of irri-
CATION Is done entirely by hand, no
horses being used for blowing the land
or exeayating the bitches that lead the
water where tbs needed. The land Is
highly cultivated, being like an immense
garden. The work, considering that it
is done by hand, without the use OF ma
chtnefy, Is enormous. The beds and
ridges Tor thevegetables are constructed
with hultless accuracy. Although these
Zunis are uneducated, yet the finest
scholar in the world could not lay of
the gardens with closer observance of
the principles Of geometry. The lines
are iauluess. The proportions are I'M
surpassed. Here and there / saw other
figures beside straight lines. In two or
three places the irrigation bitches had
been constructed so that the system
formed figure like o spread four. Why
these simple people had done this /
do not know. Certainly they did not
understand the mathematical principles
underlying the concentric curves which
they made. But they could not have
done better had they possessed the
learning OF Legendre. They are clearly
people who have some appreciation OF
the beautiful, They try to reach GER
tain perfection in their handiwork.
Even the ungainly monsters painted on
their Eases we're an honest effort to pro-
duCe spmething pleasing to the eye.
Their work is well done, but in some
thingd they proceed in an awkward
mOnnAr. was amused to watch them
digging in their gardens. Their hoes
are bought from white men. They use
no agricultural implement but a hoe, SO
far as | saw. In digging, they lift the
hoe into the air as high as they can
swing 1t and then bringi it down with
all their might. This may be the best
plan but looks awkward. Once in q
while Zlni splashes mud on his white
clothes; he Immediately stops digging,
and with his finger nail carefully
scratches the mud of, then resumes
work agains
When ], had passed out Of sight of the
Zuni gardens the country lapsed into a
desert. It was not entirely barren, as q
few weeds grew here and there. i saw
q few cattle feeding in the upper valley.
Whether they belonged to the natives
or to white men / do not know. On
either side of the valley was q range OF
barren hills, and still beyond doomed
the Offering peaks of the snowy noun
tains, whence came the water that nour-
ished the gardens about the towns be-
low. The valley, however, was here
desOlate, and one would not guess that
it once was a garden of luxury, equal to,
| il not surprising thoseI had passed
through the day before in the lower
valley. I had not expected to find
further trace OF man in that unearthly
region. which had now little to claim
the attention of the traveller, except Its
deathly stiffness and its cliffs Of black
lava which rose like walls on either
hand, mile or two in the distance.
But ii seems that even this lonely
region was once different from what we
find it now. AS I passed along, wading
almost waist deep in the fallen and half.
dead stalks OF cactus and NORWOOD
that covered the ground, / stumbled
into arl old canal. Near by were Others;
and little examination revealed the
fact thit the whole upper end OF the
valley was net work OF canals and
sluicesy marking the site OF ancient gar
dens.
The little stream of water that now
creeps along at the base Of the volcanic
cliff wds probably the source from which
these lands were irrigated in that fa1
time. How long ago that has been !
cannot guess. The whole system oil
canals Is now fallen to ruin, and so over.
grown with desert thorns that ! might
have Never known OF the bitches and
dikes IL / had not stumbled into them,
/ NATURALLY concluded that there was
the ruihs of a town somewhere near
and / Examined the hills on both sides
OF the falley, but could find no ruins,
u wos hificult to explore the valley on
I accom- Of the cactus that grew in 1t,
The thjTns on it we're like tishhooksi
bent and twisted, and these catching
the clothes rendered progress slow.
PerIldps no amount Of research and
exploration would ever bring to light
much knowledge concerning the people
who dgelt here in ancient times. They
left no written records. Their history
is a blank. They came from the un;
known and passed to the unknown, and
their dot prints as they went is all that
remains to tell us Of the mysterious
people who dwelt ages ago in the land
Of the Zunis. H'M