New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-23
AN ANCIENT LAND.

MR.. LUMMIs's STUDIES IN NEW-MEXICO.
THE LAND OF POGO TEMPO, BY Charles sr =;
Scribners Sons.
What Professor Boulder lacks in the way OF
popular treatment of Southwestern antiquities.
Mr. Lummis supplies. II his lively way OF writ
ing at times awakens distrust, confidence Is re-
newed by the discovery that he is closely FOL-
lowing the patient Archaeological who has almost
created anew the history of the Southwest AS
70 the past population Of the regions still IN
habited by the Pueblo Indians as to the legend
Of the golden city of Quivira. as to the migra-
tons Of the aborigines. he adopts without ques-
ton the theories which Boudelier has raised
upon the foundation laid by Morgan One would
think that his brilliant and forcibe essays on
1.-The Cities That Were Forgotten would lay for
ever the ghost of Quivira. which stalks now not
merely in New Mexico but through fantastic
lamentations in Kansas and Nebraska but
probably II will not. Superstition is immortal
Truth" IN the graphic phrase of Mr. Luminis
"crushed to earth never rises again with nan
the alacrity of error" He traces again the
march Of Coronado from Santa Fe to the valley
of the Missouri. and pictures anew his disap-
pointment at finding only collection OF Wig
vans where he had thought TO find city.
Then he unravels some of the later winnings
of the legend, and shows how 1t has been located
again In New-Mexico by unwearied treasure
hunters He describes the ruins OF Ado, Cuarla
and Tabira once populous villages of the Pueblos
south of the present city Of Albuquerque These
are the forgotten cities depopulated by Apache
raids after the middle Of the seventeenth century,
which have now become the theme OF an i'm
oosinp legend The insanity Of the treasure
hunters is shown by the number of shafts that
have been sunk in the living rock In the effort
to find buried wealth. OF course the story Is
mixed up now with the extremely late invention
about Montezuma's hidden gold
Though no such treasure can be In existence
either above ground or beneath 1t as has been
imagined yet the Pueblo Indians are FAR from
poor Mr.. Lumms enumerates their possessions
IN land and houses and dress and jewels. The
ordinary dress at home of Pueblo woman, ne
thinks is worth not less than s25. and her festal
attire vastly more. They are not merely rich
IN material things but they are also rich in an
immemorial folklore. in mythology as varied
as that of the classic nations. They have
philosophy Of their own and tradition OF which
they are proud Mr.. Lummis's admiration Tor
their persons and their minds Is great. He de-
scribes fully their footraces and their solemn
dances He gives a minute account of Acoma as
the most won 1erful example Of their skill In the
choice Of an impregnable site for their CONNER
cial dwelling and of their untiring energy IN the
work of making themselves home. Then. by
his description of the Apache warrior ana hls
narrative of the last struggle between the
Apaches and the Government troops, he Illus
frates Indirectly the character of the foe VINO Tor
ages kept the Pueblos studying self-defence
The most remarkable among the papers or this
volume recurs TO topic which Mr.. Lummis mas
made specifically his own. 1t was he who hrst
made known the practices of the fagellants OF
New-Mexico. Here is a chapter in American lie
which is thoroughly medieval. Imagine people
who scourge themselves till the blood runs
down to their heels, who bind bundles or thorny
cacti on their backs crown themselves with
tborns. submit to be crucifed, and subject them
selves to torture3 such they imagine are
characteristic of purgatory, all for the sake of
,~piating their sins The Catholic Church frowns
upon thenl but they are not to be Withdrawn
from their horrid penances Yet there Is wthal
something worldly in their self-torture, for Mr..
Ilummis persuaded the procession to hait with
all its thorns and crosses to be photographed,
and even turned his camera on the crucfxion.
In former DAYS women took part in these ex-
piatory torments. Now only men engage in
them The victim was once actually nailed 10
the cross: now he is only bound to It, but so
tightly that the circulation Of the blood Is
stopped. The Indians have been familiar from
time immemorial with the system Of vicarious
punishment. Chosen ones are obliged to suffer
for the tribe. But the Pententes appear to be
survival of European rather than American
superstition. In the face Of this medieval
cruelty, it is no wonder that the author speaks
of New-Mexico as II 1t were portion OF the
world left behind. In the attractions as well as
the revolving things of its social life this quaint
antiquity is observable. 1t sweetens the popular
songs which form the subject Of one of the
chapters in the book. infects the very sunlight
on the adobe walls, and expresses itself most
thoroughly, as the author thinks. in the patient
diminutive donkey that bears all the burdens
Of the people.