Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1895-05-23
the near approach of death, or when
too old to continue in office.

Too Old 10 continue IN 6fiice.
i At the instant Of sunrise as th
first CLINT of light falls upon thl
sacred feathers by the wasted pool
the devotees leap forward in tn,
mad race for the keva or the mesa
a mile distant, rising 500 feet from
the valley at the summit of rug
ged and tortuous trail.
| 1t is feat that no athlete of civ.
iiization would dare to undertake
under the same condition. Fol
four days these men hare tasted,
Only the energy of their faith nervss
them b the effort, ana tie weakeiIl
even Of these falls sometimes by
the wayside exhausted, swooning,
dying.
1t is q race with the sun. His
fiery lances must not strike the lin
tells of the keva portal before the
children of the Great Serpent fall
prostrate at the entrance. To see
these men enter the village, strain
ing every muscle, with haggard
faces drawn by the agony of their
terrible exertion, their hair afloat
on the winds of their swift move
men., their lips flecked with the
spume of glands that flow for lack
OF strengthening sustenance-to
look upon this heroic, terrifying
spectacle is TO recall the fables Of
the ancient Greeks when men fed
at headlong pace from the wrath of
hideous monsters pursuing to des-
troy.
Now a space is cleared at the edge
OF the village, and everything is in
readiness for the weird ceremony.
Here on the last occasion when the
rite was performed 900 Indians as
sembled around the boske, shrine
built of cottonwood branches in q
circular form, with a curtain at the
entrance, and within which was
placed the jars containing the
snakes previously gathered.
Already Ba-lu-lu-kong began to
awake. Clouds had lifted along
the horizon and vaporous banners
fioated from the battlemants nf tiA
Suddenly IL men Of the Antelope
order emerged from their keva,
marching in single file to the boske.
Circling the open space they lined
up with their backs to the shrine,
while the chief priests sprinkled
them with consecrated water from
the tip of the sacred eagle feather.
These men wore the sacred blanket
of the Moquis around their loins,
dark-red moccasins on their feet, q
bunch of corn husks tied to each
arm above the elbow and eagle feath-
ers in their hair; each carried a
white-painted gourd rattle in his
right hand. Their bodies were
painted black with white streaks
coiled and sinuous like the snakes
they were about to loose.
Then came 13 members of the
Snake order in single file, the chief
priest carrying q sack containing
the reptiles, which he deposited in
the boske. The Snakes halted,
facing the Antelopes at distance
of about IL feet. They wore dark
red sheepskin aprons, with mocca-
sins, feathers and corn husks; their
faces we're painted black and their
bodies streaked with yellow-un-
lovely creatures and terrifying to
look upon.
Five of the Snakes stepped to the
rear; eight formed in single file,
facing to the right and marching to
the left, led by boy s years old.
At the door of the boske they halted.
Here the boy put his right hand
in the sack and drew forth a snake,
rattler 5 feet long and girthed like
the fetlock of q wild horse. THE
boy attempted to hold the serpeut
with his teeth four inches back oi
the head, and he made several Of
forts before he could open hil
mouth wide enough. The fold o!
the snake was over the boys lef
arm.
As soon as he had good grip OF
the snake the march end chan
were resumed. The snake-carrie
helped the momentum of his foo
with a quick jerk toward the left o
the closed right hand; the msr. be
hind him placed his left hand Of
the snake-carrier's left shonlde
near the snakes head, and with
few eagle feathers in his right han