Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-04-20

In beautiful valley Of the great Sier-
"a AIadre mountains, in ,old Mexico, lives
enc Of the strangest tribes of IL entire
continent-the Quincas These people
are neither Aztecs. Mexicans nor Indi-
ans. though their neighbors call them
"white Indians" They speak of them
selves as Quincas, and their only village
ia called Guinea Ma 1t Is said that there
are aot more than 1000 of them, and
they assert that they have occupied the
same locality for many centuries, though
they have a tradition that their ancestors
ht some remote period dwelt near great
salt sea, and in proof of this fact they
show visitors a small collection of shells
carefully preserved in their only temple.
These people are nearly white, and 1t is
rare that the traveller upon meeting
one OF them is not greeted by a friendly
look out OF O pair of pleasing blue eyes.
BY many persons who have made SUI
perficial acquaintance with the racial
characteristic and customs of this tribe
they have been regarded as Albino Zunis.
A little investigation soon convinces one
that they have no relationship whatever
with these peculiar people. Their eyes
are not pinkish or weak, like the Albinos',
nor is their hair of the same color or tex
ture. They are sun worshipers, says the
New York Press, but they do not prnc-
tice any of the hideous and repulsive rites
requiring the use Of reptiles peculiar to
the Zunis of New Mexico. They are dis
tingiiished for their hospitality to stran-
gers and for their love of peace and good
morals Grimes that are so common
among people of higher civilization are
entirely unknown to them and 1t is said
that their simple lnws are rarely vio-
lated.
I They are the pets of the Mexican gov
eminent from the fact that they are ever
ready to pay nny tax imposed upon them
without the least protest. When an as
sessment Is made. the chief simply asks
how much his people have to pay. and
when the amount Is stated he replies,
ION the third day my young men will
bring you the money In the yellow dust,
IL it Is the will of our God and our Fa-
ther who shines above u.s." Every inn
portant matter always is deferred for
three days. to give TO their priests time
to consult with their God. as they say
but the Mexicans say that the delay is 10
give to the chief men of the tribe an op-
portunity. to go to their secret gold mine
and get the necessary dust. AT any time
they can get any amount of gold dust,
but no man outside of the tribe has ever
been able to discover the locality. Many
efforts have been made by government
officials, private individuals and robbers
to induce these people TO reveal the
source from which they so easily obtain
such large sums in gold dust, but they
i cpn neither be moved by the hope of
the greatest rewards or the fear Of the
most horrible torture,
II is hardly probable that all of the
people are familiar with the important
tribal secret Those who are best ac-
quainted. with the manners and customs
of the Quincas think that only the priests
and perhaps the head chief OF the tribe
know where the gold comes from. Ex-
perienced prospectors who have explored
carefully the Sierra Madres in the vicin-
ity OF Guinea Ma say that It Is one of
TIE greatest mineral regions on the con-
Nncnt. buV they never are able to find
any paying placer deposits, though rich
float quartz IL abundant, and more OF
Iesa gold dust can be panned out from al
most every little eulch in the mountains.
For the last two or three centuries the
Quineas have dwelt in peace. They have