El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-28

but one room and the entrance is low
and small like that Of the Eskimo
igIOO. The houses are circular ana
they are made of stone with thatched
roofs. The idols are kept in caves IN
the hills.
These people make beautiful blan-
Ilets and they do fine embroidery They
have many queer customs. Marriages
are made by the parents The babes
do not creep, but they crawl about on
all fOurs like q mOnk-y until they are
able to stand.
Not far from the Huicholes live the
Coras, of whom only about 300 remain.
These indians claim to have come from
the east and they look not unlike kC-
reans They have features much like
the Anglo SaNOns and they consider
themselves better than the other tribes
about
The COras nary at Is, ard the wO-
men keep their beauty Ions time, al
though their lives are very unsanitary.
Their houses have no ventilation ana
they bury their dead in caves
Among the Tarascans.
Frederick Starr estimates that theEs
are still a quarter OF a million Of pure
Tarascan indians in Mexico Many OF
these people are found about lake ratZ-
CuarO, IN the state OF A1clOacan, where
was once situated TZuntZinZOuU, a great
TaraScan city. The name sounds like
Chinese. This town was visited by the
Spaniards in 1922, and they wrote Of its
civilization and arts. They told of the
wonderful feather work for which the
people are noted today, of their mother
of pearl and bone carvings, and Of their
skill in enamellng-
Here was again seen a similarity be
tween the Mexican indian and the Chin
csc. In southern China is produced a
kind Of bird wing enamel in which the
wings of the bluejay and humming
bird are employed. The TarasCans do
much the same work getting their ma
terials from the humming birds of
Mexico, of which there are so different
kinds, having feathers Of every shape
and color, running from sea green 10
emerald and from straw color to
fiery red
The TaraScans have a tradition which
corresponds to our deluge. Their Noah
was called Tespi, and when the floods
came he made great boat and filled
it with animals and birds. As the wa
tiers subsidized he sent forth a vulture.
but it remained away, feeding on the
dead bodies which then covered the
highlands Finally a humming bird
was sent forth, and it came back with
a leaf in its mouth
Queer Customs Of Love and Marriage.
hear strange stories about the mar
rage customs Of these indians. They
are said to believe in love charms, and
think the dried little finger of dead
man VIII surely bring luck 1t takes
the place Of the rabbit foot Of the
south Near lake PatzcuarO the chief
place of cOurtShip, is at the spring. and
the lover watches for his sweetheart TO
go there to bring water. When he sees
her he catches hold Of her rebosa or
shawl, and refuses TO let so until she
says yes. If she does SO, he smashes
the Jar Of water which she has on her
head, so that IL falls over her, and her
girl friends thereupOn give her a new
jar with which she can carry the water
home. The next day the man takes a
load Of wood to the door Of his sweet
hearts home, and If this is accepted the
match is complete She then comes to
his house, and he gives her a bOquet Of
yellow flowers, which color is supposed
to bring luck.