The scene at the Bávispe River was wonderfully picturesque. Sit down on this flat rock and feast your eyes upon the silver waves flashing in the sun. Don’t scare that little girl who is about to give her baby brother a much-needed bath. The little dusky brat--all eyes--is looking furtively at you and ready to bawl if you draw nearer. Opposite are two old crones filling _ollas_ (jugs or jars) of basket-work, rendered fully water-proof by a coating of either mesquite or piñon pitch. Alongside of them are two others, who are utilizing the entrails of a cow for the same purpose. The splash and yell on your right, as you correctly divine, come from an Apache “Tom Sawyer,” who will one day mount the gallows. The friendly greeting and request for “tobacco shmoke” are proffered by one of the boys, who has kindly been eating a big portion of your meals for several days past, and feels so friendly toward you that he announces himself in a pleasant, off-hand sort of way as your “_Sikisn_” (brother). Behind you are grouped Apache scouts, whose heads are encircled with red flannel bandages, and whose rifles and cartridges are never laid aside. Horses and mules plunge belly-deep into the sparkling current; soldiers come and go, some to drink, some to get buckets filled with water, and some to soak neck, face, and hands, before going back to dinner. [Illustration: APACHE BASKET-WORK.] In this camp we remained several days. The old and young squaws had cut and dried large packages of “jerked” beef, and had brought down from the hill-sides donkey-loads of mescal heads, which were piled in ovens of hot stones covered with wet grass and clay. The process of roasting, or rather steaming, mescal takes from three to four days, and resembles somewhat the mode of baking clams in New England. The Apache scouts passed the time agreeably enough in gambling with the Chiricahuas, whom they fleeced unmercifully, winning hundreds of dollars in gold, silver, and paper at the games of _monte_, _conquien_, _tzi-chis_, and _mushka_. The attractive pools of the Bávispe wooed groups of white soldiers and packers, and nearly the whole strength of the Chiricahua women and children, who disported in the refreshing waters with the agility and grace of nereids and tritons. The modesty of the Apaches of both sexes, under all circumstances, is praiseworthy.