The Natural History of the Varieties of ManLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Science
The Natural History of the Varieties of Man
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Ethnology
"At the settlement of the Pimos, we were at once impressed with the
beauty and order of the arrangements for irrigating and draining the
land. Corn, wheat, and cotton are the crops of this peaceful and
intelligent race of people. At the time of our visit, all the crops had
been gathered in, and the stubble showed that they had been luxuriant.
The cotton had been picked and stacked for drying in the sheds. The
fields are sub-divided by ridges of earth into rectangles of about
200 feet by 100, for the convenience of irrigation. The fences are of
sticks wattled with willow and mezquite, and in this particular give
an example of economy in agriculture worthy to be followed by the
Mexicans, who never use fences at all.
"The dress of the Pimos consists of a cotton _serape_, of native
manufacture, and a breech cloth. Their hair is worn long and clubbed
up behind. They have but few cattle, and these are used in tillage.
They possess a few horses and mules, which are prized very highly.
They were found very ready to barter, which they did with entire good
faith. Capt. Johnson relates that when his party first came to the
village they asked for bread, offering to pay for the same. The bread
was furnished by the Pimos, but they would receive no return, saying,
'Bread is to eat, not to sell; take what you want.'
"'Their houses,' says Lieut. Emory, 'were dome-shaped structures of
wicker-work, about six feet high, and from twenty to sixty feet in
diameter, thatched with straw or corn-stalks. In front is usually
a large arbour, on top of which is piled the cotton in the pod for
drying. In the houses were stored water-melons, pumpkins, beans, corn,
and wheat, the three articles last named usually in large baskets;
sometimes these baskets were covered with earth and placed on the tops
of the domes. A few chickens and dogs were seen, but no other domestic
animals except horses, mules, and oxen. Their implements of husbandry
were the axe (of steel, and obtained through the Mexicans), wooden
hoes, shovels, and harrows. The soil is so easily pulverized as to make
the plough unnecessary.'
"Among their manufactures is a substance which they call _pinole_. It
is the heart of Indian corn, baked, ground up, and mixed with sugar.
When dissolved in water it is very nutritious, and affords a delicious
beverage. Their molasses, put up in large jars, hermetically sealed, is
expressed from the fruit of the pitahaya.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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