he dark-coloured variety,
called in the Queres language _ka monyi tza_. Ears of this corn
belonging to a witch are said to speak in the absence of their owner,
and to tell of her whereabouts and doings. Shotaye knew this, and
herself but indifferently versed in the black art, concluded that the
black corn would also reveal, if properly handled, the agent whose
manipulations caused Say Koitza's sufferings. She hoped also that by
combining the dreaded grain with another more powerful implement of
sorcery, owl's plumage, she would succeed in eliciting from the former
all the information desired. The woman was quite ignorant of the evil
ways in which she was about to wander; but she was bold and daring, and
the hope of injuring her enemies was a greater inducement than the
desire to relieve her friend. The proposed manipulation was directed in
fact much more against her former husband than against the disease.

But how to obtain the necessary objects! How to secure black corn, and
how and where to get the feathers of an owl! Both were so well known and
so generally tabooed that inquiry after them would forthwith arouse
suspicion. Black maize might be procured on the sly; but the other could
be found by chance only,--by meeting with the body of a dead owl on the
heights surrounding the Tyuonyi.

Shotaye was in the habit of strolling alone all around the Rito, over
the timbered mesa as well as through the gorges which descend from the
mountains. On such excursions the woman observed the most minute
precautions, for there was danger,--danger from roaming Indians of the
Navajo or Dinne tribe, and danger from spies of her own tribe.
Frequently people had followed stealthily in the hope of surprising her
at some illicit practice, but she had been lucky enough to notice them
in time. Of what is called to-day the mesa del Rito, the high table-land
bordering the Tyuonyi on the south, Shotaye knew every inch of ground,
every tree and shrub.

On a clear, cool November day she strolled again in that direction,
climbing the heights and penetrating into the scrubby timber,
interspersed with tall pines, which covers the plateau for miles. To her
delight she discovered the remains of an owl at no great distance from
the declivity of the Rito beneath a rotten pine. Instead of picking up
the carcass she kicked it aside disdainfully, but took good care to
notice whither so as to remember the place. It landed on a juniper-bush
and remained