unities in the Territory contain
representatives of the Penitentes order, which is peculiar by reason of
the self-flagellations inflicted by its members in excess of pietistic
zeal. Unlike their ilk of India, they do not practice self-torture for
long periods, but only upon a certain day in each year. Then, stripped
to the waist, these poor zealots go chanting a dolorous strain, and
beating themselves unsparingly upon the back with the sharp-spined
cactus, or soap-weed, until they are a revolting sight to look upon.
Often they sink from the exhaustion of long-sustained suffering and loss
of blood. One of the ceremonies among these peculiar people is the
bearing of a huge cross of heavy timber for long distances. Martyrs to
conscience and religious devotees frequently carry crosses of immense
weight for miles, and are watched eagerly by crowds of excited
spectators. The man who carries this fanatacism to the greatest length
is the hero of the day, and receives the appointment of Chief of the
Ceremonies for the following year.

Ceremonies such as these point to the extreme antiquity of the people,
and seem to indicate that they must have been descended from tribes
which were prominent in biblical narrative. According to many able
historians, people have resided in this part of the world for at least
twelve hundred years. In other words, when Columbus and Americus
Vespucius discovered and explored the new world or portions of it, these
peculiar people had been living on the then mysterious continent for the
greater part of a thousand years.

According to some authorities these people are aboriginal. According to
others, they migrated from some distant clime. The antiquity of China is
well known, and there is good reason to believe that the Moquis and
Zunis have sprung from Chinese voyagers, or perhaps pirates, who,
hundreds of years ago, were wrecked on the western shores of America.
Another theory is, that on the occasion of one of the numerous
expulsions or emigrations from China, a band of Mongolians turned
northward and came into America by crossing the Behring Strait.

Other antiquarians think that Morocco, rather than China, was the
original home of these races. The traveler is much struck with the
resemblance between the habits and customs of the Moors and of some of
the old established tribes of New Mexico. In dress and architecture the
Moorish idea certainly prevails very prominently. The white toga and the
pic