d the Morning and the
Evening Star. The Great Dipper is of no special interest to them. Near
Guachochic the Tarahumares plant corn in accordance with the positions
of the stars with reference to the sun. They say if the sun and the
stars are not equal the year will be bad; but when the stars last
long the year will be good. In 1891, the sun "travelled slowly,"
and the stars "travelled quickly," and in June they had already
"disappeared." Therefore the Tarahumares predicted that their crops
would be below the average, which came true. On June 3d I asked an
Indian how much longer the sun would travel on, and he told me that
it ought not to be more than fifteen days. The Tarahumares are reputed
to be good weather prophets among the Mexicans, who frequently consult
them upon the prospects of rain. The Indians judge from the colour of
the sun when he rises as to whether there will be rain that day. If the
crescent of the moon is lying horizontally, it is carrying much water;
but when it stands up straight, it brings nothing. This belief is
shared by the Mexicans. When the moon is full and has "a ring around,"
she is dancing on her patio. At the period of the dark moon she is
dead, but will return after three days. Eclipses are explained as
collisions between the sun and the moon on the road, when they fight.

The Tarahumare men make bows and arrows, and in the central part of
the country are great hunters and clever at shooting. The fore-shaft of
their arrows is made of palo hediondo, a wood used also in the making
of needles. But the people living near the pueblo of Panalachic and
the Barranca de Cobre are poor shots, and their favourite weapon is
the axe. The boys still play with slings, which not so long ago were
used for killing squirrels. A club with a stone (Spanish, _macana_)
is said to have been formerly in common use. The grandfathers of the
present generation of Nararachic had flint-tipped arrows. The Indians
also know how to prepare excellent buckskin. They peg the hide on the
ground and leave it for three days, and when it is sufficiently dry
the hair is scraped off with a knife. It is then smeared over with
the brain of the animal and hung up in the sun for four days. The
next step is to wash it well in warm water in a wooden trough. Then
it is well kneaded, and two people taking hold of it draw it out of
the water and stretch it well between them. It is dried again and is
then tanned with the crushed bark of th