amber that is
cut out of the solid rock, and is entered by a ladder. It has but a
single opening on top on a level with the street, which serves as door,
window and chimney. The room is only used by the men, and is, in fact,
a lodge room, where the members of the several secret orders meet and
engage in their solemn ceremonials. It is a sacred place, a holy of
holies, which none but members of a lodge may enter, and is carefully
guarded.

The snakes used in the dance are all wild, and captured out on the open
plain. Four days prior to the dance the snake men, dressed in scanty
attire and equipped with their snake-capturing paraphernalia, march out
in squads and scour the surrounding country in search of snakes. One
day each is spent in searching the ground towards the four points of
the compass, in the order of north, west, south and east, returning at
the close of each day with their catch to the Kiva, where the snakes
are kept and prepared for the dance. The snakes caught are of several
varieties, but much the largest number are rattlesnakes. Respect is
shown for serpents of every variety and none are ever intentionally
harmed, but the rattlesnake is considered the most sacred and is
proportionately esteemed. Its forked tongue represents lightning, its
rattle thunder and its spots rain-clouds. The number of snakes they
find is surprising, as they catch from one to two hundred during the
four days' hunt on ground that might be carefully searched by white men
for months without finding a single reptile.

The snake men are very expert in catching and handling serpents, and
are seldom bitten. If one is bitten it is nothing serious, as they
have a secret medicine which they use that is both prophylactic and
curative, and makes them immune to the poison so that no harm ever
results from a bite. The medicine is taken internally and also applied
locally. Efforts have been made to discover its composition but
without success. If a snake is located which shows fight by the act of
coiling it is tickled with a snake-whip made of eagle's feathers, which
soon soothes its anger and causes it to uncoil and try to run away. It
is then quickly and safely caught up and dropped from the hand into a
bag carried for that purpose.

Visitors who attend the dance are under no restrictions, but are free
to come and go as they please, either sightseeing or in search of
curios. If the visitor has a supply of candy, matches and