smoking-tobacco to give away he finds frequent opportunities to bestow
his gifts. The children ask for "canty," the women want "matchi," and
the men are pleased with a "smoke."

On the morning of the dance both the men and women give their hair an
extra washing by using a mixture of water and crushed soap-root. The
white fibers of the soap-root get mixed with the hair, which gives it a
tinge of iron gray. The children also get a bath which, because of the
great scarcity of water, is not of daily occurrence.

To the Moquis the snake dance is a serious and solemn affair, but to
the visitors it is apt to be an occasion for fun and frolic. Owing to
a misunderstanding of its true meaning, and because of misconduct in
the past on similar occasions, notice is posted on the Kiva asking
visitors to abstain from loud laughing and talking. In other words it
is a polite request made by the rude red man of his polished (?) white
brother to please behave himself.

The dance begins late in the afternoon and lasts less than one hour,
but while it is in progress the action is intense. The snakes are
carried in a bag or jar from the Kiva to the Kisa, built of cotton-wood
boughs on one side of the plaza, where the snakes are banded out to the
dancers. After much marching and countermarching about the plaza,
chanting weird songs and shaking rattles, the column of snake priests,
dressed in a fantastic garb of paint, fur and feathers, halts in front
of the Kisa and breaks up into groups of three.

The carrier takes a snake from the Kisa puts it in his mouth, and
carries it there while dancing. Some of the more ambitious young men
will carry two or more of the smaller snakes at the same time. The
hugger throws his left arm over the shoulder of the carrier and with
his right hand fans the snake with his feather whip. The gatherer
follows after and picks up the snakes as they fall to the ground.

After the snakes have all been danced they are thrown into a heap and
sprinkled with sacred corn meal by the young women. The scattering of
the meal is accompanied by a shower of spittle from the spectators, who
are stationed on, convenient roofs and ladders viewing the ceremony.
Fleet runners now catch up the snakes in handfuls and dash off in an
exciting race over the mesa and down rocky trails to the plains below
where the snakes are returned unharmed to their native haunts.

While the men are away disposing of the reptiles the wome