aracter of the country surrounding them, as well as its
aridity, furnishes ample sources from which a barbarous people would
derive legendary and mythologic history. A brief reference to these
features is necessary to understand more fully the religious phases of
Zuni child life.

Three miles east of the Pueblo of Zuni is a conspicuously beautiful
mesa, of red and white sandstone, t[=o]-w[=a]-yael laen-ne (corn
mountain). Upon this mesa are the remains of the old village of Zuni.
The Zuni lived during a long period on this mesa, and it was here that
Coronado found them in the sixteenth century. Tradition tells that
they were driven by a great flood from the site they now occupy, which
is in the valley below the mesa, and that they resorted to the mesa
for protection from the rising waters. The waters rose to the very
summit of the mesa, and to appease the aggressive element a human
sacrifice was necessary. A youth and a maiden, son and daughter of two
priests, were thrown into this ocean. Two great pinnacles, which have
been carved from the main mesa by weathering influences, are looked
upon by the Zuni as the actual youth and maiden converted into stone,
and are appealed to as "father" and "mother." Many of the Zuni legends
and superstitions are associated with this mesa, while over its summit
are spread the extensive ruins of the long ago deserted village.
There are in many localities, around its precipitous sides and walls,
shrines and groups of sacred objects which are constantly resorted
to by different orders of the tribe. Some of the most interesting of
these are the most inaccessible. When easy of approach they are in
such secluded spots that a stranger might pass without dreaming of
the treasures within his reach. On the western side of this mesa
are several especially interesting shrines. About half way up the
acclivity on the west side an overhanging rock forms the base of one
of the pinnacles referred to. This rock is literally honeycombed
with holes, from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter. I
visited the spot in the fall of 1884, with Professors E.B. Tylor and
H.N. Moseley, of Oxford, England, and Mr. G.K. Gilbert, of the United
States Geological Survey. These gentlemen could not determine whether
the tiny excavations were originally made by human hands or by some
other agency. The Indian's only answer when questioned was, "They
belong to the old; they were made by the gods." Hundreds of these