very expert in catching ground squirrels by intercepting them
when away from their burrows, and when the Indians drown them out
in the early spring by turning water from the flooded streams
into their holes.

As far as can be learned, dogs were about the only domestic
animals which the Yosemites, and other adjacent tribes of
Indians, kept for use before the country was settled by the white
people.


NUTS AND BERRIES.

Pine nuts were another important article of food, and were much
prized by the Indians. They are very palatable and nutritious,
and are also greatly relished by white people whenever they can
be obtained. The seeds of the Digger or nut pine (_Pinus
Sabiniana_) were the ones most used on the western side of the
Sierras, although the seeds of the sugar pine (_P. Lambertiana_)
were also sometimes eaten. On account of their soft shell, nuts
from the pinon pine (_P. monophylla_), which grows principally on
the eastern side of the mountains, were considered superior to
either of the other kinds, and were an important article of
barter with the tribes of that region. All of these trees are
very prolific, and their crop of nuts in fruitful years has been
estimated to be even greater than the enormous wheat crop of
California, although of course but a very small portion of it is
ever gathered. Many other kinds of nuts and seeds were also
eaten.