drives the ponies and cattle, the former a degenerate lot of little
beasts not much larger than an ass, but capable of carrying a man in
an emergency 100 miles in a day. He carries his arms, for the coyotes
trouble the sheep at night, two or three blankets, and a buckskin on
his saddle, but nothing more. It is his special duty to keep the ponies
moving and in the trail. Following him comes a flock of sheep and goats,
bleating and nibbling at the bushes and grass as they slowly trot along,
urged by the dust-begrimed squaw and her children. Several of the more
tractable ponies carry packs of household effects stuffed into buckskin
and cotton bags or wrapped in blankets, a little corn for food, the rude
blanket loom of the woman, baskets, and wicker bottles, and perhaps a
scion of the house, too young to walk, perched on top of all. Such a
caravan is always accompanied by several dogs--curs of unknown breed,
but invaluable aids to the women and children in herding the flocks.

Under the Navaho system descent is in the female line. The children
belong to the mother, and likewise practically all property except
horses and cattle. Sheep and goats belong exclusively to her, and the
head of the family can not sell a sheep to a passing traveler without
first obtaining the consent and approval of his wife. Hence in such a
movement as that sketched above the flocks are looked after by the
women, while under normal circumstances, when the family has settled
down and is at home, the care of the flocks devolves almost entirely on
the little children, so young sometimes that they can just toddle about.

The waters are usually regarded by the Navaho as the common property
of the tribe, but the cultivable lands in the vicinity are held by the
individuals and families as exclusively their own. Their flocks occupy
all the surrounding pasture, so that virtually many of the springs come
to be regarded as the property of the people who plant nearest to them.