to the curious eye at one glance. The ground embraced within the circle
of the wickiup had been dug away so as to make an even, hard floor two
or three feet below the surface of the earth outside. To the right,
standing on the floor, were two large, round baskets, each one with a
capacity of half a dozen gallons. They were made in conformity to the
general type of basket of the Southern California aborigine, but with
the distinctive marks peculiar to the tribe to which belonged the
dwellers within, and woven so tightly as to hold water without
permitting a drop to pass through. In the bottom of one of these baskets
was scattered a little ground meal of the acorn, a staple article of
food with all the Indians of California. The other basket, similar to
the first in shape and size, but of rougher weave, and lined on the
inside with bitumen, was nearly full of water; for though the finely
woven baskets of the Southern California Indians were really
water-tight, they were not generally used for liquids. Any one,
acquainted with the customs of these Indians, would understand the
meaning of the little heap of stones by the fireside without: they were
used in warming the water in the basket, which was done by heating them
in the embers of the fire, then, when hot, throwing them into the water,
in this way bringing it almost to a boil. Afterward, the stones having
been taken out, some meal was thrown in and, in this manner, cooked.
Beyond the baskets, and nearly opposite the entrance, against the wall,
was a heap of fine brush, covered with the tawny skin of an immense
mountain-lion - a giant specimen of his species, and a formidable
animal, truly, for an Indian to encounter with only bow and arrow.

On this bed of brush was the gaunt, emaciated form of a woman lying
stretched out at full length. At first glance, one might have mistaken
her for a mummy, so still and lifeless she lay; her face, too, carried
out the resemblance startlingly, for it was furrowed and seamed with