Show < = 4 PECULIAR PEOPLE In the NoribesHern corner of Ari zoua Terrilory thote lives a race of Indiana who possess many peculiari ties of interest to those who consider tbat the proper study of mankind ia i man From Mr 0 E Dake who baa been out there in company with John Reese taking the census of the tribe vro are indebted for the following interesting particulars concerning con-cerning tbeeo Indians their habit I customs and mode of life The Moquis have no knowledge how or v ben they became settled in their nreaent abode They claim to be defendants of the Ancient Aztecs but wbetuer or not they are of the same race as the original inhabitants of the cities of Cibola in a question tin tbat oilers a wide field for inveatiga There are seven villages in allsix inhabited by the Moquis and one by the Oribas WOO are to all upoparauLe the same people omy epeaking a different dialect These villages are situated on rocky barren mesas tbe I Onba village being about twenty railed west of the Moqais The approach ap-proach fo the villages 19 by a eiugle zizzag path which winds around toe face of toe chfi and barely permits a single horseman to advance Tbe houses are built of rock thedweiliugb rising in tbe ohape of terraces are entered by means of ladders wbicb are drawn up every night Fuel baa to be packed to some ot the village UH toe backs of burro over six mile while nater la brjugot from a mile to twu miles distant Ou tbe bandy plum at the lout of these mesa are raised fine ClOpS of corn pumpiiog melons and delicious peaches They own many horses sheep and go tie which are carefully guarded every night in stone corrals on the steep tides of tbe mesa wbere watchful sentinels keep a bright lookout look-out all night long Tbe Muquis blund in mortal dread of tbeir warlike neighborfa the IJavajos who are distant from them tome twentyfive miles north and whoe ideas concerning the rights of property are decidedly mixed The Mcquis villages are on two mesas tbree on each Tbe diff rent villages are only a few hundred yard apart yet no two ot them epeik tUe came dialect Tbe bead cnieltamsbip is hereditary in one family hut each village baa a tubchief Tim Moquia worship the sun and man form of idols They also have a reverence for rattlepnaktw and once I a year they indulge in what is known as the snaUedmicR In which they twine these reptiles about the body neck and arm as they twirl tbrougb tbe wild orgies of their dunce Tbe terpenU frequently bite but they have a euro antidote against the poison The Mequis bachelors buy their dusky mates from the parents the price of A wile being hhouttix mints but it varies according to tbe qaH > They have a very eimplo and effective mode of settling demesne difficulties Vben the wife discovers incompatibility incompati-bility of temperament and finds that the husband is not the man she thought be was she orders him to pick up his movable iSecla and stand not on tbe Older of his going but pit at once As a consequence of tbi simple divorce law the women are said to own nearly all tOo leal estate in the Moquis villages for tbe house falls to the wile when the matrimonial mat-rimonial tie is severed The beaux of the tribe going on a courting expedition dress in u gorgeous gor-geous manner in velvet knee breeches ornamented with silver buttons but-tons their bnddle and saddle being also profusely ornamented with the same metal There is a diflerence in dressing the hair between the matrons and the maidens The latter wear it in sharp puflj projecting over tbe ears which is an intimation to tbe anxious beau that Barkis After marriage the hair is worn long on the shoulders and banged in the latest style in front The woman do nearly all tbe work in the villages repair the houses grind the corn by maUatf etc The tribe is i prosperous peaceable and industrious The agent lives about eight miles from the villages and furnishes them their aunumtte every year A Mr Keum has a store at the agency and does a mice trade with the tribe buying their woolcorn and other products He lately shipped 130000 pounds of woil Tbs Uov eminent is about to sait a boarding school at the agency which will no doubt be well attended and be of great good to the tribe Taken a tgether these native Amonana are a happy and contented race Their cares are light their wants are few and easily eupohd They are isolated trim the busy world Us struggles and its excitements I excite-ments and pas their days in peace full patriarchal simplicity as did their ancestors for centuries before tjem Anznna Democrat I |