in such a manner, would suffice to teach far less brainy men than the Apaches that stealth must be a prime element in their warfare under such conditions. Hence, when, in later years, they became possessed of the white man's weapons, they still retained the stealthy methods of approach and warfare which had been. forced upon them.

As the stage crossed the desert, guarded by soldiers, from Yuma to Gila Bend, there were times when the wild fury of the Indians at the persistent presence of the white man drove them to desperation, and again and again they attacked the hated foreigners and sought to intimidate others by slaying those who came within their reach. Many graves can be found on the Gila, near the stage road, of soldiers and others who were thus slain and buried where they fell.

When General Miles undertook the pacification of the Apaches this band was "corralled" with the rest and taken to San Carlos. As the bands have loosened, little by little, first one family and then another, has returned to its former haunts, so that now at Palomas and Agua Caliente there are, perhaps, twenty to thirty families of these former renegades. From the storekeeper and farmers of

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Palomas I learn that they are good workers, most of the men being engaged as helpers on the ranches. They are intelligent, honest, capable and reliable. Their word once given they can be depended upon to perform what they have said. Indeed Mr. J. Fred Nottbusch, the Palomas storekeeper, assures me that he has learned to respect and esteem them highly for their good qualities, their manliness and character.

At the time of my visit a tragic event had just taken place which serves to illustrate some of the operations of the Apaches' minds. A young man and an old one had a quarrel about a horse. In thoughtlessness the young man twitted the old one in such a way that the latter became angered beyond control. Rushing to his camp he secured a gun and shot and killed the young man. Immediately there was the direst confusion in the settlement. The dead body of the young man was the center of a wild weeping and wailing. Mother, two sisters and other friends stood and wailed in anguish at the suddenness and horrible cruelty of the death of their loved

one.

While they thus mourned another shot was heard. This was at the camp of the

The

old man. Who could be the second victim of his anger? Was he demented and determined to slay others now that one man had fallen at his hands? One or two of the bravest of the men hastened to the camp and there saw a sight that, in one sense, was worse to them than had the old man slain another victim. Undoubtedly acting under a fit of remorse he had taken the gun with which he had fired the fatal shot into the heart of the young man and had placed it between his legs, the muzzle at his heart, the butt end on the ground, and had then pulled the trigger with his toes. As he fell back his head and the upper part of his body fell into the embers of his camp fire, and when he was first seen the flames were slowly consuming him. Filled with horror at the dreadful act of suicide the onlookers hastened back to camp and a powwow was immediately held as to what should be done. news of the first tragedy had already been sent to the white men, and now additional messengers were sent to inform them of the suicide. When Mr. Nottbusch determined to visit the scene, those who did not know of the second event begged him to approach the old man cautiously, as they were afraid he might shoot further if not left alone. others knew that he could shoot no more, but they were afraid of the influencesthe intangible spiritual influences of evil that would undoubtedly hover around the body of a man slain by his own hand. When the white men saw that victim and perpetrator were both dead, they decided that nothing further could be done. Why go to the expense of a formal Coroner's inquest when nothing more could be gleaned from the Apaches than that which had already been given? They returned to Palomas. That was on Saturday. Before half an hour was passed the body of the young man was cremated. A pit two feet in depth was dug, filled with greasewood and then covered with dry poles. Upon this the body was placed and more dry poles piled over it and the whole pyre covered with great bundles of greasewood. The friends set fire to the wood, and as the flames arose all the personal property of the deceased was thrown into the fire, as well as flour, corn, bread,

The

meat, tobacco, dried fruit and other foods, which, being burned at the same. time, would accompany him to the world of spirits. Nor was this all! In the depth of their grief the female friends of the departed stripped themselves of their garments until they stood nearly nude and threw these upon the burning

mass.

But with the suicide it was far different. He must, of course, be cremated, but none wished to do the work of preparing the funeral pyre or placing the body upon it, and it was only after considerable self-communing that two or three of the leaders undertook the disagreeable task. As soon as both bodies were consumed and the ashes fell through into the pit, dirt was heaped up over the graves.

To the superstitious Apache, however, there was great danger in remaining any longer in the region of the place made evil by the suicide. According to their belief spirits await the good and the bad to convey them to the abode of the dead, but those that wait upon a suicide are the worst and most malevolent of all evil spirits. It is in the power of these evil agencies to work the direst harm upon the living, hence they are to be dreaded, shunned and avoided. Accordingly, no sooner were the bodies cremated than preparations were made for a general exodus from Palomas. Early on Sunday morning it began and before night there were but four families left. The homes were all fired and as the sun set the horizon was illumined by the flames as they arose from the rapidly burning brush shelters of this people thus made homeless by their own act. And who shall condemn them? There is something essentially philosophical in fleeing from a place of evil influence. The memory of the suicide and his crime were best blotted out, and this was certainly far more speedily accomplished by leaving the spot than by remaining there.

To me, however, this exodus was a misfortune. Two weeks before I might have seen the whole of this band. Now but four families remained. Still, these were typical families, for they were composed of some of the old "fire-eaters"-fierce, warlike men in their young days. One of them had two daughters, one of whom