"In addition to the three branches mentioned for the Lightning chant, the mountain chant, too, has several variants. Ordinarily, the male mountain chant, is meant when speaking of the mountain chant as such. There exist, also, a female mountain chant, and another variant designated as the mountain chant to the small birds.

"Divination, as preparatory to various chants, is also practiced in one form or another. Divination by sight, or star reading, consults the stars and such animals whose sight is very marked, as that of the turkey, or magpie. Divination by touch consults the winds and such animals whose sense of hearing is highly developed, as that of the wolf, or felines in general. "Of the chants in existence, some are conducted for nine nights, others for five, and a few for one night only. Thus the night chant, the mountain chant, the wind chant, the coyote chant or the feather chant, the water chant, the big god chant, and the lightning chant, are nine night ceremonies.

"The Bead, or eagle chant, and the wind chants, and rites of divination, as the big star, and by touch, as well as the prostitutes' chant, are also conducted for five nights, while the witchcraft chant is now always conducted for five nights only, though formerly nine nights were required. Similarly, the red ant chant, and the beauty chant, are five night ceremonies.

"The blessing, is now a one night ceremony, though originally of four nights duration. The knife or feather-shaft chant, and the Chiricahua wind chant, too, are of one night's duration.

"The list, while fairly comprehensive, may possibly be increased by some extinct chants, such as the earth chant, and others.

THE WAR DANCE.

"The so-called war dance, extensively in vogue with the Navaho to-day, originated with the mother of the Slayer of Monsters and the Child of Water. For, it is said, when they had slain the monster, the sun of the Son, they carried his scalp as a trophy and hung it on a tree previous to reporting it to their mother. While relating to her of the encounter with the monster, they swooned and lay unconscious, whereupon, it is said, their mother prepared a concoction from herbs struck by lightning, sprinkled them with it, and shot a spruce and pine arrow over their bodies, thus reviving them.

"Accordingly, to-day, this ceremony is conducted in cases of swooning, or weakness and indisposition attributed to the sight of blood, or of a violent death of man or beast, especially if this has occurred to a pregnant woman, or even to a husband or father during the period of her pregnancy. While no special season seems to be prescribed, the ceremony is most frequently conducted in the summer and fall of the year. The singers performing it are known as the anaji, enemy, or war singers, as in addition to this ceremony they were also in possession of all the rites prescribed for the warpath and raids.

"The special features of the war dance are the carrying of the rattlestick, the dance of the Navaho girls, and the blackening of the patient.

"The rattle consists of a juniper stick about a yard long, or the length of a cord held at arm's length from the tip of the left hand to the right nipple. This stick is held upright in the left hand, the fist resting on the knee, while with the finger-nail of the right thumb incisions are made in zigzag form to represent a bow. As custom varies, some of the old people supervising this function insist that the opening of the bow, or the end where the bowstring is slipped over the notch, be made at the upper right hand corner, while others require the opening in the opposite, or lower right hand corner. Similarly, the incision made on the rear of the stick, to represent the queue, varies with the opening made for the bow. Such as make the opening of the bow in the upper right hand corner make that of the queue in the lower left hand corner, while the opening in the lower right hand corner of the bow requires a similar opening in the upper left hand corner of the queue.

"This done, the singer applies a mixture of animal tissue to the stick and blackens it with the ashes of burnt weeds. He then places a bundle of weeds at the point of the stick, together with a yellow tail feather of a turkey. He crosses the base of the bundle with two eagle feathers, and adds a buckskin thong previously spliced in four and knotted with the small toes of deer, to dangle at its side. The whole is then wrapped and secured to the stick with sacred buckskin. Neighbors and friends then trim the stick with hair cords, which at present take the form of vari-colored calico bands. These are tied to the stick between the bundle of weeds and

the grip, in which manner it is carried forth by the patient to a place usually some ten and more miles distant, where the ceremony is continued. In some instances the scalp of a slain American, Mexican, Ute or Comanche is substituted for the bundle of weeds, though at present such scalps are in possession of very few persons.

THE GIRLS' DANCE.

"The carrying of the rattlestick from one locality to another is always participated in by a throng of interested visitors, and usually proceeds in a frantic rush. Arriving at its destination the hair cords are removed from the shaft and distributed among the residents of that locality, who anxiously apply for them, and frequently weave them into saddle blankets and small rugs.

"Toward evening an ordinary cooking pot is converted into a drum by throwing a few pebbles into it and covering the top with a piece of goat or buckskin, which is secured around the rim with a cord or thong. This improvised drum is continuously beaten with a small stick while the maidens select a partner from the throng of visitors to dance with. Married women are excluded from this dance, though it is permissible to select a partner from among the married men. Frequently young men pay for the exclusive privilege of dancing with a sweetheart or favorite on each of the three nights.

"The dancers perform in a circle, though no special order is prescribed. Each maiden, standing behind her partner, grasps his side and completes a circle or two with him, reversing

the circle occasionally to avoid dizziness. As all participants hum and sing while in action, the whole ceremony has been popularly designated by this feature as 'they all hum moving. After completing these motions several times, the girl releases her partner and, unless otherwise stipulated, charges a fee of five to twentyfive cents for the privilege granted, or an equal amount for the privilege of being released. The dance is continued until about midnight, when the party disperses to retire.

"On the following morning the rattle is again carried to some other distant place and is borne, not by the patient, but by one acquainted with the prayers required for its final deposit, who, thereafter, takes charge of the rattle until the close of the ceremony. In the evening of the day, the girls' dance is repeated as on the preceding night, and is in turn followed on the third morning by the bearing of the rattle to the place selected for the close of the ceremony. Here the patient is blackened about noon.

THE BLACKENING OF THE PATIENT.

"At noon of the third day the body of the patient is painted black. Juniper branches, with yarrow, meadow rue, and pine needles, are previously pulverized, then thrown into a bowl of water, and stirred. One of the assistants now takes a dab of this mixture between his fingers and applies it in turn against the soles, the knees, legs, chest, back, shoulders, mouth and head of the patient, who then sips of the mixture before bathing his whole body with it. Thereupon the assistant chews some pennyroyal and foxtail