<p id="d0e6980">On our return to the dancing-place I found the man who had been deputed to make the god&#39;s eye lying in a small cave in quite an exhausted condition, having fasted [522] for many days. The ceremonial object had already been made, under incantations. It was very pretty, white and blue, and had a wad of cotton attached to each corner. Its efficacy was, however, lost as far as I was concerned, as I had not been sitting beside the man while he made it, praying for what I wanted. This is a necessary condition if the Morning Star is to be made to understand clearly what the supplicant needs.</p>
<p id="d0e6984">On the altar, beside the sacred bowl of the community, had been placed food and many ceremonial objects, not omitting the five ears of seed-corn to be used in raising the corn required for the feasts. In the ground immediately in front of the altar were four bunches of the beautiful tail-feathers of the bluejay.</p>
<p id="d0e6986">Opposite to this, on the west side of the place, was another altar, a smaller one, on which had been put some boiled pinole in potsherds, with tortillas and a basket of cherries. This was for the dead, who if dissatisfied might disturb the feast. Afterward the pinole is thrown on the ground, while the people eat the rest of the food.</p>
<p id="d0e6988">The fasting shaman came forth on our arrival and took his position opposite the main altar, talking to the gods for half an hour. The newly made god&#39;s eye had been stuck into the ground in front of him. On his left side stood the little girl, and behind her the old woman, her guardian, and a man, who was smoking tobacco. Two young men, one at the right, the other at the left, held in their hands sticks with which they woke up people who fell asleep during the night while the dance was going on.</p>
<p id="d0e6990">The shaman prayed to the Morning Star, presented to him the ears of corn that were to be used as seed, and asked him to make them useful for planting. The gods know best how to fructify the grains, since all the corn [523] belongs to them. &quot;And as for this man,&quot; he added, speaking of me, &quot;you all knew him before he started from his own country. To us he seems to be good, but you alone know his heart. You give him the god&#39;s eye he asked for.&quot;</p>
<p id="d0e6999">A little after dark the singer for the occasion began to play a prelude on the musical bow, which the Coras always glue to the gourd, uniting the two parts to form one instrument. The gourd was placed over a small excavation in the ground to increase its resonance. The singer invoked the Morning Star to come with his brothers, the other stars, to bring with them their pipes and plumes, and arrive dancing with the rain-clouds that emanate from their pipes as they smoke. The Morning Star was also asked to invite the seven principal Taquats to come with their plumes and pipes.</p>
<p id="d0e7001">The Coras-dance like the Tepehuanes and the Aztecs, but with quicker steps, and every time they pass the altar the dancers turn twice sharply toward it. At regular intervals the old woman and the little girl danced, the former smoking a pipe. The little girl had parrot feathers tied to her forehead and a bunch of plumes from the bluejay stood up from the back of her [524] head. In the middle of the night she danced five circuits, carrying a good-sized drinking-gourd containing water from a near-by brook, which originates in the sacred lagoon.</p>
<p id="d0e7005">The shaman sang well, but the dancing lacked animation, and but few took part in it. When the little girl began to dance with her grandmother, I seated myself on a small ledge not far from the musician. Immediately the shaman stopped playing and the dancing ceased. In an almost harsh voice, and greatly excited, he called to me, &quot;Come and sit here, sir!&quot; He was evidently very anxious to get me away from the ledge, and offered me a much better seat on one of the stones placed for the principal men. I had inadvertently sat on a Taquat! This sacred rock of the dancing-place had a natural hollow, which the Indians think is his votive bowl, and into which they put pinole and other food. &quot;Never,&quot; my friend told me next day, &quot;had anyone sat there before.&quot;</p>
<p id="d0e7007">Later in the evening, when there was a pause in the performance, I noticed that all the men, with the singing shaman, gathered in a corner of the dancing-place, seating themselves on the ground. They were discussing what they should do in regard to the skulls I had asked for. One of the principal men told them that a dream last night had advised him not to deny the &quot;Se&ntilde;or&quot; anything he asked for, as he had to have a &quot;head&quot; and would not go without one. &quot;You are daft, and he comes here knowing a good deal,&quot; the dream had said.</p>
<p id="d0e7009">They all became alarmed, especially the man who had steadily opposed their complying with my request, and they agreed that it was better to give the white man what he wanted. The gobernador even raised the question whether it would not be best to let me have the [525] skulls early next morning, together with the other things I was to get; or, if not then, at what other time? My shaman friend diplomatically proposed that I should set the time for this.</p>
<p id="d0e7013">Next morning I got the god&#39;s eye as well as a splendid specimen of a musical bow with the gourd attached, the playing-sticks, etc., all of which were taken out of a cave near the dancing-place. There was another cave near by, into which the principal men are accustomed to go to ask permission from the sun and moon and all the other Taquats to make their feasts.</p>
<p id="d0e7015">The morning saw the feast concluded in about the usual way. Tobacco was smoked over the seed-corn on the altar, and sacred water was sprinkled from a red orchid over everything on the altar, including the sacred bowl and the flowers on top of it, as well as over the heads of all the people present, to insure health and luck. This is done on behalf of the Morning Star, because he throws blessed water Over the whole earth, and on the corn and the fruit the Coras eat. The flowers are afterward taken home, even by the children, and put in cracks in the house walls, where they remain until removed by the hand of time.</p>