Page 58 - TheHopiIndians

50 MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND

well" apply also in this semi-desert, for Syria and
Arizona do not differ greatly in climate. The Bedouin
with his horses and camels would not be out of place
on the sand wastes of our Sahara ; nor were the Span
ish conquerors on unfamiliar ground when they ex
changed the dusty plains and naked sierras of their
native land for those of the New World.
The traveler in Spain, northern Africa, or Asia
Minor is impressed with the similarity between these
countries and our Southwest, so that the name of New
Spain, early applied by the Spaniards to all of Mex
ico, seems very appropriate. Like these countries, too,
our Southwest is a land of thirst ; the dry air and fer
vent sun parch the skin and devour every trace of
moisture. (One feels as though he were placed under
a bell glass exhausted of air undergoing the shriveling
process of the apple in the experiment.)
So, before taking a journey, one inquires not so
much of the roads and distances, but whether water
may be found, for it is often necessary to submit to
that most unpleasant of contingencies, a ' ' dry camp. ' '
Many parts of Arizona and New Mexico cannot easily
be visited except in favorable seasons, because one is
told, "it's a hundred miles to water." The Hopi
often provide for the long journeys across waterless
country by hiding water at points along the route.
This wise precaution, which was noticed by the Span
ish explorers of the sixteenth century, consists of
burying sealed water-jars in the sand, their situation