The marvellous country, or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico.: Containing an authentic history of this wonderful country and its ancient civilization ... together with a full and complete history of the Apache tribe of Indians .../ By Samuel Woodworth Cozzens. Illustrated by more than one hundred engravings.

T[IE b'AC'~L D b'Ill.\'G.lL
The governor, or cacique, who is also the chief priest of
the Zunis, lives in a large four-story house, in the lower
rooms of which is situated the council chamber. The council consists of four persons, who have a general supervision
over all public matters. The office is hereditary, the son
succeeding the father. The youngest member is, ex officio,
the war-chief; the next younger, the chief of police
the others act as councillors with the cacique.
Not quite a mile south of the pueblo a large mesa rises
abruptly from the plain, at least a thousand feet in height.
The top of this mesa was the site of ancient Zuni, or the
former city of Cibola, the ruins of which are still plainly
discernible.
In a small grotto at the foot of this elevation is the "Sacred Spring," before referred to. It is about ten feet in
diameter, and walled around with stones neatly laid. The
water of the spring is remarkably pure and clear, but neither
man nor beast is ever permitted to drink of it; there is a
tradition to the effect that the spirit of the spring avenges
such a desecration by instant death; and so sacredly is this
superstition regarded, that I do not believe a Zuni could be
persuaded to drink of it, even if perishing with thirst. It is
held sacred to those animals that live in the water, such as
frogs, snakes, turtles, and lizards. Once in each year, during
the month of August, the cacique, accompanied by the council, visits the spring and performs certain religious rites, the
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