NATURE'S TRIUMPH. 463 



ill leaf and flower, that he can hardly perceive these traces ; but 

 the naturalist's attention is arrested at once. 



From the creek there is a gentle ascent to a slight elevation, 

 where the aspect of the vegetation differs somewhat from its sur- 

 roundings. Here is a clump of pineapples, and close by an im- 

 penetrable thicket of krattee, the material from which hammock 

 and bow strings were made. Look a little closer, and perhaps a 

 few variegated caladiums or scarlet- flowered belladonna lilies 

 {Hippeastrum equestre), or even a specimen of the giant reed 

 (Gynerium saccharoides),jna,j be seen. A stranger, seeing the 

 beauty of form and color, might wonder how they came there ; 

 but the naturalist can say at once that here, in some past time, 

 was an Indian settlement, and these are his footprints. 



It might also be thought from these relics of the red man's 

 presence that he understood the decorative value of plants and 

 flowers. Such, however, is not the case; for, although he for- 

 merly painted his skin with red, dark blue, and white pigments, 

 and, like a child, was fond of staring colors, he did not grow these 

 handsome leaves and flowers to satisfy such a taste. He does not 

 wear garlands, although he undoubtedly has a most delicate 

 taste in the arrangement of feathers for his headdress and waist- 

 belt. As for his women, they with the exception of a bead 

 apron, on which is worked a pretty geometrical pattern never 

 decorate themselves in any way. Why, then, do they grow these 

 lilies and caladiums ? The answer shows one of the most in- 

 teresting sides of the Indian character. 



They are heenas, or charms, to make them good hunters, fish- 

 ermen, or shooters. The beena notion pervades the Indian's 

 whole life, as providing meat is his duty above everything else. 

 There seems to be no rule in regard to the choice of beenas, ex- 

 cept that their use must always be painful. The most universal, 

 and that which seems to have a general application, is the nose 

 beena, a whip made of eta fiber, which is put up one of the nos- 

 trils and drawn through the back of the mouth. This is used 

 when a boy reaches manhood, to make him skillful in all his 

 operations. Then there are particular beenas for every animal 

 the jaguar, tapir, peccary, labba, and even birds and fishes. The 

 beautiful suffused crimson variety of Caladium hicolor is the 

 jaguar beena, and other blotched and spotted kinds and the lilies 

 are used for different quadrupeds. If the Indian hunter fails in 

 shooting a particular animal and returns home without meat, he 

 is dejected, and appears to think some virtue has gone out of him. 

 The beast has got the better of the man, and he must renew his 

 strength. To do this, he digs up a root of caladium or lily, and, 

 after slashing himself with a knife on breast and arms, rubs the 

 acrid juice into the wounds. Of course, the operation is very 



