98 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



brought the priest that Madame Jim, a middle-aged 

 woman, was dying, with a request that he would 

 hasten to administer the last rites of the church. But 

 the priest was anxious to be away ; his house was a 

 dozen miles distant, and half-way there, at the house 

 of a friend, a dinner was awaiting him. With im- 

 patience, then, he commanded that she be brought to 

 the chapel ; and the dying woman was placed in a 

 hammock suspended between poles, and carried to 

 the priest, over a mile of rough, steep road, patiently 

 suffering, anxious only to receive extreme unction be- 

 fore she passed away. 



The same Sabbath there was buried at the foot of 

 the cross the oldest inhabitant of the nation, a very 

 old Carib woman, whose death I lamented, as I was 

 awaiting her recovery to secure from her a vocabulary 

 of Carib words. My grief was only alleviated bv the 

 thought that an opportunity might occur for exhuming 

 her skeleton, which would prove a valuable acquisi- 

 tion to the Smithsonian Museum. 



Formerly, the Caribs buried their dead in a sitting 

 posture, in order (as an old Indian told me) that they 

 might be all ready to jump, when the Spirit came for 

 them ; and facing the sunrise, to see the light of 

 morning. When the master of a house died, they 

 buried him in the center of his hut, with his knees 

 bent to his chin. They then left the hut and built 

 another, some distance from it. 



Eight days after the death of Madame Jim, the 

 neighbors had a sort of wake, or " praise " ; until mid- 

 night, the girls sang hymns. After twelve o'clock, 

 all the younger people formed themselves in groups 

 and played games until morning, while the wicked 



