7i8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from a water-cask hauled over the spot four 

 times a day — on one of the roadways. Sys- 

 tematic watering; of one of the collieries in 

 the Rhondda Valley has not only made it 

 safer and cleaner, but also cooler and more 

 pleasant to live in. The influence of watering 

 the floor seems also to extend to the timbers 

 and walls of the mine, which cease to give 

 annoyance from the dust lying upon them, 

 without being directly watered. When sim- 

 ple tanks on wheels are difficult or expen- 

 sive to manipulate in the mines, they may 

 be replaced by a system of pipes bringing 

 water from the surface, or from a reservoir 

 at a convenient height in the shaft, and dis- 

 tributing it at different points in the work- 

 ings, in the form of a fine spray. 



The Botoendos. — The Botocudos of Bra- 

 zil are famed as one of the most savage 

 tribes on the American continent. Mr. W. J. 

 Steains, who met a number of them during his 

 exploration of the Rio Doce, describes them 

 as hardly prepossessing in appearance, five 

 feet four inches in average height, having 

 broad chests — which accounts for the facil- 

 ity with which they can bend their bows — 

 small rather than delicate feet and hands, 

 lean but muscular legs and arms, and feat- 

 ures bearing "a wonderful resemblance to 

 the Chinese," with skins of all shades of 

 color. The custom of wearing large lip and 

 ear ornaments of wood is fast dying out. " A 

 regular process has to be gone through be- 

 fore a Botocudo can boast of wearing a lip- 

 ornament, say three inches in diameter, and 

 what is more, it is a life-long process. When 

 the Indian is about three or four years old 

 its parents pierce a small hole in the center 

 of its under lip and also in the lobes of its 

 ears. Into this hole a small plug of wood is 

 inserted about the size round of a pencil. 

 In the course of a few weeks a larger piece 

 of wood is made to take the place of the first 

 insertion, and so on until the lip (having 

 been thus stretched gradually) is capable of 

 receiving a botoque (plug) of the dimensions 

 mentioned above, viz., three inches in diame- 

 ter. It generally happens that in course of 

 time the lip, which stretches round the bo- 

 toque just like an elastic band, sphts. This 

 action on the part of the lip, however, does not 

 prevent the further wearing of the botoque. 

 The Indian simply tics the two ends of his 



broken lip together by means of a small 

 piece of imbira, or stringy bark, and thus 

 mends the breakage in a way that is de- 

 cidedly more useful than ornamental." The 

 Botocudos live upon the nuts of two or three 

 varieties of palm-trees, which, as they are 

 hard, are chewed for old people and children 

 by the women; and they usually live to a 

 good old age. The men spend their days 

 in hunting, fishing, and seeing to their bows 

 and arrows, while the women look after the 

 children, gather nuts and fruits, and do the 

 hard work. Clothing is entirely unknown 

 among them. Plurality of wives is allowed 

 but not usually indulged in. The people 

 have no form of government except that of 

 a chief who has no real authority. They 

 believe in a Great Spirit who has made the 

 world, but offer no prayers or sacrifices. 

 They think he is angry and are much fright- 

 ened when there is a thunder - storm, and 

 throw fire-brands into the air to appease his 

 wrath. When a man dies, his ghost wan- 

 ders about upon the earth, in pursuit of what 

 he may catch, but benefiting those who have 

 done him kindness while he was on the earth. 

 They have a hazy idea of the evil one, and 

 believe that he resides in the body of a cer- 

 tain screeching night-bird. 



Life in the Islands of Greece, — Accord- 

 ing to Mr. J. Theodore Bent, who has visited 

 them, the shepherds and their families of the 

 Greek island of Karpathos " for the greater 

 part of the year dwell in caves high up in 

 the mountains and die in them like their 

 goats, with this difference only, that their 

 friends do not allow their bones to bleach in 

 the sun, though they inter them without any 

 religious ceremony ; they wail over them a 

 great deal, and wait for the religious part of 

 the business until a priest chances to pass 

 that way. For the three months of winter 

 they reside in the village, which is composed 

 of small homesteads or mandras, probably 

 hke that in which the herd of Ulysses dwelt 

 in Ithaca. Each house is a low cabin, to en- 

 ter which you have to stoop, and consists of 

 one room only, where cattle and people live 

 together. It is built of large stones without 

 cement, and through the cracks the north 

 wind whistles horribly. Across the roof is 

 a beam the top of which serves as the cup- 

 board. There is a place for fire, but no out- 



