650 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



rig. 308. 

 RATTLE (shak-shak) made 



OF PLAITED STRIPS OF 

 CANE. 



Carib Indians, British 

 Guiana. 



Cat. No. 641sii, U.S.N.M. 

 i.i natural size. 



fM 



m 



m 



to have been all that can be so classed. Fig. 308, collected by W. C. 



McCliutock, represents a rattle (shaJc-shak), made of thin strips of cane 

 about one-eighth of an inch wide, and woven or 

 plaited as in making bas- 

 kets. At the lower end the 

 strips are drawn together 

 and lashed around a small 

 spindle of wood with a cord 

 of grass fiber, which forms 

 the handle. The strips are 

 of two colors, alternating as 

 they are woven. The inside 

 is furnished with small ])eh- 

 bles or seeds, which produce 

 the rattling sound. This 

 sound, however, is quite 

 feeble, owing to the nature 

 of the material which forms 

 the chamber. A similar in- 

 strument in the Haldeman 

 collection, Museum of Acad- 

 emy Natural Sciences, Phil- 

 adelphia, is labeled as from 

 the Carib Indians, British 

 Guiana. 



Specimen, Cat. No. 5374 



(U.S.N.M.), presented by J. Varden, is a rattle 



made of a round gourd. It is painted dark brown 



and has four narrow slits or incisions about 4 



inches long — two vertical and two horizontal — 



on opposite sides. A number of small pebbles 



inside produce the sound when shaken. A piece 



of wood 29i inches long passes through the gourd 



and extends 15 inches beyond the upper part. 



The lower end or handle proper projects llj 



inches. The upper end is wrapped with a piece 



of Hat sinnet made of cotton cord, to loops in 



which are attached bright-colored feathers of the 



parrakeet. An instrument from British Guiana 



identical with the foregoing is iigured and de- 

 scribed by Mr. J. G. Wood.^ 



In tig. 309 is presented a tlute ( Wat-sa-pua) or 



flageolet made from the thigh bone of the South 



American panther or jaguar. It is ornamented 



with incised bands and lines. The upi)er end is 



'■{■1 



Fig. 309. 

 BONE FLUTE OU FLAGEOLET 



(wat-sapva). 

 British Guiana. 



Cat. No. 434fi, U.S.N.M. 

 "t natural size. 



' Wood, J. G., The Natural History of Man, pp. 628, 629 



cut oft" square and 



