552 



THE GUANCHEP. 



Fig. 12. 



OVEN FOR BAKIXO POTTERY — ATALAYA 



Music appears to bo little known among tlieiu. Tliov have no ninsical 

 instruments, and a])parent]y no airs that are popular in the sense of 

 fjeneral. Still one hears them crooning away in a peculiarly melodious 

 manner and always in a minor key. Some among the wealthier have 



elaborate costumes, which they don on Sun. 

 day. The headdress (the handkerchief) is 

 discarded on these occasions, and the hair 

 is drawn back and tied in a lumj) behind, 

 with large flowers placed low down on their 

 necks, an arum iily, or a bunch of the wild 

 geraniuin, which grows in such ])rofusion 

 all over the 

 islands. 



The periodi- 

 cal baking of 

 their potteiy is 

 a great event among the cave dwellers. 

 Large numbers of peoi)le sally forth for 

 days before collecting brushwood of all 

 kinds, and great heaps are jailed up in the 

 open space before the public oven, where 

 all the pottery to be bake<l is also collected. 

 A roaring lire is soon produced, and the 

 difierent i)ieces of jjottery are thrust into 

 the flames, and are then moved about by 



means of a 

 long pole of 

 hai'd wood to 

 insure their 

 being evenly 



baked. Some kind of red glaze is put 

 onto those which it is wished to decorate, 

 but the greater part are baked witlumt 

 any glazing matter. It is an extremely 

 l)usy scene, with a great deal of shouting 

 and screaming, everyone giving instruc- 

 tions and orders, to which no one else 

 pays the least attention. No one person 

 seems to be in command, and all kinds of 

 interloi)ers crowd in to give advice or to 

 cram sticks into the oven. 



But the ancient Guanche pottery (se- 

 lections from the collection in the museum of Las Palmas are here given) 

 had much elegance, variety of form, and diversity of pattern. No. 1 is 

 an example of an ordinary water jar, and No. 2 of a curiously shaped 

 bowl with a handle. No. 3 is a fine double-handled water jar, 20 inches 



Fi- 13. 



a'ANCHE I'OTTKHY. 



Fig. 11. 



HEADDRESS, PESTLE, AND HANDMILL. 



