42 MEMOIR OF 



their tent, and will eat nothing but the eggs or 

 flesh of the partridge. During the evening of the 

 second day, they get a neighbour to perform the 

 following operation : The flesh of the arm is pinched 

 up between the fingers, and skewers made of cane, 

 eight inches long, and nearly half an inch in diame- 

 ter, are forced through and through. The first is 

 introduced just above the elbow, and the others, at 

 the distance of an inch, as far as the top of the 

 shoulder. In this miserable plight the mourning 

 savage sallies forth, and goes naked and alone to 

 some neighbouring wood or height, without any 

 dread of the jaguar or other wild beast. Provided 

 with a small spade, he excavates with his hands a 

 deep hole, in which he inters himself as far as the 

 chest, and thus spends the night^ From this he 

 comes forth in the morning, and betakes himself 

 to one of the booths already described, prepared for 

 one under these circumstances. Here he removes 

 the skewers, and reposes undisturbed for two days, 

 without either eating or drinking. Next day the 

 children carry water to him, and some food, and 

 leaving it within reach, retire without saying a 

 word. This is repeated for ten or twelve days, 

 when at length the mourner mixes with society. 

 No one is obliged to perform these barbarous cere- 

 monies, and nevertheless they are seldom omitted ; 

 if any one does not perform them to the letter, he 

 is considered as imbecile, and this is his only punish- 

 ment. 



" The Pampas, on the opposite bank of La Plata, 



