380 



with his drum and rattle-box, after which he feigns a fit or 

 tniggle with the evil spirit, who, it is then supposed, has en- 

 tered into him ; keeps his eyes Ufted up, distorts the features 

 of his face, foams at the mouth, screws up his joints, and 

 after many violent and distorting motions, remains stiff and 

 motionless, resembling a man seized with an epilepsy- After 

 some time he comes to himself, as having got the better of the 

 demon : next feigns within his tabernacle a faint, shrill, 

 Bournful voice, as of the evil spirit, who by this dismal cry 

 is supposed to acknowledge himself subdued, and then, from 

 a kind of tripod, answers all questions that are put to him. 

 Whether his answers be true or false is of no great conse- 

 quence, because if his intelligence should prove false, it is tht 

 feult of the spirit. On all these occasions the wizard is well 

 paid. 



They make skeletons of their dead. This practice, which 

 prevails on the Orinoco also, is not used by any of the tribes 

 between the Orellana and the Plata. One of the most dis- 

 tinguished women performs the dissection: the entrails are 

 burnt, and the bones, after the flesh has been cut off as clean 

 as possible, are buried till the remaining fibres decay. Within 

 a year they must be removed to the burial place of the family. 

 This is the custom of the Moluches and Pampas, but the Ser- 

 ranos place the bones on high upon a frame-work of canes or 

 twigs, to bleach in the sun and rain. While the dissector is 

 at work upon the skeleton, the Indians walk round the tent, 

 covered with long mantles of skins, and having their faces 

 blackened with soot, singing in a mournful vdice, and striking 

 the ground with their long spears, to drive away t!ie evil 

 spirits. Some go and condole with the widow and relations 

 of the dead, if these persons be wealthy enough to pay them 

 for their moumiugwith bells, beads, and other such trinketry: 

 it is not a sort of condolence to be gratuitously offered, for 

 they prick their arras luid thighs witii thorns, and feel pain at 

 least, if not sorrow. The horss of th dead are ioiinecliately 



