AMONG THE YURACARfi INDIANS 311 



priest usually conducted a short service in the chapel, and 

 then we sat in front of his hut for an hour's chat, while 

 the children romped and played before being sent to bed. 

 Sometimes one of the boys brought out a queer drum; the 

 ends were made of skin taken from the neck of a jabiru 

 stork. He beat it in slow rhythm, swaying his head from 

 side to side with each low thud. The girls placed their 

 arms around one another's waists, forming lines of threes, 

 and shuffled forward three steps and back, swinging their 

 bodies all the while; suddenly they would whirl around 

 once, take hold of one another's hands, and then the long 

 line swept around at such a rapid pace that the individuals 

 at the ends invariably went sprawling some distance away. 

 After tiring of this or any other pastime upon which they were 

 engaged, they lined up and said a "Buenas noches, Padre," 

 in chorus. Then they ran away to the sleeping quarters. 



After spending nearly two weeks at the mission we. ac- 

 cepted the priest's invitation to accompany him on a short 

 trip down the Chimore. Twenty young men and boys 

 were selected as paddlers; they started early one morn- 

 ing, taking all of our personal luggage with them; a large 

 number of girls and women followed soon after, carrying 

 baskets of plantains, yuccas, and other provisions. The 

 missionary, Boyle, and I brought up the rear, and en- 

 couraged the few stragglers we met on the way, for the 

 distance from the mission to the river is three miles, through 

 the virgin forest. 



The Chimore is of about the same width as the Chapare, 

 although the water is in normal times somewhat clearer. 

 It rises far to the south and is formed by the junction of 

 the Blanco and Icona. Some distance below it unites with 

 the waters of the Ichilo, a mighty river flowing from the 

 south, through a solitary and unknown wilderness, and up 

 which Padre Fulgencio had ascended a number of miles on 

 a previous trip. In latitude 15 30' South, the Ichilo and 

 Chapare join, and form the Rio Mamorecillo, which lower 

 in its course is known as the Mamore. 



