116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 43 



Tliis whole operation Is gone through with so iiiuch eagerness that one would 

 say they had not eaten for four days. The servants of the great Sun al- 

 though very numerous have not their food prepared as soon as the others be- 

 cause they do not hasten, in order to give the other women time to prepare 

 theirs. In the midst of all these movements the warriors who are then at 

 leisure amuse themselves by singing war songs to the sound of the pot which 

 serves them as a drum. 



When they see that all is cooked, which they know by observing a woman at 

 the door of each cabin, the spealcer or chancellor says to the grand master of 

 ceremonies, " Eillpaill (see if the provisions are cooked)." They bring it to 

 the great chief in two plates, one of each kind. He rises. Tliey give him one 

 of these dishes. He goes out and presents it to the four quarters of the woi-ld, 

 then sends it to the great war chief, saying in a loud voice Pachcoa, " Eat," 

 and it is then that everyone eats. 



The repast lasts a rather long time, because the warriors eat first, then the 

 boys of all ages, except those who are nursing. Finally the women and the 

 children eat, and it is necessary to allow intervals, so that the women may 

 have time to crush more maize and have it cooked, because this grain only is 

 eaten until all the grain in the granary is eaten. 



As fast as the warriors finish their repast they go outside and remain stand- 

 ing in front of their cabins. As soon as there are enough of them they form 

 two responsive choirs along the tvv'O sides of the open space and sing songs of 

 war. This concert lasts only half an hour and is ended the instant that the 

 great war chief goes to strike a blow on the post. This signal which stops the 

 singers opens the scene for speeches. The great chief begins immediately. He 

 relates his exploits and the number of enemies he has killed. He finishes his 

 speech in a raised tone of voice, which those who are acquainted with the deeds 

 he has mentioned answer with a great hoii in order to certify to its truth. All 

 the warriors in turn, according to the degree of estimation in which they are 

 held, do the same thing as their chief, and finally the young men have permis- 

 sion to go and strike the post and say, not what they have done, for they have 

 never been to war, but what they propose to do. It is a kind of training for 

 them by which their parents and their friends take care to prepare them. For 

 as it is an honor to them to speak well in public it is a disgrace to acquit 

 themselves poorly. The warriors applaud them by a lioit, which, as has been 

 seen, is of common usage, or witness to their small satisfaction by lowering 

 the head and keeping silence. The desire of meriting public approbation in the 

 present and of acquiring in the future the same glory that warriors enjoy ex- 

 cites in the youths a lively emulation. 



However, night comes. Then the open space is surrounded with more than 

 200 torches made of dried canes, which they take care to renew. They are of 

 the size of a small child and bound in five places. In the great light which 

 they shed they dance ordinarily until day. The dances are always the same, and 

 he wlio has seen one has seen all. Here is how they are disi)osed (pi. 4, a). In 

 the middle of a vacant space, i)roportioned to the number of those who are going 

 to dance, a man seats himself on the earth with a pot in which there is a little 

 water, and which is covered with a deer skin stretched extremely tight. He 

 holds this pot in one hand and beats time with the other. Around him the 

 women arrange themselves in a circle at some distance from each other and 

 having in their hands very thin disks of feathers which they turn while dancing 

 from left to right. The men inclose the women with another circle, which 

 they form at some distance from them. They never hold each other by the 

 hand, but leave between a space sometimes as wide as 6 feet. Each one has 

 his chichicois (rattle) with which he beats time. The chicliimis is a gourd 



