28 BUREAU OF^AMEBICAlsr ETHNOLOGY [bull. 64 



object in most Indian houses is an altar (cancJie), or high square 

 table, upon which stands a wooden cross (fig. 8). The altar is 

 covered with a cotton cloth, embroidered in flowers and religious 

 symbols; the cross is draped with ribbon or strips of colored fabric, 

 and sometimes with crude models, in silver or gold, of legs, arms, 

 and hands, representing thank offerings to some favorite Santo for 

 the healing of corresponding parts of the body. Little images in 

 wax, and, if the Indian can obtain them, religious oleographs and 

 medallions, with colored-glass vases, are commonly found upon the 

 altar, which is frequently dressed with fresh flowers. 



The Indian's only tool is his machete, a heavy cutlass-like knife, 

 about 16 inches long; with this he cuts and cleans his milpa, makes 

 his house and most of his furniture, digs postholes, and fights and 

 defends himself. 



His indispensable belongings consist of a hammock, a few cal- 

 abashes and pots, a machete, and a cotton suit, all of which he 

 can carry slung over his back in a macapal; with his wife and 

 dogs trotting behind him, he can leave his old home and seek pas- 

 tures new with a light heart and untroubled mind, knowing that 

 the bush wiU provide for all his needs. 



POTTERY MAKING 



Pottery making is rapidly dying out through the greater part 

 of this area, owing to the importation of more convenient and dur- 

 able vessels. It is undertaken almost exclusively by the older 

 women, who employ a fine light yeUow clay mixed with sand or 

 powdered quartz. They make vessels in considerable variety, both 

 as to size and shape, which are used for the storage of water and dry 

 material, as corn, beans, and achiote, and as cooking pots. They 

 do not use a potter's wheel, but mold the smaller utensils by hand 

 and build up the larger by the addition of fragment upon fragment 

 of clay. The outside is smoothed over with a little wooden spade- 

 like implement. No polish, glaze, or paint is applied to the pottery, 

 either inside or out; the highest effort at decoration resulting in 

 merely a few incised lines just below the neck, or a rough scalloping 

 around the rim. The pottery is burned in a clear, open wood fire; 

 when completed the ware is known as ul. 



BOAT BUILDING 



The Indians living in the neighborhood of lakes and rivers possess 

 dories or canoes which vary in size from tiny craft 5 to 6 feet long 

 by 16 to 18 inches beam, capable of holding only a single individual, 

 to large craft 25 feet or more in length, large enough to hold a dozen 

 people. All their canoes are constructed by the simple process of 

 hollowing out large logs, the more durable ones being made from 

 cedar, the lighter ones from wild cotton {yaxche). The boats are 



