96 THE SIA. 



this plumes into the medicine water and sprinkled the altar. The 

 ho'uaaite then leaning forward dipped his plumes into the water and 

 sprinkled the altar with a weird call for the cloud people to gather and 

 water the earth that she might be fruitful. Then each member repeated 

 the sprinkling of the altar with a similar prayer, the little girl being 

 quite as enthusiastic as the others, straining her voice to the utmost 

 capacity as she implored the cloud ijeople to gather. The men struck 

 the plumes in their left hands with the rattles held in their right, and 

 the woman and child struck the wand held in the left hand with the 

 one held in the right. Bacb person repeated the si)rinkling of the altar 

 successively six times, with appeals to the animals of the cardinal 

 points. After each sprinkling the sprinkler returned to his i>lace in 

 the line. Thus the (ihoir was at no time deficient in more than one of 

 its number. At the conclusion of the sprinkling a stanza was sung 

 and the altar was again sprinkled six times by each member; in this 

 instance, however, the choir was groiaped before the altar, the ho'naaite 

 alone being seated back of it absorbed in song. After the sprinkling 

 the choir returned to the line and joined the ho'naaite in the chant and 

 at its conclusion he sprinkled the altar four times. He did not leave 

 his seat, but leaned forward and dipped his ]ilumes into the medicine 

 water. The ti'amoni then advanced from the south end of the line and 

 the ya'ni'siwittaniii from the north end and sprinkled toward the car- 

 dinal points, by passing along the line of meal as heretofore described, 

 the sprinkling being repeated twice. The ti'amoni returned to his seat 

 and the ya'ni'siwittanni removed the bowl of medicine water, placing 

 it before the fetiches and on the line of meal and stooping with bended 

 knees and holding his two eagle plumes and a ya'ya in his left hand 

 he administered the medicine water to all present, the girl receiving 

 the first draught from an abalone shell. The woman was served next, 

 .some being given to the infant she held in her arms, the ho'naaite re 

 ceiving the last draught. Taking the ya'ya from the ya'ni'siwittaniii 

 he drew it to his breast and then returned it to the ya'ni'siwittaniii, 

 he receiving it in his left hand and lifting the bowl with both hands 

 he left the house and filling his mouth from the bowl threw the medi- 

 cine water through his teeth to the cardinal points, and returning 

 placed the bowl and ya'ya in position before the altar. 



The ho'naaite gathering the hii'chamoni in his left hand and taking 

 a pinch of meal with his right, stooped before the altar and south of 

 the meal line and offered a silent prayer, and, after sprinkling the altar 

 and hii'chamoni, he divided the offerings, holding a portion in either 

 hand. The ti'amoni and a companion then stooped north of the line of 

 meal and facing the ho'naaite, clasped his hands with their right hands, 

 holding their eagle plumes in their left and responded to a low litany 

 offered by the ho'naaite, who afterwards drawing a breath from the 

 plumes laid them upon the blankets over their left arms, the two men 

 having wrapped their blankets about them before advancing to the 



