110 THE SIA. 



choir did not cease singing during the smoking, and ^'hen the bit of 

 cigarette liad been deposited, the vicar transferred his rattle to his 

 right hand, lieeping time with the choir. When the song closed he 

 left his seat in front of the cloud bowl and stood by the west side of the 

 altar, and removing the eagle plume from his head returned it to the 

 ya'ya and took his seat near the fireplace. Two of the boys then lighted 

 cigarettes of native tobacco with the long flrestick, handing one to each 

 member. 



In tifteen minutes the song was resumed and the man west of the 

 ho'naaite dipped his eagle plumes in the medicine water and sprinkled 

 the altar, repeating the sprinkling four times. lu twenty-five minutes 

 the song closed and the men enjoyed a social smoke, each man after 

 ligliting his cigarette waving it towards the altar. In twenty-five min- 

 utes the choir again sang, two boys standing in front of the altar, one 

 on either side of the line of meal. The one on the west side of the line 

 dipped his plumes into the medicine water and sprinkled the altar, and 

 the one on the east side of the line dipped his crook into the medicine 

 water and sprinkled the altar. They then dipped into the cloud bowl 

 and threw the suds to the north; dipi)ing suds again the boy west of 

 the line threw the suds to the west, and the one east of the line thi'ew 

 the suds to the east; again dipping medicine water they passed to the 

 south and threw the water to that point, the boy west of the meal line 

 crossed to the east, and the one on the east of the line of meal crossed 

 to the west, and returning to the altar they dipped suds, the boy to 

 the west of the line throwing suds in that direction, and the boy east 

 of the line throwing suds to that point; again dipiung the medicine 

 water they sprinkled to the zenith, and dipping the suds they threw 

 them to the nadir; then the boy on the west of the line crossed to the 

 east, and the one on the east of the line crossed to the west, and thus 

 reversing positions they repeated the sprinkling of the cardinal jjoints, 

 zenith and nadir, twelve times, dipping alternately into the medicine 

 water and the cloud bowl. With the termination of the sprinkling 

 the song ceased for a moment, and by command of the ho'naaite the 

 boys, each taking a basket of hii'chamoni, which were resting on the 

 backs of the cougar fetiches either side of the altar, stood in front of 

 the altar, one on the west side of the meal line and the other on the 

 east, and holding the baskets in their left hands shook their rattles; 

 they then held the basket with both hands, moving them in time to 

 the song and rattles of the choir. The ho'naaite directed them to 

 wave the baskets to the north, west, south, and east, to the zenith and 

 the nadir; this they repeated twelve times and then deposited the 

 baskets either side of the cloud bowl, and the vicar placed the bowl of 

 medicine water two feet in front of the cloud bowl, on the line of meal, 

 and taking one of the ya'ya in his left hand, he passed east of the line 

 and, stooping low, he stirred the medicine water with an abalonc shell, 

 and then passed his hand over the ya'ya and drew a breath from it. 



