4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 79 



house has two walls, one close to the other. Within the houses, all 

 along the walls, a number of small rooms or partitions, about 1 meter 

 in height, are likewise made of chonta poles, each having a small 

 hole in the outside through which the. warrior can shoot his attacking 

 enemy. There is one such small room for each defender of the 

 house. The partitions will afford the warrior protection in case the 

 enemy are able to penetrate into the house. As to the doors, there 

 are two in each Jibaro house, one at each end of the house, one for 

 the men, the other for the women. These doors generally consist of 

 six chonta poles, the upper ends of which are united by means of 

 strong lianas, while the nether ends are free and can be separated 

 from each other, three to each side, making an opening of tri- 

 angular form. The whole opening is so small, however, that only 

 one man at a time with some difficulty can enter the house. During 

 the night the poles forming the doors are always carefully closed 

 and fastened by a transverse pole applied to the inner side, so that 

 the entrance of undesirable persons is made impossible. Even the 

 outer wall in a fortified house has a special door consisting of similar 

 poles which can be closed from the inside. 



Not only the houses themselves but also the manioc and banana 

 plantations situated close by are protected in a similar way by high 

 fences of strong chonta poles. The aim of this arrangement is to 

 prevent" the enemy from approaching the house through the plan- 

 tations. 



Formerly, before the use of firearms was so general among the 

 Jibaros as it is now, the chiefs especially were in the habit of con- 

 structing a sort of war tower at one end of their houses. These 

 towers were of quadratic form and sometimes 30 or 40 meters in 

 height. On the top of it there was a small room about 4 meters in 

 quadrate and with walls about 1 meter in height, made of strong 

 chonta poles, which protected the defender against the lances of the 

 enemies. The whole thing rested upon pillars of the stem of the 

 chonta palm, and the warrior ascended along a stair consisting of 

 wooden logs with incisions which gave him foothold. These war 

 towers were called kumhinta. After the Jibaros began to make use 

 of firearms in their wars these measures of defense proved less fit 

 for the purpose, and consequently were no longer used. 



It is still common among the Jibaros to arrange a kind of trap on 

 the way which leads to the house and where one expects the enemy 

 will try to approach it. One such trap consists of a round hole in 

 the ground, about 1| meters deep and large enough for a full-grown 

 man to fall into it. At the bottom of the hole three pointed sticks 

 of chonta, resembling points of lances, are arranged in an erect 

 position. Tliese pointed sticks are called dshi. The part which 



