22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 79 



step toward his opponent, beginning with the left foot, simiiUa- 

 neously raises the right arm with the lance and lets it fall vibrating 

 down on the shoulder; immediately thereafter he goes back to the 

 original position, at the same time again swinging the lance over 

 his shoulder. This whole series of movements is performed quickly 

 and at one time, accompanying the phrase pronounced : chamurstai 

 chamursti, etc. One of the conversing Indians having several times 

 repeated this movement with its cori'esponding phrases, he stops 

 and stands still, the other one then speaking. The whole enema 

 conversation lasts about 15 minutes. 



When a war expedition is prepared in Avhich many Indians take 

 part, enema is performed on a large scale. The warriors arrange 

 themselves in two rows, one against the other, so that at the ceremony 

 they converse two and two. If their number is, for instance, 40, 

 20 are arranged in each row. Enema is then performed simultane- 

 ously by all warriors of one row while those of the opposite row 

 stand still with the lances oh their shoulders, accompanying the 

 movements and words of the other party with slight gestures of 

 the ,arms. Having performed the enema for some minutes, the 

 men of the first row keep silence and those of the second row speak, etc. 



The enema conversation, as we have seen, implies a mutual exhor- 

 tation for war and the future course of the combat is passed through, 

 whereat naturally a successful issue of it is anticipated. It is clear 

 that we are not here dealing with an ordinary exercise with the 

 arms. The whole thing is a magical ceremony by which the Jibaros 

 believe themselves to be able to conjure forth victory over the enemy. 

 By making enema the Jibaro warrior is supposed to get strength, 

 courage, and confidence for the coming fight. The war dance is, 

 moreover, believed to enable him to escape the lances and bullets of 

 the enemy in the combat. Besides, the enemy himself is thereby 

 lulled into security so that he will not be aware of the danger threat- 

 ening, but will be surprised by the assailants. Without enema prepa- 

 ration no war expedition is believed to result favorably. Hence, also, 

 when a house is assaulted by enemies at night, its defenders hurry to 

 make enema with each other before they go to meet the intruding 

 enemy. 



About 1 o'clock in the night, when the new day is supposed to 

 begin, the warriors assembled in the house of the chief start to per- 

 form enema^ which they continue until the break of day. This is 

 repeated every night during one week. 



Besides this war dance, the Jibaros try to secure victory over the 

 enemy through a kind of war song. This war song, which is called 

 anendrata, is sung by the warriors in the house before they start for 

 the expedition. 



