26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 79 



enable the warriors to recognize their comrades in the battle, partly 

 are supposed to eke out that natural power which the Indian always 

 ascribes to his hair and his pigtails. To impart strength and valor 

 to the warrior is also the object of the ear tubes, the necklaces of 

 jaguar's teeth, and the belt of the boa serpent. "Wearing our ear 

 tubes (anisa), we do not fear anything," the Jibaros are in the habit 

 of saying. The teeth of the jaguar and the belt of the boa skin nat- 

 urally give the wearer something of the demoniac strength of these 

 animals. Again, the power which the Jibaros attribute to the cincture 

 made of human hair depends on the supernatural properties ascribed 

 to the hair, which is regarded as the seat of the soul or the vital en 



ergy. 



Having arrived at the tract inhabited by the hostile tribe the Avar- 

 riors, if possible, try to surprise and kill particular persons belong- 

 ing to the tribe, who, unaware of the danger, happen to be outside 

 the houses, working in the plantations or walking in the forest. The 

 proper attacks are, however, according to the general custom of the 

 Indians, made at night or early in the morning, a little before dawn. 

 Keeping strict silence, the enemies surround the house on all sides 

 and ambush in the immediate neighborhood of it, expecting that 

 someone will go out and open the door. That person is then in- 

 stantly killed by a lance or a rifle shot, whereupon the enemies speed- 

 ily penetrate into the house and massacre the rest of its inhabitants. 

 In case it proves impossible to penetrate into the house by treachery, 

 the enemies set fire to it by firebrands thrown upon its roofing, oblig- 

 ing the inhabitants to leave it and killing them during the confusion 

 that follows. If in this way the assailants have been able to kill all 

 the people in one house, and there is no fear of other Indians coming 

 to the rescue, they may go to the next house and continue the mas- 

 sacre, for, as already pointed out, the wars carried out against foreign 

 tribes always aim at completely exterminating the enemy if possible. 



HoAvever, the enemy is not always in this way surprised and un- 

 prepared, and is not always annihilated without resistance. Thus 

 the measures of defense, described above, may, at least to a certain 

 extent, frustrate the plans of the attacking party. 



Not seldom the inhabitants of the house, through the dogs and the 

 chickens, or in some other way, get knowledge of the presence of the 

 enemy, and the latter may then to his disappointment suddenly hear 

 the beats of the great signal drums in the fast time which is a sure 

 sign for the friends that the people of the house are in danger. The 

 assailants then have to choose between quickly retiring or pursuing 

 the attack and engaging in a fight the result of which, owing to the 

 help eventually arriving, is uncertain. 



However, if the enemy has already surrounded the house, there 

 is little hope for those shut up in it to be saved through the inter- 



