56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 70 



staff to the chonta pillar round which the dancers move. This is a 

 signal for them to finish the dance for that night. All the .young 

 men and women now run out and down to the river, where they 

 bathe. All the dances of the Jibaros are finished with such a general 

 bath in the river. 



The dance wu'mienshi is also continued during the following three 

 nights. 



The Preparation or the Manioc Beer (Nihamanchi) and the 

 Manioc Wine (Sanguciia Shiki) 



The following day, that is, three days before the feast proper 

 begins, the manioc beer to be served to the many guests, and also a 

 manioc wine which is to be drunk at the end of the feast, are pre- 

 pared. The preparation of both these drinks, and especially of the 

 manioc wine, is of a ceremonial character. The main thing is to make 

 them as strong as possible, this being essential for the success of the 

 feast. The slayer himself, therefore, must personfllly assist in the 

 work, in order to transfer his own power to the beverages. The lead- 

 ing principle in the whole tsantsa feast, as already mentioned, is 

 that the slayer, by virtue of the close relation established between 

 him and the spirit of his victim, becomes invested with supernatural 

 power and knowledge which he is trying to use for his own ends and 

 to make effective in different departments of his economic life. 



Early in the morning all the women, headed by the wife of the 

 slayer and the priestess {ohdha), go out to the manioc fields to fetch 

 the manioc for preparing the drinks mentioned. Each of the women 

 carries one of the baskets {chang'ma) just made, and they are ac- 

 companied by the men armed with lances. The manioc which is to 

 be brought home by the wife of the slayer, and of which the im- 

 portant manioc wine is to be prepared, is gathered with especial care. 

 When the woman pulls up the first stalk of manioc — which ought to 

 be particularly large and well grown — the priestess is holding her 

 wrist and likewise helps her to lay it down in the basket. She then 

 fills the basket with other manioc fruits without the aid of the 

 priestess. The women return to the house with their baskets in about 

 two hours, and at once start the preparations. The fruit is washed 

 and the majority of it is peeled, parted, and boiled in various large 

 clay pots. From this manioc, through masticating and mashing the 

 fruit, fermented manioc substance is later prepared. 



The manioc wine {shiki) is prepared in another way. For this 

 purpose the manioc is first roasted, not boiled, a work performed by 

 the priest {whuca) at a big fire outside the house (pi. 5, &), with 

 the assistance of some other Indians. As soon as a sufficient quantity 



