58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 79 



way assisted by the priest. In all, six manioc fruits have thus been 

 ceremonially placed in the basket. 



An older Indian now continues the work of filling the basket with 

 roasted manioc until it is nearly full, but he does it without ceremony 

 and is not assisted by the priest. Nor is the brown powder or the 

 salt put into the fruit. However, the last maniocs with which the 

 basket is filled must again be laid down by the slayer, his wife, and 

 daughter, and with the same ceremonies as before. Each of them 

 thus, with the assistance of the priest, again places two maniocs in 

 the basket, sprinkling some of the brown poAvder and a little salt 

 into them and covering them with the leaves. The basket having 

 been filled, the slayer, assisted by the priest, carefully covers it with 

 leaves and ties it over with lianas. 



With exactly the same ceremonies the two other baskets are filled, 

 the slayer, his wife, and daughter always laying down the first and 

 the last maniocs and covering them with leaves. 



At the other end of the house, in the women's quarters, a sort of 

 shelter or broad shelf has been made of split bamboo, resting upon 

 four poles about 1^ or 2 meters in height. Under this shelter the 

 large clay pots in which the manioc substance is laid for fermenting 

 are later placed upon the ground. Even the three baskets containing 

 the roasted manioc are brought here. They are not laid on the 

 ground but are hung up to the roof by means of a special pole fixed 

 in the ground. The slayer himself carries the baskets here from the 

 place where they had been filled with the fruit, the priest holding 

 his hands. The slayer takes the pole and fixes it in the ground close • 

 to one of the four poles upon which the shelter rests. Other men 

 complete the work, fixing the pole more steadily in the ground and 

 tying it to the other poles. The slayer, whose hands are held by the 

 priest, lifts up one of the three baskets and hangs it upon the pole. 

 Thereafter, with the aid of the priest, he hangs the two other baskets 

 upon the pole. 



The baskets are left hanging here for three days until the begin- 

 ning of the feast, manioc wine being then prepared from them in a 

 way to be described later. During these days the fruit will " ripen " 

 properly; the powder and the salt put into the manioc will impreg- 

 nate the fi'uit and exert some mysterious influence to the effect that 

 the wine prepared from it will turn out exceedingly strong. To the 

 kachlni and wambd leaves, placed in the baskets, some mysterious 

 influence is also ascribed. 



While this work has been done by the slayer, his wife and 

 daughter, and some of the men, the rest of the women, headed by 

 the priestess, have been engaged in preparing the manioc beer 

 {nihamdnchi) . After the fruit has been boiled it has to be masti- 

 cated, a work which it takes some two hours to perform. The masti- 



