KABSTEN] BLOOD REVENGE, WAR, AND VICTORY FEASTS 63 



with cotton strings called patdM. For the dances they always put 

 on a broad girdle or rattle of snail shells {kungu) ; but these rattles 

 are not ornaments but a means of conjuration. 



When the guests enter the house they are received by the hosts-— 

 the father, brothers, or sons of the slayer — with a ceremonial 

 greeting (pi. 8, a). The men generally enter three or four at a 

 time, -h^ach of them utters a loud : " Wim/dhei,''^ " I come," where- 

 upon all arrange themselves in a row close to the door, with their 

 lances stretched forth, and remain motionless until they are spoken 

 to by the hosts. Some of the boys in the house step forward and 

 hand a small round chair {kutanga) to each of the guests, who now 

 take a seat, but still without uttering a word, and holding their 

 lances between their knees. The hosts, having arranged their dress 

 and painted their faces, take their seats, each sitting in front of the 

 guest to whom he is going to speak, and only utter the word 

 "^^«ri^/^■," "may you come." This is the signal to the guest that he 

 may start speaking. He mentions that he has been invited to the 

 feast, that he has accepted the invitation and arrived to honor the 

 victor, etc. The conversation mostly turns about the feast, the 

 preparations made for it, the number of swine bred for the same, 

 the number of guests invited, etc. The host and the guest speak m 

 turns, but they do not speak in an ordinary conversational tone, bat 

 shout, and the words follow so quickly upon each other that to an 

 outsider it is almost impossible to understand what they say. 

 Each conversation lasts for about 10 minutes, and each guest has 

 to be spoken to separately by some one of the hosts. During the 

 conversation manioc beer is repeatedly served to the guests by the 

 women in the house. Each guest has to empty at least three dishes 

 (pininga) of this drink. After this ceremonial reception the guests 

 may step forth from the door and move about in the house at lib- 

 erty; and other guests arriving are received in the same manner. 



Only the men are received in this ceremonial way. The women, 

 following their husbands, fathers, or brothers, enter without any 

 form of salutation and are not particularly spoken to by the hosts. 



All the guests having arrived and been properly received by the 

 hosts, preparations are immediately made for receiving the victor 

 himself, whose solemn entrance now takes place. 



Some of the oldest warriors take the trophy, which has been kept 

 hanging in the smoke over the fire, place it on a shield and carry 

 it to the ranch outside of the house, where the slayer and the priest 

 have passed the third night. Here, in part, the same ceremony is 

 repeated as took place on the previous day. The tsantsa is placed on 

 the top of a chonta stick fixed in the ground. The priest gives the 

 slayer juice of tobacco and helps him to hang the trophy on himself. 



