KAKSTENl BLOOD REVENGE, WAR, AND VICTORY FEASTS 71 



water into the pot from a water bottle and places the pot on the 

 fire, some other men attending to the pot while it boils. 



At another fire close by tobacco is simultaneously being boiled, 

 to be mixed with the natema. A small clay pot is placed by the 

 fire, and some leaves of tobacco are laid on a banana leaf at the side 

 of it. The slayer, whose hand is held by the priest, takes a tobacco 

 leaf and carefully puts it. first, on the edge of the pot and then into it. 

 The wife of the slayer repeats the process with another leaf, laying 

 it at first on the edge of the pot and then inside it. Lastly, a third 

 leaf of tobacco is in the same Avay put into the pot by the daughter 

 of the slayer. Thereupon the slayer, assisted by the priest, pours 

 some water into the pot and places it on the fire. 



On the spot where the natema is cooked there is also placed a 

 piece of the stem of the manioc plant and two narrow strips of the 

 bark of a tree which the Jibaros call samiki. The slayer takes one 

 (>f the strips, winds it round his index finger, and ties it into a ring 

 of the same size as the finger. By means of one end of the strip, 

 Avhich after the tying of the ring has been left free, he then attaches 

 the ring to the piece of the manioc stem. Thereupon he in the 

 same way makes another ring of the other strip, giving it the size of 

 his index finger, and attaches it to the manioc stem at the side of the 

 first ring. With the aid of the priest he ultimately places the manioc 

 stem, with the two rings attached to it, upon the tobacco pot boiling 

 on the fire in such a way that it rests upon the edges of the pot. 



The object of this ceremony is to establish a mysterious connection 

 between the slayer, who, as we have seen, is supposed to be filled 

 with supernatural power, the tobacco water to be mixed in the 

 natema drink, and the manioc plant which the persons drinking of 

 the narcotic will see in the dream. The two rings formed of the 

 rind of the samiki tree will in this connection serve as mediums for 

 the transference of the power. The Jibaros ascribe magical virtues 

 to the samiki tree itself, and a little of its bark is generally mixed 

 with the natema with a view to increasing the efficacy of the drink. 

 The hasten strips of the tree having been formed into rings of the 

 same size as the slayer's finger, are believed to catch his power, and 

 thus to transfer it to the manioc and the boiling tobacco pot. The 

 persons partaking of the sacred drink are afterwards, in the narcotic 

 sleep, supposed to see, among other things, the manioc fields of the 

 slayer in a flourishing state and bearing a rich crop of fruit. 



At the tsantsa feast the natema is only boiled for about one hour, 

 whereupon the pot is taken off the fire. Similarly the smaller pot in 

 which tobacco has been cooked is taken away, the manioc stick with 

 the hasten rings having first been removed. The latter is fixed in 



