80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 79 



their contents. The men thus quickly and simultaneously drinking 

 the beer, the revengeful spirit is believed to have more difficulty in 

 doing harm to any of them. 



The drinking bout is continued nearly the whole day, until all, both 

 men and women, get more or less drunk. In the same degree as the 

 drink exerts its intoxicating eti'ects, the Indians start to dance singly, 

 and this dance goes on the whole forenoon. At first the priestess 

 (ohdha) dances alone witli the tf^antsa hanging on her back, chanting 

 a sort of conjuration. ( Generally , however, the younger Indians ap- 

 pear in couples, one man and one woman (pi, 10, a), the wife and 

 daughter of the slayer being the most active among the women. 

 The dancing couple wear the usual festival dress, the woman having 

 her rattle of snail shells round the waist, and the man his drum, 

 which he beats in time to the dance. The dance, generally speaking, 

 consists in the man and the woman alternately moving to and from 

 each other in slow, solemn time, indicated by the beats of the drum, 

 the woman simultaneously chanting a song (pi. 10, h). At the same 

 time other men accompany the dance by beating drums or playing 

 flutes. In this way one couple after the other makes its appearance in 

 the course of the day. Besides the priestess, other women also appear 

 dancing alone, accompanying themselves with a chant or song. These 

 songs generally have no reference to the feast, but the women sing 

 whatever occurs to them in their intoxicated state. Thus it is com- 

 mon that at the great feasts the women address their songs to certain 

 beautiful birds of the forest, which are then personified and spoken 

 to. Among these birds the toucan (tsukdnffa) , the cock of the rocic 

 (sumga), the paugi {mashu), and the wild turkey {kuyu) play the 

 principal roles, and the dancing women address them, giving them all 

 sorts of pet names, praising their brilliant plumage, their walk, etc. 



The Slaughter of the Swine: Cuchi Achiktahei Matinyu 



About 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day the important 

 action takes place which the Jibaros call Cuckl achiktahei matinyu — 

 " the slaughter of the swine." 



According to the ritual of the feast, the ceremonial slaughtering 

 of the swine takes place during the night preceding the last day of 

 the feast, or more strictly speaking shortly after midnight, " when 

 the cocks crow for the first time," and the new day is supposed to 

 begin. This hour is generally about 1 o'clock in the morning. Since 

 it is, hoAvever, difficult both to slaughter, a number of swine and to 

 cook their flesh within a short time, the matter is mostly prac- 

 tically arranged so that the slaughtering of the animals takes place 

 on the afternoon of the day before, whereas the cooking of the flesh 

 is done at midnight. That the flesh should be cooked at midnight 

 IS considered absolutely necessary, for only in this case will the pur- 



