rotH] GAMES, SPORTS, AND AMUSEMENTS 493 
each respective pair comes to an end, it is then a point of Warrau eti- 
quette to shake the shields at each other in a jeering manner 
This is generally followed by a hearty good-humored laugh, in which 
the bystanders join. Im Thurn describes the “ game” as consisting 
of each party drawn up in a long single line, the two lines facing each 
other in such a way that each player has immediately facing him a 
player of the opposite side of about his own size .. . Each maker 
prepares his shield of a size suitable for himself,so that these vary 
from that of the big full-sized man to those of the small boys (Ti, Dee. 
89, p. 292). The front of each shield is painted in various colors, and 
with some peculiar device according to the fancy of the owner, says 
Brett (Br, 350). But this statement does not tally entirely with 
the information since received from various old men who remember 
having seen these articles in their younger days. I learn that only 
three orthodox designs were in vogue—the sun, represented by a 
circular patch of paint; the moon, indicated by a crescent lying 
horizontal with its convexity downward; and the cross-shoulder or- 
nament expressed by a St. Andrew’s cross, while the heads or chiefs 
alone of each settlement would have human figures represented. 
. The only color said to have been employed was the annatto in its 
various shades. The Warrau name of the man or champion who 
handles the shield is taratu, and that of the shield hisahi or isahi. 
From the fact of the implement having been manufactured from the 
leafstalk (naha) of the ite palm, it was also known as naha, a word 
which was apparently wrongly printed in Schomburgk’s work as 
haha, an error that seems to have been copied by others. Warrau 
have told me that Brett’s picture of the wrestling game (Br, 350) is 
correct in the details of the positions assumed by the participants; 
in the style of the hair, which in the old days was always allowed to 
grow till over the shoulders; and in the way that the loins are en- 
veloped with creole cloth, the first substitute with advancing civili- 
zation for the original “lap.” 
609. As with many another savage race, the exercise of weapons is 
encouraged at an early age. Thus, in Surinam the main sport of the 
Indians consists in practicing with the bow and arrow; but what is 
most surprising is that their children practice it at a very early age 
and have no other amusement in their earliest youth than to shoot 
at small birds, without hardly ever missing one, with the result that 
... they don’t at all fear their enemies by the confidence which 
they have in their own skill (FE, 53). The same held true on the 
Orinoco with the Otomac children. The youngsters of the same 
village form battalions, choose leaders, place their “men” in po- 
sition, give a signal, and wage their petty wars in the rehearsals of 
which their parents take great pleasure. In these sham fights they 
