586 ARTS AND CRAFTS OF GUIANA INDIANS [ETH, ANN. 38 
tioned the navigation of rivers on rafts concealed with grass or 
branches or on fallen trees (BrB, 96). Or else there was used a 
special kind of canoe with pieces of bark on top like a cover. In 
front were two holes where an Indian always stood on the lookout, 
while at the same time holes were to be seen on the sides of the 
vessel through which the warriors stuck their paddles in between 
branches, ete., which were tied to the canoe, floating on the water. 
In the distance it looked exactly like a floating tree trunk, out of 
which at a given moment a number of redskins showed up (PEN, 
1, 68). With the coastal tribes the attacking party would always 
wait to travel with the current, for, the tide being with them, the 
noise of their paddling would be diminished. So, also, were the 
journey a long one, they would preferably travel by night, sinking 
their corials and hiding themselves in the woods during the daytime 
(SR, m, 322). Among other tricks were the employment of bush 
ropes tied across the paths, all avenues guarded by sharp pieces of 
hardwood stuck on end, the irritating fumes of burnt peppers, and 
the use of women as “bluffs” and decoys. When ambushing the 
Boni Negroes the Oyacoulet Indians of the upper Maroni had 
stretched bush ropes across the pathways at the foot of the trees 
against which the Negroes stumbled in their flight (Cr, 35). “ From 
Cayenne, it is stated by Captain Jean-Pierre,” says Crévaux, 
“that when the old Oyampi wished to stop an enemy they sur- 
rounded their village with a circle of fire’ into which they threw 
handfuls of dry capsicums. It is impossible to fight when one is 
seized with an unconquerable sneezing” (Cr, 271). A similar trick 
was played upon the French by the Carib islanders thus: In the 
nighttime they made a shift to get a pot full of burning coals, on 
which they had cast a handful of pepper seed (grains de pyman), 
into the hut which the French had set up at their first arrival in the 
island [Grenada], purposely to stifle them, if they could, by the 
dangerous fume and the stupefying vapor of the peppers (RO, 534). 
[Outside of the Guianas, on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Vene- 
zuela, when first visited by the Spanish ships, the Indians in their 
canoes paddled swiftly to shore and plunged into the forest. They 
soon returned with 16 young girls, whom they conveyed in their 
canoes to the ships, distributing four on board of each, either as 
peace offerings or as tokens of amity and confidence. . . . The 
friendship of the savages, however, was all delusive. On a sudden 
several old women at the doors of their houses uttered loud shrieks, 
tearing their hair in fury. It appeared to be a signal for hos- 
tility. . . . Even those who were swimming brandished darts 
and lances, which they had hitherto concealed beneath the water 
(WI, 617).] 
