158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN" ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 63 



C. Gallardo (355) this custom does not obtain except l)etween intimate 

 friends. 



D. Chonos. — If a flock of parrots passes overhead, do not look, 

 otherwise bad weather will follow (Garcia, a, 21 ) ; do not throw shell- 

 fish on the fire, else the sea will become rough (Garcia, a, 20). Do 

 not throw shells into the water (Byron, a, 2d ed., 162). 



For other taboos see under Birth Customs, Initiations, and Death 

 and Burial. 



DREAMS 



A certain importance is apparently attached to dreams by the 

 Yahgans and Alacaluf (Martial, 212-213; Darwan, «, 1871 ed., 215, 

 221), although Dr. Ilyades denies this for the Yahgans {p, 338; 

 <?, 253). Cf. also Coriat, 206. 



VARIOUS CUSTOMS 



Lieut. Cevallos (Vargas Ponce, h, 29) reports seeing a dozen or more 

 Alacaluf seated in a circle, chanting under a sort of choir leader, and 

 from time to time pieces of meat were thrown into the fire; all this 

 was gone through with profound respect. The custom of throwing 

 some object into the fire in a solemn manner was also witnessed by 

 Dr. Lucy-Fossarieu (173-174) and Capt. Martial (207-208) as an 

 accompaniment, respectively, of Alacalufan mourning and the Yah- 

 gan ''oath." When a Yahgan infant would not take the breast, the 

 mother threw a few drops of milk into the fire (Hyades, </, 194). It 

 would be interesting to know whether this custom has any sacrificial 

 meaning, in the Cevallos case in particular. 



Two other customs are noted by Byron. He describes (a, 145-146; 

 cf. also A. Campbell, 61-62) a weird ceremony during which his 

 Chonos sang themselves into a frenzy, cutting ojie another and carry- 

 ing firebrands in their mouths. He was told by the Christian cacique, 

 who was much offended, that at such times the Indians hear uncom- 

 mon noises and see frightful visions. The devil, Byron was assured, 

 was the chief actor on these occasions. 



On another occasion Byron was severely rebuked for throwing 

 hmpet shells from the canoe into the water (a, 162-163). 



Father Garcia's Chonos blacked their faces with charcoal on enter- 

 ing the iceberg-strewn and snow-banked lagoon of San Rafael "to 

 salute the snow, lest they die" (a, 14), and on another occasion one 

 of them painted his face to bring good weather {a, 15). 



Mrs. Hanaford's youthful informant told her (210-211) that on 

 one occasion he saw some of his Indian captors, who were probably 

 Alacaluf, climb a tree, then come down and violently throw sand and 

 stones at the huts, and that on another occasion they ate pounded 

 glass (?), pointed upwai-ds, and af'toi* a few ceremonies buried a seal's 

 tooth. 



