FEWKES] PALULUKONTI, OR ANKWANTI 41 



this field of corn hung a decorated cloth screen reaching from one 

 wall of the room to the other and from the floor almost to the rafters. 

 On this screen were painted many strange devices, among which were 

 pictures of human lieings, male and female, and of birds, symbols of 

 rain clouds, lightning, and falling rain. Prominent among the sym- 

 bols was a row of six circular disks, the boi'ders of which were made 

 of plaited corn husks, while the inclosed field of each was decorated 

 with a symbolic picture of the sun. Men wearing grotesque masks" 

 and ceremonial kilts stood on each side of this screen, one dressed as 

 a woman and bearing in one hand a basket tray of meal and in the 

 other an ear of corn. He wore a helmet with a coil of hair suspended 

 on each side of the face, a bunch of feathers on the top, and a bang 

 made of red horsehair hanging before the face. The helmet was 

 painted black, and small crescents indicated the eyes and the mouth. 



The act began with a song, to which the masked men, except the 

 last-mentioned, danced. A hoarse roar made by a concealed actor 

 blowing through an empty gourd* resounded from behind the screen, 

 and immediately the circular disks swung open upward, and were seen 

 to be flaps hinged above, covering orifices through which simulta- 

 neouslj' protruded six artificial heads of serpents, realisticalh' painted. 

 Each head had protuberant goggle-eyes and bore a curved horn and a 

 fan-like crest of hawk feathers. A mouth with teeth was cut in one 

 end, and from this orifice there hung a strip of leather painted red, 

 representing the tongue. 



Slowly at first, but afterward more rapidly, these elBgies were thrust 

 farther into view, each revealing a body 4 or 5 feet long, painted, 

 like the head, black on the back and white on the belly. When they 

 were fulh' extended, the song grew louder, and the efligies moved back 

 and forth, raising and depressing their heads in time, wagging them 

 to one side or the other in unison. Thej' seemed to bite ferociously 

 at each other, and vicioush* darted at men standing near the screen. 

 This remarkable play continued for some time, when suddenly the 

 heads of the serpents l)ent down to the floor and swept across the 

 imitation cornfield, knocking over the clay pedestals and the corn 

 leaves which they supported. Then the cifigies raised their heads 

 and wagged them back and forth as before. It was observed that 

 the largest elfigy, that in the middle, had several udders on each 

 side of the belly, and that she apparently suckled the others. jNIean- 

 while the roar emitted from behind the screen bj^ a concealed man 

 continued, and wild excitement seemed to prevail. Some of the 

 spectators threw meal at the efligies, ofl'ering prayers, amid shouts 

 from others. The masked man representing a woman stepped for- 

 ward and presented the contents of the basket tray to the serpent 



« Representing the Bear katcinas, 



6 This gourd was decorated with the symbolic masks of the Great Plumed Snake. 



