RORAIMA. 343 
word meaning ‘“‘ Land of the White” a name seemingly 
justified by the event. He had built for himself at some 
distance from the settlement a large double-floored clay 
hut with window-openings hung inside with salempores. 
Here he lived in the upper room, invisible to the crowd, 
and on the ground floor kept his harem of all the 
most handsome girls he could colleét from the assembly 
without regard to the rights of their lovers. He was rarely 
to be seen in the gatherings of the people, and when he 
did appear was wrapped all over in salempores, only his 
cunning eyes appearing from the folds, threatening death 
and destru€tion to any one bold enough to dispute his 
commands. By his orders drinking bouts took place 
every night for several weeks, beginning at sunset and 
ending with the dawn. During the day, the men, drunk 
with paiwari, lay in their hammocks, while the women 
were incessantly occupied with the manufacture of this 
(to the Indians) pleasant beverage. Both sexes, however, 
united in the evening to pass the whole night beside the 
paiwari troughs, dancing and singing, when the two 
council-houses were specially set apart for this diversion. 
In this way many weeks were passed in the gayest 
manner while AWACAIPU was continually thinking over 
and maturing his plans to get all the tribes under his con- 
trol. At last he appears to have succeeded in devising a 
means to this end, which was to include the murder 
of ‘all those present who were capable of bearing 
arms. These, the most powerful and likely to oppose 
his projects, having been destroyed, he felt con- 
vinced the remainder would easily come round to 
his ideas, and to avoid the danger of delay resolved 
to carry out his coup d’etaé as quickly as possible. 
XX 2 
