70 Timel rr. 
and looking after her own piece of land without meddling with that of another. 
As already mentioned, the Otomacs did not practise polygamy. When their 
young men arrived at a marriageable age, the oldest widows in the place 
were handed over to them. The reason given for this handing over of 
such old women, was that to marry a boy and girl together was to join 
a pair of fools who didn’t know how to conduct themselves ; whereas, by mar- 
rying a young man to an old woman, she would instruct him how the 
house was to be managed, and how he must work to live. Furthermore, when 
the time arrived and he found himself a widower, the young girl whom he 
would then take to wife, would benefit by the instructions which he had re- 
ceived from her predecessor. 
The proverbial mother-in-law, even in the days of long ago, often proved a 
source of anxiety to the swain. In most cases, he was not allowed to approach 
or to converse with her. The Arawak dames were provided with a specially 
made basket, under which, turned upside down—the basket I mean—they would 
crouch on the advent of the son-in-law. An uncivilised Warrau at the present 
day does not talk with his mother-in-law; she turns her face away when he 
passes anywhere near. Amongst all the tribes it was considered incestuous for 
cousins to marry. 
In the case of a Carib captain being called to his last long rest, his wives would 
watch the body for a space of thirty days, each taking turn and turn about in 
their duty, and wondering to herself all the time whether she would be the 
one chosen to accompany her lord and master to the Inscrutable Beyond. When 
the time for burying the corpse arrived, and the grave was completed, one of 
these poor wretches would be buried alive with it. The eldest son inherited 
and took possession of his father’s wives except the one who bore him, and it 
was she who was usually the one chosen to accompany the dead. In other 
tribes, the widows became the property of the next surviving brother ; in others 
again, they were apparently free to pick and choose for themselves. With the 
old-time Arawaks it was a matter of choice with the next surviving brother 
whether he took her or not, his acceptance or repudiation of her being publicly 
procalimed during the course of the Makwarri or so-called Whip-dance, really 
a ceremonial festival in connection with deceased males,—a festival which corres- 
ponded with the Hau-yari dance for deceased females. 
Thus, in the maquarri, just before the dancing took place, the widow got 
her hair cut by the male members of the man’s family and paiwarri poured 
over her head ; this was symbolic that she was done with, and was free to return 
to her people, unless of course, the next elder brother wanted to take her to 
wife. So in the course of the Hau-yari festival the deceased woman’s relatives 
cut the widower’s hair and washed him with paiwarri. If a well behaved 
man or woman, only a little of the hair would be cut, and the paiwarri poured 
through a sifter ; if, on the other hand, he or she had been badly behaved and 
ill-tempered in their respective domestic lives revenge would now be taken by 
the cutting off of all the hair, and dashing the liquor over the body—as roughly 
as possible. 
The Guiana Indians, like many other present-day savages, believe that they 
are peculiarly favoured by an exemption from death except by old age, and that 
