Photo by H. Pittier 

 ^l, BOOUETE, SUMMER RESORT OE THE PANAMANIANS, WITH THE CEOUDED CHIRIOUI 

 VOLCANO IN THE BACKGROUND SEE PAGE 633) 



with who were positively pretty and — 

 is it necessary to say? — knew it. But 

 beauty is not at a premium among tlie 

 Guaymi females. A woman ought first 

 to be strong, healthy, and a good beast 

 of burden and day-worker. The chil- 

 dren, especially the little girls, also have 

 frequently lovely faces, with a warm 

 brown, velvety skin and beautiful eyes. 

 When they reach the age of puberty 

 tl-eir hair is cropped short and not al- 

 lowed to grow again until the first baby 

 is born. Maidenhood, however, is a short 

 stage of life for the Guaymi women, 

 who not infrequently become mothers 

 before having reached their twelfth year. 

 Face painting is a common practice, 

 restricted apparently neither by age nor 

 sex, although the women adorn them- 

 selves thus only on great occasions. 

 Black, red, and white are the favorite 

 colors, the latter being obtained, as I 

 have been told, by the use of an ordi- 

 nary oil-paint, which the Guaymies ob- 



tain at Bocas del Toro. Little girls keep 

 their faces clean, but boys under twelve 

 were seen with broad black blotches, 

 without definite outline, around their 

 eyes. 



In men the decoration is always more 

 elaborate, and certain peculiarities in the 

 patterns, as well as the exact repetition 

 of these by distinct people, lead to the 

 belief that they had formerly and may 

 still have a significance as a totemic or 

 tribal emblem. The groundwork al- 

 most always consists of two black lines 

 starting obliquely downward from be- 

 tween the eyes, so as to form on the face 

 a broadly open A, the apex of which is 

 on the nose ridge. These black lines are 

 variously supplemented by white or red 

 parallels, terminal appendages, and the 

 coloring in pink, by means of anatto, of 

 the outline of the lips, which then appear 

 much thicker than they naturally are. 



In certain communities the wealth of 

 people is estimated by the number of 



640 



