I'-Td.] 0±') [Gabb. 



axes, machetes, cotton cloth, &c. They never travel alone; always two 

 or more going in company. This is a very prudent measui'e, since acci- 

 dents are liable to happen, like snake-bites, or a bad fall, and a person 

 alone and disabled in these wilds, vs^ould be more than apt to die before 

 he would be discovered. The preparations f >r a trip into the forest are 

 simple, but require time. If there are no plantains to be found in the 

 neighborhood to which they are going, a large supply is collected. They 

 are skinned, boiled, and dried hai-d in the smoke of a slow hre. This is to 

 diminish the weight. A sufficient supply of corn is ground and made 

 into a paste, either with or without the admixture of ripe plantain, for 

 chicha. This is done up in bundles of about a gallon and a half in bulk, 

 carefully wrapped in large leaves and tied with strips, torn from the foot-* 

 stalk of the plantain leaf. At last, all being ready, every person loaded 

 with all he or she can carry, they start out, the loads done up in as com- 

 pact a bulk as possible and carried on the back, suspended from the fore- 

 head by a strip of mastate, or bark cloth. Each person also carries in the 

 hand a staff, four or five feet long, made of some tough wood. For ordi- 

 nary purposes, the entire trunk of certain slender palm trees is used. 

 This makes a stick about as thick as an ordinaiy civilized walking stick, 

 but very strong, and sufficiently elastic to yield a little without breaking. 

 The chiefs and a few other persons of consequence, like the priests, u'-ually 

 carry a stick of the red wood described above. Tliis is neither so strong 

 nor so light as the palm stick, but it is a privilege of rank, and is pre- 

 ferred in consequence. If the party is going on a trading trip — while the 

 stronger members carry the load of sarsapaiilla or rubber, still there are 

 always some, either women or boys, who carry the inevitable bundles of 

 chicha paste. Even when going from one house to another visiting, or to 

 a dance, the chicha is not forgotten, unless the distance is so short that 

 they are not liable to become thirsty on the road. On arriving at a house, 

 the party enters without a word, and each person seats himself where 

 most convenient, but as near the door as possible. The owner of the 

 house, or in his absence, his wife or the next most responsible person 

 approaches the new arrivals and salutes with, "You have come;" "I 

 have come;" "Are you well?" "I am well, how are you?" "lam well." If 

 a particular friend, or a person of consequence, he is invited to seat him- 

 self in a hammock. The people of less importance are allowed to take 

 care of themselves. In a few minutes the women of the house approach 

 with calabashes or vessels made of folded leaves full of chicha. If choco- 

 late is to be had, it is prepared at once, and offered in place of chicha. 

 This is a delicate attention, only shown to friends or persons of considera- 

 tion. Common folks must be content with chicha. Whether chocolate or 

 chica, it is served at least three times, at very short intervals, and at last, 

 when you cannot swallow any more, the polite thing is to say to the per- 

 son offering it, "drink it yourself," an advice usually followed, and which 

 stops the supply. If the peo^^le are particularly iuclined to be hospitable, 

 and are fortunate enough to be well supplied, it is not iincommon for the 



