1875. J ^-J [Gabb. 



tains boiled and mashed, ai*e mixed in eqnal quantities of corn-meal paste 

 to make cbicha, or to bake in cakes. They are also, when ripe, boiled, 

 mashed into a paste, and mixed with water into a gruel. This is drank 

 under the name of mis?i'-la. Maize is raised in considerable quantities, 

 aud this really involves four-fifths of all their agricultural labor. The corn 

 is of a variety of colors ; white, yellow, red, purple, blue, and almost per- 

 fectly black. Sometimes the ear, rarely more than six or seven inches 

 long, is of a uniform color, but more generally the grains are of two or 

 more colors. It is boiled green and eaten from the cob, and is thus con. 

 sideied a great delicacy. It is, when ripe, ground for all other purposes. 

 The process of grinding is rude and simple in the extreme. If possible, a 

 stone, three feet long and two wide, with a flit upper surface, is procured. 

 In default of this, a broad slab of wood is used. For this purpose, a piece 

 cut from one of the plank-like buttresses of the Ceiba tree is procured, 

 and one side dressed smooth. The remainder of this primitive mill, is a 

 stone, about a foot or fourteen inches long, a few inches less in width 

 and three or four inches thick. One side must be regularly curved. The 

 corn, soaked over night to soften it, is placed on the flat surface and the 

 stone last mentioned is rocked on its edge, from side to side. This is 

 always doue by the women. When the corn is sufficiently ground, the 

 paste is put into an iron pot and boiled to mush. If it is intended to 

 make cakes, a part of the i-aw paste is mixed with an equal quantity of 

 boiled ripe plantain paste, to sweeten it. It is then rolled in plantain 

 leaf and baked in the ashes. When the paste is boiled, sometimes a part 

 of it is separated, thinned to the consistency of gruel, and drunk hot. If 

 it is intended to make chichi for the road, the thick mush is at once 

 mixed with an equal part of ripe plantain paste as before, and tied up in 

 leaves. This will keep sweet for two or three days, but gradually fer- 

 mentation takes place, and at a week old, it has a not unpleasant sweet- 

 ish acid taste. When ready for drinking, it is dissolved in cold water to 

 a thia gruel. The taste for it is easily acquired, and I admit, I be- 

 came very fond of it. It certainly does possess intoxicating properties, 

 but I cannot conceive how any civilized stomach could accommodate a 

 sufficient quantity to produce exhilaration. Still I have seen Indians 

 very happy from its effects. But since I desire these notes to be believed, 

 I do not dare to state the quantity I have seen one of these fellows drink. 

 AVere only half the truth told, it would appef(,r incredible. The method 

 of preparing the chicha for use in the house is slightly different. The 

 paste is thinned at once, while yet hot. The plantain paste, also thinned, 

 is poured into the earthen jar with it, and sufficient water is added to 

 bring it to the proper thinness for drinking. To produce rapid fermen- 

 tation another process is yet necessary, which I saw once at Dipuk on 

 the Uren. A young girl (young girls only, with sound teeth perform this 

 operation,) having previously rinsed her mouth with a little water, sat 

 down on a low stool, with a pile of tender raw corn beside her, and a 

 big calabash in her lap. She chewed, or rather bit the grains from the 



