M AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



hand a whip with a hard strong lash made of fibre. Every now and then a couple 

 retire from the line and use their whips. One stands steadily, one leg in front 

 of the other ; the other swings back his whip, and, with all the force he can 

 command, lashes the calf of the first man's leg. Then in his turn the second man 

 stands still to receive a lash from the other. They lash each other in this way 

 until their calv^es are striped with weals and blood flows freely. The punishment 

 is borne and inflicted with perfect good temper, and was probably originally 

 devised as a test of endurance. Finally the dancers retire and drink together." — 

 (^lin Thurn.) 



These Arawaks appear to have been by far the most civilised of all the 

 Guiana peoples, for they possess fictile vases of most varied forms embellished 

 with ornaments and grotesque human and animal figures in high relief. The 

 pottery of other Guiana tribes is extremely simple, without any decorative work 

 beyond a few rude designs executed in thin lines. To the Arawaks should per- 

 haps be attributed the stone porringers met in several parts of the Guianas, the 

 circle of standing stones seen by Barrington Brown in the Pacaraima Mountains, 

 and resembling that of Stanton Moor, the timehri or inscribed rocks of the Ber- 

 bice, Corentyne, and Maroni rivers, covered with figures of men and animals, 

 especially frogs, together with other eccentric forms, some shallow, some deeply 



incised. 



The Wapisianas and Atorais. 



The Wapisianas and Atorais, who dwell about the region of the water-parting, 

 being rarely visited by the English travellers, have still preserved their primitive 

 type. The Atorais would probably be the losers by miscegenation with other 

 tribes, for their women are distinguished by remarkably perfect figures and 

 great dignity of expression. The profile of the face differs little from that of 

 Europeans, and the complexion is almost white. According to Coudreau, many of 

 the Atorais are no darker than the Andalusians, the Sicilians, or the peasantry of 

 South France. 



On the other hand, the Wapisianas are of a browner colour, with less regular 

 features and less graceful carriage. Like the Atorais, they have a hairless face 

 with only a few short bristles on the upper lip and chin, while the hair of the head 

 is very abundant. Both sexes pierce the lower lip with at least two pins, and 

 insert another in the cartilage of the nose, to which they attach a piece of metal. 

 This, it would seem, is the distinctive mark of the tribe. Formerly the Wapisiana 

 girls w^ere obliged to have the two upper incisors extracted ; but this custom 

 appeai'8 to have fallen into abey;ince. 



These natives wear nothing but the calembé, the loin-cloth of the negroes ; but 

 they pay great attention to the head-dress and other personal embellishments, 

 decking themselves with all the beads, coins, and trinkets they can pick up. 

 Maize is grown, but only to extract from the grain a kind of beer, called cashiri, 

 which throws the drinkers into a state of hilarious intoxication. It is during 

 these orgies that the young men's brides are usually carried off, marriage being 

 still made amongst the Atorais and Wapisianas by abduction. 



