ITINERARY. XXVU 



These dances always comprise the same kind of lurching steps, the 

 right foot being brought heavily to the ground, and making altogether 

 a loud clattering sound, which, combineil with that of the rattles and 

 the deep-sounding hollow poles, produces a sort of rhytlimic swing 

 with the tones of the men and women. On big occasions the chant 

 may vary a good deal, accortling to the resources of the leader. Thus 

 there may be frequent repetition of the description of an event or 

 thing, or even a sort of ntirrative, as of the difficulties and success of a 

 hunt, or the dangers and terrors of a journey like that to Koraima, 

 always with a sort of intei-mittent accompaniment like tiiat of " he-ah, 

 he-ah." The pi-eliminaries, too, vary a good deal according to the 

 occasion. The men at times may be decorated with their oeautiful 

 feather crowns, and with elaborate armlets and necklaces (the latter of 

 the teeth of the peccary) with pendants of feathers, bird-skins, beetles' 

 wings, seeds, etc., or decked out with strips of palm-leaves arranged 

 in a tall crown for the head, a wide shoulder wreath around the neck, 

 and a sort of kilt around the waist ; while the women may appear 

 equally decorated with all their beads, seeds, and buttons, arranged as 

 necklaces, armlets, wristlets, leglets, anklets, and even in loops acro.ss 

 the body, or rarely the whole body may be covered with stripes, dots, 

 and patterns (like those on the bead-aprons) in red and blue-black dyes 

 and white clay — some of the men also even thus varying their 

 decoration, though never as elaborately as the women, so far as my 

 own experience goes. The face and hands are often thus marked. 



On tiiese moi-e special occasions, which may last over a couple of 

 nights, the number of people gathered together from all directions may 

 be considerable, and the drink-supplies equally so. Enoimous gourds 

 are filled ready, as well as lai-ge boat-like vessels, roughly hollowed out 

 of the trunk of a tree and oiiiamented with the roughly carved heads 

 of the armadillo and the tortoise, one at each end as a sort of handle to 

 the vessel. One is always surprised jit hrst by the small quantity of 

 food eaten at these times, but in reality paiwani is not a mere drink, 

 for it contains a large cpiantity of finely comminuted cassava bread, 

 and is thus to some extent a food also. 



The celebration for our people was not on a very big scale, as the 

 date of our arrival could not be known in sufficient time, and paiwarri 

 will not keep good for more than three or four days — it becomes a 

 purge soon after, — but such as it was they were not fit for much on the 

 next day. Still, it had been an occasion — a good time — for all con- 

 cerned, and brought about a much better state of feeling between the 

 men of the two tribes. The guides, no doidat, had been r,he medium of 

 the easy fr.iternization, as the paiwarri was the incentive. 



In the moining we reapnd another benefit in a very large supply of 

 fresh meat, fish, ca.ssava Ijiead, yams, ])umpkins, pa^iaws, and sugar- 

 cane, for which Lanceuian was (piite willing that the jjcople .should be 

 paid in money-— small silver jjieces. No doubt, the guides and our men 

 had vouched for our characters. Apart from the trip, we were well- 

 known on the great savannahs from having passed there on our fir.st 

 journey. At any rate, we had no further difficulty, and McConnell gave 

 money or barter, .sometimes both, as was most convenient or desiiable. 

 lie gave some .special presents and largo silver pieces to the chief in 



