INDIAN FEAST DUIDA. 



237 



were ranged against the wall. Humboldt imagines 

 that the habit of eating animals so much resembling 

 man has in some degree contributed to diminish the 

 horror of anthropophagy among savages. Apes, 

 when thus cooked, and especially such as have a 

 very round head, bear a hideous likeness to a child ; 

 and for this reason such Europeans as are obliged to 

 feed upon them separate the head and hands before 

 the dish is presented at their tables. The flesh is 

 very lean and dry. 



Among the articles brought by the Indians from 

 their expedition were various interesting vegetable 

 productions ; fruits of different species, reeds up- 

 wards of fifteen feet long, perfectly straight and free 

 of knots, and bark used for making shirts. The 

 women were employed in serving the men with the 

 food already mentioned, fermented liquors, and palm- 

 cabbage, but were not permitted to join in the fes- 

 tivities. Among all the tribes of the Orinoco the 

 females live in a sort of slavery, almost the whole 

 labour devolving upon them. Polygamy is frequently 

 practised, and on the other hand a kind of polyandry 

 is established in places where the fair sex are less 

 numerous. When a native who has several wives 

 becomes a Christian, the missionaries compel him 

 to choose her whom he prefers and to dismiss the 

 others. 



The summit of Duida is so steep that no person 

 has ever ascended it. At the beginning and end of 

 the rainy season, small flames, which appear to shift, 

 are seen upon it. On this account the mountain has 

 been called a volcano, which, however, it is not. The 

 granite whereof it is composed is full of veins, some 

 of which being partly open, gaseous and inflamma- 

 ble vapours may pass through them ; for it is not 

 probable that the flames are caused by lightning, the 

 humidity of the climate being such that plants do 

 not readily take fire. 



The travellers had an opportunity of seeing at Es- 



