HOUSES OF THE CARIPUNAS. 



299 



men and several women went with me to examine the dwelling-houses 

 of the women. The roof extended within two feet of the ground. The 

 sides and gable ends were also thatched in, with a doorway at each 

 corner, and one in the centre next the guard-house ; five entrances in 

 all. The inside presented a confused appearance. Piles of ashes were 

 scattered about the ground floor as though each woman had her sepa- 

 rate fireplace. The inside measured about forty feet by fifteen. 

 Earthen pots and plates were lying about in confusion ; dirty, greasy 

 hamacs hung up ; tamed parrots were helping themselves to plantains. 

 An ugly monkey looked dissatisfied at being fastened by the hinder 

 part of the body to a post. The unpleasant variety of odors drove us 

 out. In the third house there were but two doors. Here the misera- 

 ble dogs kept up a terrible noise*. The women took me to the hamac 

 of an old sick Indian, who they made signs was dying by laying their 

 heads on the palms of their hands and shutting their eyes. He was 

 Govered with a bark cloth blanket, which was cast off by him so that I 

 might see his thin legs and body. He was very much reduced. By 

 the whiteness of his hair, I judged he was dying of old age, or suffocated 

 inside this damp, filthy house, where he seemed to have been turned to 

 the dogs. There was one house in which the women slept. The open 

 house was the sleeping apartment of the men and boys. There was 

 great order among the men ; the grounds round about were swept. 

 Where the women were seemed all confusion and want of cleanliness. 

 Their faces were covered with dirt. As to their clothing, we could 

 better describe what they did not wear. 



"We sa w no signs of a place of worship, nor of what was worshipped, 

 though the Brazilians say they have seen among them "wooden images," 

 figures of head and shoulders in shape like a man. A Catholic priest 

 once visited these people, but found no encouragement. They looked 

 on indifferently, taking more interest in the music of a violin and the 

 singing than in anything else. The lofty forest trees shade the little 

 huts ; a path leads farther inland, where they cultivate patches of yuca 

 and corn, though they have little to eat from the land at present, and 

 take to the river for food. The children of these Indians strike us as 

 being remarkably intelligent, compared with those on the tops of the 

 Andes. All Indian children seem to be in much brighter spirits than 

 the older ones. They have yet to be taught the art of using chicha, 

 which the women are said to give their husbands here in the woods. 

 We gave the multitude an invitation to join us at breakfast. A little 

 boy walked by me with the rooster under his arm, and they all followed 

 single file, with the music of crying babies, to the bank of the river, 



