156 STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF THE 



to him : at ten o'clock at night, the room is cleared of persons 

 and darkened, and the peii takes the instrument with which 

 he performs the incantation of the yowahoo. This is hol- 

 lowed calabash, with a few seeds and stones inclosed in it, and 

 a stick thrust through it. With this instrument he rattles, sing- 

 ing meanwhile a prayer to the yowahoo who is supposed to 

 be offended. This incantation is continued till midnight, 

 w^hen an interview takes place between the peii and the 

 yowahoo. Two voices are now heard conversing. The peii 

 afterwards makes his report. If the Indian recovers the peii 

 has the credit; if he does not, the yowahoo is implacable. 

 The office of peii is hereditary, being conferred only on the 

 eldest son. 



At a funeral, the relations and friends show their grief for 

 the deceased by getting drunk, singing, and crying : but of 

 all their instances of regard to their deceased friends, none is 

 so striking as what they call the feast of the dead, or the feast 

 of souls. The day for this ceremony is appointed in the coun- 

 cil of their chiefs, who give orders for every thing, which 

 may enable them to celebrate it with pomp and magnificence. 

 The riches of the nation are exhausted on this occasion, and 

 all their ingenuity displayed. The neighbouring people are 

 invited to partake of the feast, and to be witnesses of the so- 

 lemnity. At this time, all who have died since the last solemn 

 feast of that kind, are taken out of their graves. Those who 



