487 



Ur liana names his lieutenant, or commissary, 

 who divides the ground where the eggs are 

 found into different portions, according to the 

 number of the Indian tribes who take part in the 

 gathering. They are all Indians of' missions, as 

 naked and rude as the Indians of the woods; 

 though they are called reducidos and neqfitos, 

 because they go to church at the sound of the 

 bell, and have learned to kneel down during the 

 consecration of the host. 



The lieutenant or commissionado del Padre 

 begins his operations by sounding. He ex- 

 amines by means of a long wooden pole or a 

 cane of bamboo, as we have said above, how far 

 the stratum of eggs extends. This stratum, ac- 

 cording to our measurements, reached from the 

 shore as far as one hundred and twenty feet dis- 

 tant. It's mean depth is three feet. The co- 

 miss iona do places marks, to indicate the point, 

 where each tribe should stop in it's labours. We 

 were surprised to hear this harvest of eggs esti^ 

 mated like the produce of a well cultivated acre. 

 An area accurately measured of one hundred 

 and twenty feet long, and thirty feet wide, has 

 been known to yield one hundred jars of oil, or 

 to the value of a thousand francs. The Indians 

 remove the earth with their own hands ; they 

 place the eggs they have collected in small bas- 

 kets, called inappiri, carry them to the camp, 

 and throw them into long troughs of wood filled 



