AROUND SAO GABRIEL 315 
ment for the same, but because in days of old thy grandfather 
gave to our grandfathers to eat of his fish and farinha and to drink 
of his caribe,^ as thy father also gave to our fathers, thou to us, 
and as hereafter thy son shall give to our sons." There was much 
more in the same strain, but my interpreter spoke Portuguese 
so imperfectly, and his ideas were becoming so mystified by the 
cauim he had drunk, that he could explain no more intelligibly. 
The songs being ended, the heap of mandiocca was cleared away, 
and the singers retired into the house to refresh themselves with 
caribe, which was handed to them in large cuyas. The ruler of 
the feast also dispensed the fish to such as chose to eat, but these 
were few, and during the two days and nights the feast lasted 
there were some who ate not a morsel, supporting themselves 
solely on cauim and ipadil. And here it may be mentioned that 
throughout this time ipadu was every few hours handed about in 
large cuyas, along with a broken tablespoon, with which each one 
helped himself, the customary allowance being a couple of spoon- 
fuls. After taking a dose of ipadu, they generally pass a few 
minutes without opening their mouths, adjusting the ipadu carefully 
in the recesses of their cheeks and inhaling its delightful influ- 
ences. I could scarcely resist laughing at their swollen cheeks 
and grave looks during these intervals of silence. I tried two 
or three times a spoonful, but it had scarcely any perceptible 
effect on me, and assuredly did not render me insensible to the 
calls of hunger, though it did in some measure those of sleep. 
Probably I took too small a dose. 
The ipadu is not sucked, but allowed to find its way insensibly 
to the stomach along with the saliva. I am told that no ill con- 
sequences result from its use even in very large quantities. 
As night closed in, fires were lighted up at the corners of the 
terrace, sufficing to light the dancers in their movements. We 
had now two rings, one of the drummers and the other of the 
flutists ; the former being more noisy and their step more lively, 
were decidedly the favourites with the ladies, and a little after 
midnight the latter resigned the field altogether, contenting them- 
selves for the rest of the night with dispensing the cauim and 
ipadu. How I wished for the pencil of a Teniers to delineate 
the scene before me ! The dancers in their picturesque costume, 
their heads adorned with tiaras of the feathers of the toucan, their 
bodies fantastically streaked with carajuru (chica), and the long 
drums, whose beats kept time with the movements of their feet, 
also gaily painted, occupied the open space on the terrace, whilst 
grouped around the fires or on the benches sat the old people 
discussing cauim and ipadu; and the glare from the fires, and 
the strong shadows deepening till blended with the impenetrable 
^ Fish, farinha, and caribe are to a Barre Indian precisely what beef, bread, 
and ale are to an English peasant. 
