I 
Gun-Fire raises Pandemonium. 41 
loose dependent folds of skin, th.m that of a really living person. The 
leai'fnl ugliness whieh is nsnally characteristic of old age in tropical 
climes was so repulsive in this ijarticular case, that I instantly turned 
back into the open air. AVeak as she was, curiosity did not permit of 
her staying in her hammock, for hardly had I left the house when the 
walking skeleton, led by an imbecile boy, wliom I had not previously 
noticed, appeared at the entrance and gazed in wonder on the first 
Paranaghieris who had visited the settlement. The absolutely animal 
appearance of her companion, from out of Avhose open mouth the tongue 
hung over his chin, and the silly fixed vacant look which he bestowed 
altel'uately on the o-ld woman and upon us, made the already naturally 
rei>ulsive figure yet more hideous. My brother, notwithstanding his 
many years' residence, could only call to mind one other example of such 
advanced age among the Indians. 
102. Imbeciles are treated with special respect and dread, l)ecause 
it is a general conviction that these poor creatures are in intimate rela- 
tions W'ith the beneficent Spirit, and it is for this reason that their 
words and actions are regarded as utterances of supernatural significance 
(Gottheit). Except for one young and pretty woman who smilingly 
bi'ought us some honey (inapa) in a gourd, for which she was presented 
to her inexpressible delight with some glass beads, all the present 
inhabitants, as already stated, consisted of old people: Sororeng, however, 
was soon to root out two mlore young mien wlio just then happened to l»e 
hunting in the neighbouring forest. Toi notify them that strangers 
had come onto their property, we fired two sliots. The fright which 
this produced on the reasoning as well as irrational occupants plainly 
showed us that the weapon with its message was equally unknown to 
both. The wild shrieking of the old woman, of the imbecile boy, and of 
the tame parrots, fowls, etc., already roosting on the roof and neighbour- 
ing trees, together with the frightened notes of the wnld birds rising in 
troops over the tree-tops, combined to form such an inferno of noise tliat 
we were struck with surprise, and believed nothing else than that the 
whole world around us had gone mad. After half an hour's time we 
saw botli men with troubled faces, come running over the savannah to 
the house: they probably believed that the shooting meant destruction 
and murder. 
10.3. The hopes that the luxurious cassava field had raised were at 
once dispelled by the statement that the roots were not yet ripe and 
consequently unfit to be made into bread : the numerous savannah deci', 
however proved a jiroductive source from which to supply the gaps in 
the provisions. In order therefore to make the balance last for at least 
a few days, it was decided to spend the morrow here and send tlie men 
out hunting at bi'eak of dawn. After the friendly young woman had had a 
long talk with her husband, one of the two men whom our shots had 
fetched out of the forest, and had sliewn him in the most striking fashion 
her delight at the beads she was holding in front of her, at the same 
time dropping a clear hint as to the treasures still in our possession, lie 
suddenly made up his mind that she was to bake some cassava for us oxx 
