Some Skelütons Öecuked. 
243 
and liad died at Tiraia in a ghastly manner. Like all membevs of liia 
tribe, he was very strongly addicted to drink : in order to have a real good 
till of brandy tor once in his lite, he had stealthily sli-pped one Sunday 
out ot the church Avhcre tlie whole company were assembled, had opened 
the cask of spirits put aside for prepared specimens, and started drink- 
ing to his heart's content. When my brother returned from service, lie 
found the Indian lying senseless near the cask, out of which the con- 
tents were still running. In spite of all the remedies applied, the mad 
man died in the course of a few hours and was buried in the neighbour- 
hood of the village. It was on his skeleton that the first attempt was to 
be made. 
555. I must confess that the nearer the appointed evening 
approached, the queerer I felt, and on the very day for carrying out our 
designs, they weiglu'd like a heavy stone on my heart. It Avas not different 
with Mr. Fr-yer. Once, t^^'ice on our way to the graverside, we stood 
stock still and had already made up our minds to turn back, when the 
thought that here I was missing the only chance that might present 
itself of fulfilling my wishes, forced me on . Mr. Fryer folloAved. We 
had soon dug a hole as far down as the boily, and the skeleton was in 
our possession. The length of time had blackened the bones a bit. It is 
now to be seen in the Anatomy Musieum at Berlin. 
556. A few days later we took heart again and hurried with mattock 
and spade to the grave of the Maiong-koug, who also had died suddenly 
one night during my brother's previous visit at Pirara, and had been 
buried near the Warrau. Unfortnrmtely we found the skull completely 
smashed to pieces. The avenging blow of an enemy's war-club had been 
the cause of his death. 
557. Everything having up to now fortunately passed without 
discovery, we sneaked onto the little cemetery where lay the young 
Macusi, who had died shortly before our departure for the TaivUtu, .an<i 
another who had died during our last absence. In spite of the remote- 
ness of the spot from the village, an Indian who happened to be outside 
the house nevertheless heard the noise of uur activities and had hurried 
to Mr. Goodall with the information that Brazilians must be uearing 
the village because he heard the stamp of horses. Although Mr. Goodait 
did everything he could to knock this idea out of the man's head, ai'd 
assured him that it was we who had come into his house a little while 
before and had told him we were after a jaguar that had just put in its 
appearance, the wary Indian, to whom the sounds appeared so curious, 
was not to be prevented giving the few villagers the alarm. Meanwhile, 
after quietly completing our labours, which turned out to be much 
lighter than expected owing to the last Macusi having been buried only 
yome four months before, we now, delighted at our success, hurried back 
to the village, to pack up our hooty still at night just as unnoticed as the 
previous ones. The Macusi buried [trior to our Takutu expedition, who 
must have lain about twelve months underground, proved to be quite a 
dried skeleton, and even the body that had been interred four montha 
previously, was already devoid ul all Ücsh, I need not describe the 
friiiht that seized us when^ on getting close to thü village we fuuud tilt 
