130 
Community of Property, 
446. Unfortunately the majority of the poor little chaps suffered al- 
ready in their first year with bad kinds of eye-disease, and were so stiff 
with dirt and dust that i/t was a wonder to me how they managed to move 
their fingers. To protect them, to a certain degree, from mosquito 
bites, the mothers smear them almost daily with crab-oil which is squeez- 
ed out of the Garapa guianensis fruit. Thus oiled over, the poor child 
runs out into the dirt, where it rolls itself about to its heart’s con- 
tent : and with that begins the first cuticle. Next day the child is oiled 
again, and with the result that a coat-of-mail of such a thickness is soon 
developed that the mosquitoes only waste their bites and search for 
blood in vain. 
447. Among the Warraus the stepping of the girl from! childhood in- 
to puberty is notified by their robbing her of her long hair. A festive 
dance is held at this ceremony when the girl appears decorated with 
beads and has the white down of different birds, particularly that of thc- 
Crax and Ardea attached with gum-resin to the smoothly shorn head, the 
arms, and the thighs. 
448. The entrance of boys into the ranks of men is not so simple a 
matter: they have to undergo several ordeals to demonstrate their 
strength and worth. These consist for the most part of painful wounds 
that are cut into the breast and arms with the tusks of the wild boar or 
the beak-tip of the toucan. If the boy bears this without pulling a face 
or in any way betraying his sufferings by outward signs, he is allowed 
henceforth to rank with the men. But if the childish heart has not yet 
the power to control the suffering of pain by its strength of will, he 
steps back to his old condition, till later proofs indicate increased force 
of character. 
449. In general, several families occupy one and the same house, 
without corresponding partitions or dividing-walls being found in it. 
The beams, from 1 which the hammocks are suspended, the few stones to 
build the hearth, the household implements, which like the wants of 
the family are very simple and only consist of a few earthenware vessels 
of different size and shape, the necessary gear for the preparation of 
cassava bread, already mentioned, and the implements for hunting, fish- 
ing and fighting constitute the whole household furniture of a Warrau 
family. If, in addition to these, there is yet a looking-glass, a comb, a 
gun, or an axe, — well, the highest ambitions of these simple children of 
nature are gratified. The form of their earthenware has a classical ap- 
pearance and has much resemblance with that of the Etruscans. The 
women build these vessels off-hand and for the purpose utilise the clay 
found on the banks of the forest streams: they dry their handiwork in 
the sun and smear it with a varnish which is prepared from the soot of 
pots already in use and the sticky juice of a Mimosa. When this is done 
they put the pots and dishes in a heap and light a fire around, when they 
let the earthenware gradually cool off. 
450. The property of each single family is considered sacred by the 
fellow-occupants of the house: an infringement of this never takes place: 
they freely hand over their own goods to strangers and guests. 
451. The settlements of the members of a tribe consist mostly of 
from 6 to 10 houses, presided over by a common chief, whose authority 
however is only recognised to its full extent when conflicts haye broken 
