228 TlMEHRI. 
cuts their hair by surprise and makes them drink the 
blood of a child, and, that, when they are totally 
eclipsed, it is because the Stars being no longer warmed 
by the Sun's rays and light, are very ill. They respe6t 
the Moon more than the Sun, and as soon as the new 
Moon appears they all run out of their huts and cry, 
Look at the moon ! 
They take certain leaves, and, after rolling them in 
the shape of a small funnel, they pass some drops of 
water through it into the eye, while looking at the Moon. 
This is very good for the sight. They count their days 
by the Moon, as do the Turks, and not by the Sun : 
instead of one month they say one Moon. They don't 
say, How many days will you take for your trip ? but, 
How many nights will you sleep ? 
Their counters are their fingers. To express 12, they 
show their two hands and two of their toes ; if the num- 
ber exceeds the fingers and toes they say " Tamieati," 
much. If there is a great quantity they show their 
hairs or a handful of sand. When they have to meet at 
an appointed place on a fixed day to make war, they 
each take a certain number of stones in a calabash, and 
take one out every morning, and when there are no 
more left they know that the time fixed for departure 
has come and that they must start. Sometimes, they 
make notches on a piece of wood ; or else they make so 
many knots in a string and undo one every day. 
In the beginning, then, the earth was soft, but the 
sun made it hard, as are the heavens ; up above 
there are nicer fields than here, nice savannahs, fine 
rivers : Oiiicou (a kind of beverage like beer) running 
everlastingly. No water is drunk there, the houses are 
