History of the Caribs. 235 
and immediately goes out of the house to vomit what he 
calls the poison. The poor invalid is thus cured, more 
through imagination than anything else. It is to be 
noted that he cures no fevers, or wounds, caused by an 
arrow or knife. At these meetings, the profoundest 
silence must reign. 
They present to the Chemeen and the Piaye, oiiicou, 
and cassava, on a matoutou, leaving it there the whole 
night. The matoutou is a small kind of table one or 
two feet square and half a foot high. They so regard the 
offerings, called alakri, that only old men, and the most 
distinguished amongst them, can take it. They have 
asked me some times to drink of it, and I have done so 
just to try and change their superstitious ideas, one of 
which is to drink of this oiiicou before eating, otherwise 
you die, and purposely I ate first before drinking: another 
is to keep the cup straight so as not to spill the con- 
tents, otherwise the eyes would run water everlastingly. 
I purposely spilt some, and held the cup crooked. If a 
patient recovers, a feast is given to the MABOIA, at which 
the piaye is always present. Towards the end of the 
feast the convalescent is darkened with junipa apples* 
and rendered as handsome as the devil. They offer to 
the Chemeens the first fruit of their fields, without any 
ceremony. When they have a great feast they always 
put aside a goglet, or some calabashes for the Chemeens. 
They regard bats, which they call boulliri, as Chemeens 
(or spirits) guarding them, and think that whosoever kills 
these will get ill. They have a great number of boule- 
Bonum, which means bad omens. A Piaye (sorcerer) is 
* The fruit of Genipa Americana, in Guiana called " lana" and 
still used by the Caribs to dye their skins of a dark blue-black colour. 
GG 2 
