History of the Caribs. 253 
widow is present and gives Caconnis to those who cried 
the best, and as a last sign of their mourning, they cut 
their hair. 
I have been told that, formerly, they burnt the bodies 
of their captains, and mixed the ashes in their drink ; 
but, this custom is abandoned now, because there were 
no braves more. Some Frenchmen wanted to make me 
believe that they (the Caribs) killed their fathers when 
they were too old, as being useless in this world ; and, 
that it was rendering them a great service to deliver 
them from their troubles in this world ; but, the Caribs 
have assured me that this is not true : in fact they love 
this life too much. The dances, which are a sign of joy 
with these people, are also a sign of mourning. They 
dance differently at funerals, or at meetings as of moon, 
sun, eclipse, or when there is an earthquake. They 
dance four days and four nights in the moonlight. They 
say that the earth, in trembling, advises them to dance in 
order to feel well. They wear their finest dresses, orna- 
ments, rings, necklaces, garters, etc. They have different 
sorts of dances and imitate animals. They dance stand- 
ing in rows : men on each side, and going through a 
thousand monkey antics. Sometimes they lie down 
with the finger in the mouth, and at each refrain they get 
up and scream. The women are a little more modest 
they look at the movements of their feet and hold their 
breasts. To uind up, they all intermix. 
Though there is some difference between the language 
of the men and the women they of course understand one 
another. The old men when they are planning a war, 
use a speech which the young ones do not understand. 
Their language is very poor, they cannot even express 
