Tame animals among the red men of America. 27 
and exchange of products which prevails among 
these people, the Indian, instead of always paying 
for the goods which he takes from other Indians with 
those which he has himself made, often pays away his 
tame animals, which, like the precious metals in more 
civilized communities, have a conventional value, partly 
dependant on their rarity, far beyond their practical value. 
Now-a-days, however, their value, as though the animals 
were really bank-notes, is^often realised in cash ; for, 
being passed from one Indian to another, eventually they 
often reach the coast, and are there exchanged for the 
real money and rum of white men and black. 
But there is yet another reason for the value of these 
tamed animals. Certain of the birds, are prized for their 
feathers, which are used in making the head dresses, ruffles, 
tassels and other ornaments which are worn on festive oc- 
casions. In making some of these ornaments, each tribe 
uses only feathers of one or more particular colours or 
shades cf colour, so that each tribe is distinguished 
by the colour of its ornaments. Some Indians on the Rio 
Negro, though none of those actually in British Guiana, 
occasionally also ornament their hammocks with feathers 
arranged in most elaborate and beautiful patterns. 
Many of the feathers used for these purposes are of 
forms and colours not at all times readily obtainable from 
wild birds. For instance, one very common form of 
feather crown is invariably lined with long white downy 
feathers ; and again, for certain of the ornaments, fea- 
thers of a peculiar and very rare shade of yellow are used 
in large quantities. To supply the former of these wants, 
Indians now keep large number of barn-door fowls, gener- 
D 1 
LIBRARY. 
