without provisions except a little venison; but one of my companions, who intended to take a wife as soon as the expedition was over, refused to take his share of the meat, and went without food rather than break through the restrictions entailed upon him by his coming marriage. Indian husbands and wives are as a rule very faithful to each other; even on the comparatively rare occasions on which there has been some looseness before marriage there is none after. Husband and wife, without being demonstrative, are decidedly affectionate towards each other; and this, though the woman is held to be as completely the property of the man as is his dog. He may even sell her if he chooses. Yet, as I have before said, the wife-in this, too, like a good and faithful dog-manages to obtain considerable influence with her husband. Polygamy prevails among some, but not all the tribes. Warraus are the most uxorious, some of them having as many as eight or ten wives; and the Wapiana are also polygamists. Macusis and Ackawoi are not, except perhaps in the cases of individuals who choose to break through the customs of their tribe. I am by no means sure, but am inclined to think, on the whole evidence, that the Carib tribes are not usually polygamists, and that some or all the others are, or were. Even when there is more than one wife, the first is almost always chiefly regarded and favoured; those that are married afterwards seem to be taken more as domestic helpers of the first and real wife. From what has already been said of the length of time during which the Indian wife suckles her children, it will be evident that her power of doing all the household work is thereby much diminished. As, however, it is very common for an Indian to marry a woman much older than himself, as his first wife, this wife often grows inactive and useless from sickness or old age. In such cases one or more young girls are generally taken into the house, nominally as wives, but really rather to be taught their domestic duties by the old wife, so that when the latter dies, or becomes perfectly useless, one of them may take her place.

The peaimen, taking advantage of their power, seem,

at least at the present day, to indulge in a very large number of wives. The immense influence which they exercise over the other Indians enables them to acquire any number they please; for an Indian, when asked for his daughter, or even sometimes his wife, by his peaiman, dare not refuse. In this way it happens that the house of the peaiman is generally full of women. These are very useful, for the peaiman in the exercise of his calling has to travel often and far; and on such occasions the women, as is usual among Indians, serve as beasts of burden to carry all the necessary baggage, while the peaiman himself, fantastically adorned with feathers and paint, marches ahead, burdened only with his magic rattle, and perhaps with his bow and arrows.

The life of almost constant exposure which Indians lead, acting on very weak constitutions, kills them at an early age, generally by dysentery or consumption. And even

when one does live longer, life can hardly be enjoyable to them; for powerless old age meets with no respect. When old and past work, they are indeed allowed to remain in their hammocks in the houses which once, perhaps, belonged to them, and are fed by their younger relations in a rough and grudging manner; but no further care or kindness is shown to them.

When death comes, either to the old or to the young, the survivors, except in rare instances, show but very few outward signs of grief. More than once I have seen an Indian die— husband, or wife, or son—and sometimes under most painful and distressing circumstances; but the surviving wife, husband, or parent, apparently almost unaffected, within a few hours fully resumed his or her usual habits and cheerfulness. Yet, Indians being always so exceedingly reticent in the expression of emotion, there is some reason to believe that even in such cases the survivors feel a grief which they do not exhibit. Occasionally, however, a terrible wailing is raised over a dead body and is kept up for many days, sometimes even after the burial. On such occasions the survivors crop their hair; and, according to Schomburgk, they paint

OLD AGE AND DEATH.

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themselves in excessive degree with faroah. The ceremonies of burial differ slightly in each case; but they are, in the main, as follows: The body, wrapped in the hammock which belonged to it when living, is put into a hole dug in the house and lined with palm-leaves. If the hole is large enough, the body is buried in a sitting position or, in the case of the Ackawoi, in a standing position; but if, as sometimes happens, the survivors do not trouble themselves to dig a large hole, the body is bent and placed in any position that may be most convenient. It is said that the True Caribs were in the habit of cleaning and preserving the bones of their dead relations in their houses; but they certainly no longer do this. Various properties of the deceased are put into the grave. Schomburgk mentions a curious case of a man who had been, or was supposed to have been, murdered, into whose grave a cord was put with which he might bind his murderer should he meet him on the further side of the grave. It is to be feared that the respect for the grave has now diminished; for, if the hammock in which the body is wrapped happens to be new and good, it is now not unfrequently withdrawn from the body. The grave is then filled in.

Fire is then made over the grave; a feast is celebrated, with dancing, drinking, and singing of songs in which the good qualities of the deceased are lamented; and the house is then deserted for ever. To this practice is chiefly due the great number of deserted and ruined Indian houses which are to be seen in the forest tract. That the forest Indians always do this, while those of the savannah occasionally shirk the ceremony, is probably due to the fact that the houses of the former, unlike those on the savannah, are so slightly built that but little provocation is sufficient to induce their owners to desert them and build anew.

But wherever the body is buried, the grave, when once covered with earth, is regarded as sacred, and no Indianunless it be some vile kenaima, whose reason for body-snatching will presently be explained-ventures to disturb it.

The bodies of peaimen-at least among the Macusis

Q

are disposed of in a somewhat different manner. Their graves are dug not in the nearest convenient spot, but on a special hill, of somewhat peculiar shape, and well-wooded, which stands isolated on the savannah in front of the northern face of the Canakoo mountains. The Macusis of the village of Karenacroo, on the Roopoonooni savannah, have a special place for burying their dead; but this seems quite an exceptional instance.

CHAPTER XI.

HUNTING AND FISHING.

Hunting Parties- Beenas '-Dogs-Fish Poisoning-Baling out Pools for Fish Fish Arrows: Three Fish Arrows; a Three-pronged Fish ArrowHook and Line-Fish Traps-Turtle Arrows-- Iguana Shooting-GunsGame Arrows: Iron-headed Game Arrows; Bamboo-headed Arrows; Poisoned Arrows-Bird Arrows: Special Arrows for Large and Small Birds; Blunt-headed Arrows for Birds-Blow-pipes-'Calling' BirdsPreserving Booty-Return of the Hunting Party.

THE Indians of Guiana, with many other tribes, have been put into a class, and labelled as 'the hunting tribes of South America.' The name is, however, misleading, at least as far as the Indians of Guiana are concerned; for these tribes live as much by a rude, but not unproductive, kind of agriculture as by hunting. Probably their lives are supported in about equal degree by the produce of their fields and by their gains in the chase. An opportunity will be found in another chapter to describe their agriculture; at present their methods of capturing fish and game will be told.

Hunting is the most important occupation in the life of an Indian man. In the very simple system of life followed by these people, food may be said to be the chief thing for which they have to exert themselves. Their wants in the way of clothing and shelter are very easily satisfied. Only food has incessantly to be provided. The women, with but very little help from the men, gain part of this by cultivating certain plants, especially cassava, and the men contribute their share by hunting. So important to them is this latter, that an Indian takes rank in his village or settlement according to his skill in the chase; and even the boys, as soon as they are no more than mere babies, have no other toys