On another occasion, when the maquarri dance had been got up in honor of the bishop, all the dancers, before they went into the large house, laid their whips on a board which had been placed there expressly for their reception.
With regard to this dance, Mr. Brett was much struck with the apparent indifference to pain manifested by the natives, and asked them how they could endure such tortures without seeming to feel them. The Indians replied that their insensibility to pain was partly produced by the piwarri, and was partly owing to the presence of the women, who would scoff at any one who showed the least symptom of suffering.
Giving both these reasons their full value, there are two others of much greater importance. One is the natural apathy of the native, who requires a very strong stimulus for exertion. This apathy extends to the nerves of sensation as well as to those of volition, and the real fact is, that a blow which would cause the most horrible agony to a white man is scarcely felt by the native Guianan. The other is the effect of exposure and perfect health of body. All those who have gone into training for any athletic contest will remember how different is the pain-bearing capacity of the trained and untrained man, the former scarcely seeming to be aware of an injury which would have prostrated him for weeks had he been untrained. Now these natives are always in the state of body to which the civilized athlete occasionally brings himself, and the result is, that external injuries have but little effect on them.
Another and a rather picturesque dance is described by Mr. Brett. This is an Arawâk dance, and is performed in the following manner:—Twelve young men step forward, and arrange themselves in parallel rows; but instead of carrying maquarri whips, they bear slender rods, about twelve feet in length, decorated with strips of silk grass stained red, and having at the tips little gourds with stones in them. They dance backward and forward, striking the ends of their rods against the ground, and keeping time with the measure. From time to time the young women go up to the dancers, seize their arms, and dance with them, and then, as the men clash the rattling ornaments of beetles’ wing cases with which their wrists and legs are decorated, the women loose their hold, and run back to their companions like frightened deer.
A Warau dance is described by the same missionary who witnessed the maquarri dance. “It was little more than a measured series of steps, accompanied with stamping, while the persons advanced or receded, sometimes in single rank, sometimes in two ranks facing each other, throwing their right arms over their right-hand neighbor’s shoulders, and their left arms round their left-hand neighbor’s waist, swaying their bodies to and fro. Occasionally the women would run, and, inserting themselves between the men, join in the dance.
“The effect was somewhat heightened by a monotonous chant sung in unison, and by the clatter of beads and anklets made of hard seeds and the wings of beetles. The dance was intended to represent the antics of a herd of kairounies, or bush hogs, and the chant was a succession of mocking or jeering expressions.”
CHAPTER CXXXIII.
THE TRIBES OF GUIANA—Continued.
DRESS—AMUSEMENTS.
FEATHER HEADDRESSES AND THEIR STRUCTURE — THE FEATHER APRON — DRESS OF THE WOMEN — THE KIMISA AND QUEYU — MODE OF MANUFACTURE — HARMONY OF COLOR — MR. BAINES’ THEORY — A SINGULAR PURCHASE — THE SAPURU OR GARTER OF THE CARIBS — PAINT AND TATTOO — THE SPATHE CAP AND APRON — PETS AMONG THE NATIVES — SKILL IN FISHING AND CAYMAN CATCHING — MR. WATERTON’S ADVENTURE — THE INGENIOUS HOOK — GAMES AND SPORTS — SHIELD WRESTLING — CANOE SLAKING — NAVIGATING THE FALLS.
During their dances the natives display all their best feather ornaments. Two of their headdresses are shown on [page 1238]. The foundation of these is a circlet made of thin dark cane, cut into strips. One of them ([fig. 2]) is made of parrots’ feathers, beautifully shaded from dark blue to brilliant green, and being topped with three long straight scarlet feathers from the tail of the macaw. The general effect of this beautiful headdress is heightened by a row of white downy feathers by which it is surrounded. This specimen was made by the Macoushie tribe.
The other headdress ([fig. 1]) is called Arok, and, though very handsome in point of color, does not possess the beauty of form which characterizes the other. The greater part of the headdress is bright yellow, but just on either side of the top are two broad bands of scarlet. The feathers in this specimen are arranged four deep.