at these people have any laws.
Neither are they like Moors or Jews, but worse than Gentiles
or Pagans, because we have never seen them offer any
sacrifice, and they have no houses of prayer. From their
voluptuous manner of life, I consider them as Epicureans.
Their dwellings are in communities and their houses are in
the form of huts, but strongly built of large tree-trunks
and covered with palm leaves, secure from winds and storms.
In some places they are of such great length that in a
single house we saw six hundred people, and we found that
the population of thirteen houses only amounted to four
thousand. They change their location every seven or eight
years, and on being asked why they did so they said it was
on account of the intense heat of the sun upon the soil,
which by that time became infected and corrupted, and caused
pains in their bodies, which seemed to us reasonable.

"The riches of these people consist in birds' feathers of
beautiful colors, of beads, which they fabricate from
fish-bones or colored stones, with which they decorate their
cheeks, lips, and ears, and of many other things which are
held in little or no esteem by us. They carry on no
commerce, neither buying nor selling, and, in short, live
contentedly with what nature gives them. The riches which we
esteem so highly in Europe and other parts--such as gold,
jewels, pearls, and other wealth--they have no regard for at
all. They are liberal in giving, never denying one anything,
and, on the other hand, are just as free in asking....

"In case of death they make use of various funeral
obsequies. Some bury their dead with water and provisions
placed at their heads, thinking they may have occasion to
eat and drink, but they make no parade in the way of funeral
ceremonies. In some places they have a most barbarous mode
of interment, which is thus: When one is sick or infirm, and
nearly at the point of death, his relatives carry him into a
large forest, and there attaching one of their
sleeping-hammocks to two trees, they place the sick person
in it, and continue to swing him about for a whole day, and
when night comes, after placing at his head water and
provisions sufficient to sustain him for five or six days,
they return to their village. If the sick