ed of a reddish or blue colour, round the mouth, moustachio-wise.
Both sexes are addicted to smoking, and look upon brandy as the _summum
bonum_ of human life.

The Indians, ugly as they were, gave Madame Pfeiffer a hospitable
welcome. After an evening meal, in which roasted monkey and parrot were
the chief dishes, they performed one of their characteristic dances. A
quantity of wood was heaped up into a funeral pile, and set on fire; the
men then danced around it in a ring. They threw their bodies from side
to side with much awkwardness, but always moving the head forward in a
straight line. The women then joined in, forming at a short distance
behind the men, and imitating all their movements. A horrible noise
arose; this was intended for a song, the singers at the same time
distorting their features frightfully. One of them performed on a kind
of stringed instrument, made out of the stem of a cabbage-palm, and about
two feet, or two feet and a half, in length. A hole was cut in it
slantwise, and six fibres of the stem were kept up in an elevated
position at each end, by means of a small bridge. The fingers played
upon these as upon a guitar, drawing forth a very low, harsh, and
disagreeable tone. The dance, thus pleasingly accompanied, was called
the Dance of Peace and Joy.

A wilder measure was next undertaken by the men alone. They first
equipped themselves with bows, arrows, and stout clubs; then they formed
a circle, indulged in the most rapid and fantastic movements, and
brandished their clubs as if dealing death to a hundred foes. Suddenly
they broke their ranks, strung their bows, placed their arrows ready, and
represented all the evolutions of shooting after a flying foe, giving
utterance to the most piercing cries, which resounded through the forest-
glades. Madame Pfeiffer, believing that she was really surrounded by
enemies, started up in terror, and was heartily glad when the dance
ended.

[Cape Horn: page51.jpg]

From Rio Janeiro Madame Pfeiffer sailed in an English ship, the _John
Renwick_, on the 9th of December, bound for Valparaiso in Chili. She
kept to the south, touching at Santos, where the voyagers celebrated New-
Year's Day, and reaching the mouth of the Rio Plata on the 11th of
January. In these latitudes the Southern Cross is the most conspicuous
object in the heavens. It consists of four stars of much brilliancy,
arranged in two diagonal rows. Late in the month the voyager