hand a dose of pimento was thrown in, which brought tears to the eyes
of the strangers and made them run to the water-jar as if to save
their lives. The evening was spent in a general conversation with the
Siriniris, who were completely mystified by the form and properties of
a candle which Mr. Marcoy drew from his baggage and ignited. The wild
men passed it from hand to hand, examining it, and singeing themselves
in turn. Still another marvel was the sheet of paper on which the
artist essayed a portrait of one of his hosts. The finished sketch
did not appear to attract them at all, or to raise in their minds
the faintest association with the human form, but the texture and
whiteness of the sheet excited their lively admiration, and they
passed it from one to another with many exclamations of wonder.
Meantime, a number of questions were suggested and proposed through
the interpreter.

The formality of marriage among the Siriniris was found to be quite
unknown; the most rudimentary idea of divine worship could not be
discovered; the treatment of the aged was shown to be contemptuous
and neglectful in the extreme; and the lines of demarcation with the
beasts seemed to be but feebly traced. Finally, Mr. Marcoy begged the
interpreter to propound the delicate inquiry whether, among the viands
with which they nourished or had formerly nourished themselves, human
flesh had found a place. Garcia hesitated, and at first declined
to push the interrogation, but after some persuasion consented. The
Siriniris were not in the least shocked at the question, and answered
that the flesh of man, especially in infancy, was a delicious food,
far better than the monkey, the tapir or the peccary; that their
nation, in the days of its power, frequently used it at the great
feasts; but that the difficulty of procuring such a rarity had
increased until they were now forced to strike it from their bill of