The Native Races (Vol. 1-5). Hubert Howe Bancroft
little hollow. Round this they roll other Leaves one after another, in the same manner but close and hard, till the Roll be as big as ones Wrist, and two or three Feet in length. Their way of Smoaking when they are in Company together is thus: A Boy lights one end of a Roll and burns it to a Coal, wetting the part next it to keep it from wasting too fast. The End so lighted he puts into his Mouth, and blows the Smoak through the whole length of the Roll into the Face of every one of the Company or Council, tho' there be 2 or 300 of them. Then they, sitting in their usual Posture upon Forms, make, with their Hands held hollow together, a kind of Funnel round their Mouths and Noses. Into this they receive the Smoak as 'tis blown upon them, snuffing it up greedily and strongly as long as ever they are able to hold their Breath, and seeming to bless themselves, as it were, with the Refreshment it gives them." After eating heartily, more especially after supper, they burn certain gums and herbs and fumigate themselves to produce sleep.1034
The Isthmians are good walkers, their tread firm, but light and soft as a cat, and they are exceedingly active in all their movements. When traveling they are guided by the sun, or ascertain their course by observing the bark of the trees; the bark on the south side being always the thickest. When fatigued by travel they scarify their legs with a sharpened reed or snakes' teeth. They are very expert swimmers and the dwellers on the coast pass much of their time in the water. In salutation they turn their backs to each other. No one will accept a gift from a stranger unless with the especial permission of the chief.1035
ISTHMIAN SORCERERS.
They believe largely in spirits and divinations, and have sorcerers called piaces who are held in much respect and awe. The piaces profess to have the power of foretelling the future and raising spirits. When putting in practice their arts they retire to a solitary place, or shut themselves up in a house, where, with loud cries and unearthly sounds they pretend to consult the oracle. Boys destined to be piaces are taken at the age of ten or twelve years to be instructed in the office; they are selected for the natural inclination or the peculiar aptitude and intelligence which they display for the service. Those so chosen are confined in a solitary place where they dwell in company with their instructors. For two years they are subjected to severe discipline, they must not eat flesh nor anything having life, but live solely on vegetables, drink only water, and not indulge in sexual intercourse. During the probationary term neither parents nor friends are permitted to see them; at night only are they visited by professional masters, who instruct them in the mysteries of the necromantic arts. In the province of Cueba masters in these arts are called tequinas. It is asserted of the piaces that they could foretell an eclipse of the moon three months before the time. The people were much troubled with witches, who were supposed to hold converse with evil spirits, and inflicted many ills especially upon children.1036
MEDICAL PRACTICE.
The Isthmians are a healthful and long-lived race. The ills most common to them are fevers and venereal disease. The latter, as Oviedo affirms, was introduced into Europe from Hayti, or Española, where it was prevalent as well as throughout Tierra Firme. This is a subject that has given rise to much contention among authors, but the balance of testimony seems to indicate that the venereal disease in Europe was not of American origin, although the disease probably existed in America before the coming of Europeans. The remedies employed by the Isthmians for the complaint were guayacan wood, and other medicinal herbs known to them. They are much troubled with a minute species of tick-lice that cover their limbs in great numbers, from which they endeavor to free themselves by applying burning straw. Another insect, more serious in its consequences and penetrating in its attacks, is the chegoe, or pulex penetrans; it burrows under the skin, where it lays its eggs, and if not extracted will in time increase to such an extent as to endanger the loss of the limb. The natives remove it with any sharp-pointed instrument. They are liable to be bitten by venomous snakes, which are numerous in the country and frequently cause death. Whenever one is bitten by such a reptile, the sufferer immediately ties above the wounded part a ligature made from plants well known to the natives, and which they usually carry with them; this enables him to reach a village, where he procures assistance, and by means of herbal applications is often cured. Some of them are subject to a skin disease somewhat similar in its appearance to ringworm; it spreads over the whole body until eventually the skin peels off. Those who are thus afflicted are called carates. These people are generally very hardy and strong, with great powers of endurance. The piaces, as medicine-men, consult their oracles for the benefit of all those who require their services. The sucking cure obtains in these parts as well as northward. When summoned to attend a patient, if the pain or disease is slight, the medicine-man takes some herbs in his mouth, and applying his lips to the part affected, pretends to suck out the disorder; suddenly he rushes outside with cheeks extended, and feigns to spit out something, cursing and imprecating at the same time; he then assures his patient that he has effected a cure by extracting the cause of the pain. When the sickness is of a more serious nature, more elaborate enchantments are enacted, ending in the practitioner sucking it out from the sick person's body, not, however, without undergoing infinite trouble, labor, and contortions, till at last the piace thrusts a small stick down his own throat, which causes him to vomit, and so he casts up that which he pretends to have drawn out from the sufferer. Should his conjurations and tricks not prove effectual, the physician brings to his aid certain herbs and decoctions, with which he is well acquainted; their knowledge of medicine is, however, more extensive in the treatment of external than of internal diseases. The compensation given to the piace is in proportion to the gravity of the case, and the ability of the individual to reward him. In cases of fever, bleeding is resorted to; their mode of practicing phlebotomy is peculiar and attended with much unnecessary suffering. The operator shoots a small arrow from a bow into various parts of the patient's body until a vein be accidentally opened; the arrow is gauged a short distance from the point to prevent its penetrating too far.1037 Oviedo tells us that in the province of Cueba the practice of sucking was carried on to a fearful extent, and with dire consequences. The persons, men and women, who indulged in the habit were called by the Spaniards chupadores. They belonged to a class of sorcerers, and the historian says they went about at night visiting certain of the inhabitants, whom they sucked for hours, continuing the practice from day to day, until finally the unfortunate recipients of their attentions became so thin and emaciated that they often died from exhaustion.1038
ISTHMIAN GRAVES AND MOURNING.
Among certain nations of Costa Rica when a death occurs the body is deposited in a small hut constructed of plaited palm-leaves; food, drink, as well as the weapons and implements that served the defunct during life are placed in the same hut. Here the body is preserved for three years, and upon each anniversary of the death it is redressed and attended to amidst certain ceremonies. At the end of the third year it is taken out and interred. Among other tribes in the same district, the corpse after death is covered with leaves and surrounded with a large pile of wood which is set on fire, the friends dancing and singing round the flames until all is consumed, when the ashes are collected and buried in the ground. In Veragua the Dorachos had two kinds of tombs, one for the principal men constructed with flat stones laid together with much care, and in which were placed costly jars and urns filled with food and wines for the dead; those for plebeians were merely trenches, in which were deposited with the occupant some gourds FUNERAL RITES ON THE ISTHMUS. of maize and wine and the place filled with stones. In some parts of Panamá and Darien only the chiefs and lords received funeral rites. Among the common people a person feeling his end approaching either went himself or was led to the woods by his wife, family, and friends, who, supplying him with some cake or ears of corn and a gourd of water, there left him to die alone, or to be assisted by wild beasts. Others with more respect for their dead, buried them in sepulchres made with niches where they placed maize and wine and renewed the same annually. With some, a mother dying while suckling her infant, the living child was placed at her breast and buried with her in order that in her future state she might continue to nourish it with her milk. In some provinces when the cacique became sick, the priests consulted their oracles as to his condition and if they received for answer that the illness was mortal, one half of his jewelry and gold was cast into the river as a sacrifice to the god they reverenced, in the belief that he would guide him to his final rest; the other half was buried in the grave. The relatives of the deceased shaved the head as a sign of mourning and all his weapons and other property