ut, and afterwards replace it. The men secure a cloth
round the loins, often of sufficient length to form a kind of scarf; and
to prevent it trailing on the ground, throw it in a graceful way over
the shoulder, so that part of it falls on the bosom, while the end hangs
down the back. It is often ornamented with cotton tassels, and is the
most decent and serviceable, as well as the most picturesque, covering
worn by any of the native tribes. Sometimes a coronal of flowers
surrounds the head, which is usually adorned by a large daub of arnatto
on the hair above the brow; while the forehead and cheeks are painted in
various patterns with the same vermilion colour, which adds extreme
ferocity to their appearance. Some of the men also smear their bodies
with arnatto, as do the women. They are generally well-proportioned,
and more elegant in figure than the other races. The women are noted
for weaving excellent and durable hammocks of cotton--a plant which they
cultivate for that purpose.

When a chief died, his bones, after burial for some time, were cleansed
by the women, and carefully preserved in their houses. Several other
tribes follow a similar custom; allowing, however, the bones to be
deprived of flesh by the ravenous little caribes. After being carefully
dried, and tinged with red, they are placed in baskets and suspended
from the roofs of their houses. Among those who have embraced
Christianity, these and many other barbarous customs have been
abandoned.

The object of many of their raids of later years was to obtain captives
to sell to the Dutch. When slavery was abolished by the British, this
incentive to cruelty no longer existed. The fierce Caribs were,
however, very indignant at the new order of things. A Carib chief
arriving with a slave, offered him for sale to the English governor. On
the refusal of the latter to make the purchase, the savage dashed out
the brains of the slave, declaring that for the future his nation would
never give quarter--one of many instances of their fearful ferocity.
The Carib club is made of the heaviest wood to be found. It is about
eighteen inches long, flat, and square at both ends, but heavier at one
than the other. It is thinner in the middle, and wound round with
cotton thread, with a loop to secure it to the wrist. One blow from
this formidable weapon--which is called "patu"--is sufficient to scatter
the brains of the person struck. Sometimes a sharp stone