killed, they dress it, and all eat of the flesh. They throw a
portion of the dressed animal, placed in nets, into the river or into
the sea, according to the location of the village; and they say that
they do this in order that the god of the river or that of the sea may
eat it. No one eats of the part touched by the lance-thrust, except
the _bailan_. These people believe that their souls go down below;
and they say that world is better, and that [since] it is cooler
than the world above, where the heat is so great. They are buried
with their riches--blankets, gold, and porcelain. When chiefs die,
slaves are killed and buried with them, so that they may serve their
masters in the other world. If the dead man is renowned as a seaman,
they bury with him the vessel in which he sailed, with many slaves
to row him, so thathe may go in it to the other world. [66]

Considering their size, those islands are very thinly populated. The
people are generally very dark, more so than the natives of Nueba
Espana. There are but few islands where blacks are not found among
the mountains. The inhabitants of the lowlands are of the former
kind, and are accustomed to tattoo their bodies, arms, legs, and even
their faces, where a beard should grow, with very carefully-drawn and
handsome figures. The greater the chief, or the more valiant he is,
the more he tattoos himself, leaving untattooed only the parts covered
by the breech clout--the [clothing or] dress worn by them, and which
covers only the privy parts. Both men and women suffer no hair to grow
on their bodies except on the head. They wear the hair long and take
good care of it so that it will grow. The men bind their hair on the
crown of the head with a small piece of gauze, and the women bind it
with bands made of the hair itself. All of them, both men and women,
are fond of [wearing] beads, earrings and perfumes. The garment worn
by them [the women] is made of linen drawn together like a bag or
sleeve with two very wide openings. The amount by which this garment
is too wide they gather up into many folds upon the left side, which,
knotted with the same linen, rest there. A small, tight-fitting shirt
is worn, which does not reach to the knees [S: waist], and covers no
more than the breasts. They wear garlands of flowers on their heads. It
is a very immodest dress, for it leaves uncovered the greater part of
the legs and body. The women are generally depraved. They are given
to abo