ter on the metate, and then take part in the dance. They must
wash their hands most carefully before touching them; and while they
are grinding a man stands by with a gourd, to catch any stray drop
of liquor that may drip from the metate, and to watch that nothing
of the precious fluid is lost. Not one drop must be spilled, and
even the water with which the metate is afterward washed, is added
to the liquid. The drink thus produced is slightly thick and of a
dirty brown colour.

The shaman (sometimes there are two) takes his seat on the ground
to the west of the fire, about two yards off. On the opposite side
of the dancing-place, toward the east, the cross is placed. The
shaman's male assistants, at least two in number, seat themselves
on either side of their principal, while the women helpers take a
position to the north of the fire. On one occasion I observed that
the men grouped themselves on one side of the shaman, the women on
the other. Close by the shaman's seat a hole is dug, into which he or
his assistants may spit, after having drunk or eaten hikuli, so that
nothing may be lost. After this improvised cuspidor has been used,
it is always carefully covered with a leaf.

As soon as the shaman has seated himself, he takes a round
drinking-gourd, and by pressing its rim firmly into the soil and
turning the vessel round, makes a circular mark. Lifting up the bowl
again, he draws two diametrical lines at right angles in the circle,
and thus produces a symbol of the world.

In the centre he puts a hikuli, right side up; or he may dig a hole
in the centre, to the depth of five or six inches, and place the
hikuli in this. He then covers it up with the gourd, bottom up,
so that the plant stands within a hollow sphere. The gourd may be
replaced by a wooden vessel of similar shape; but in any case it is
firmly planted in the ground to serve as a resonator for the musical
instrument,--the notched stick, which the shaman leans against the
vessel, and on which with another stick he rasps an accompaniment to
his songs. If he does not plant the gourd carefully in the ground,
it will make a discordant sound, which will vex the demi-god, and he
will cause someone in the house to die. The noise produced by the
rasping is enjoyed by Hikuli; that is why he is placed beneath the
bowl. He is powerful, and manifests his strength by the noise produced.

The notched stick, as well as the rasping-stick, is made from the
heavy, hard