he sunny glades, no mortal who
values his life may cool his parching lips with its freshness, or bathe
his aching limbs in its clear depths. Only for solemn festivals is the
Juruparis brought out by night and blown outside the place of meeting,
and it is restored to its forest home immediately afterwards.

The word Juruparis means 'demon,' and it is supposed that its mysteries
date back to some pre-historic Indian tradition, as various tribes
inhabiting the vast forests round the Amazon district practise weird
ceremonies in honour of the demons.

[Illustration: The Juruparis in casing.]

In form the Juruparis is a slender tube from four to five feet long,
made from strips of palm wood. Close to the mouth is an oblong hole, and
when the instrument is to be used a piece of curved Uaruma or Arrowroot
wood is inserted into the opening, which is then nearly closed with wet
clay.

When not in use, the Juruparis is wrapped in a great-coat made of strips
of the tough bark of the Jebaru-tree, which are wound round and round
the sacred instrument and held in place by a rough framework of wood. In
the museum at Kew Gardens a Juruparis in its outer casing may be seen.
In ancient days the Indians of the American continent seem to have been
more clever at making musical instruments than of recent years.

The Aztecs held pipes and flutes in great respect, and they were played
at all religious ceremonies. At the great yearly festival of
Tezcatlepoca, who was always represented as a handsome youth, a young
man was sacrificed to the god, and a chief condition of the selection
was that the selected person should be a really fine flute-player,
presumably so that he might amuse Tezcatlepoca in another world. As the
victim ascended the high mound on which the sacrificial altar stood,
facing the rising sun, it was his duty to break a flute on every step.

[Illustration: Mexican Whistle.]

The whistle shown in the illustration is made of burnt clay and painted.
Instruments were shaped like all kinds of grotesque animals, birds,
fish, and so on. Some have finger-holes, enabling the pitch to be
altered and give different tones, others have a little ball of clay set
loosely in a hollow place, so that when the air is set in motion a
shrill whistling sound is emitted.

Whistling with the mouth, by the way, is strongly disapproved by the
Arabs, who call it 'El Sifr,' and say that Satan must have touched any
one before he can whistle, and th