[Illustration: A Bororo Blind Woman.]

The apparition of the souls before their relatives was, of course, merely
a clumsily arranged trick of the _barihs_. This is how it was done. They
made a circle of branches of trees--in order to keep the audience at a
distance--and then erected a large wooden gate, so arranged that when the
souls appeared it fell down in order to give them free passage. The
souls--generally not more than two together--upon being called by the
_barih_, entered the ring with their faces covered and hopping with a
special step of their own. They did not respond to prayers or tears, and
kept on twirling about within the ring. The body was that of a woman,
wearing from the waist down a gown of palm leaves. The face was
covered by a mask of vegetable fibre which allowed its owner to see and
not be seen. Upon the head was worn a cap of wax in which were stuck a
great number of arrows, so that it looked just like the back of a
disturbed porcupine.

Naturally those "souls" were merely special girls dressed up for the
occasion. But credulous Bororo women believed they were actually seeing
the souls of their dead relatives. They worked themselves into a great
state of excitement.

The same implement which was employed by the Bororos to reproduce the
sound of the _aigi_ or _ajie_ (hippopotamus)--a board some ten inches
long and three inches wide attached to a string and revolved from a long
pole--was also used by them to announce the departure of souls from this
world to the next. The women were ordered to cover their faces or hide
altogether inside their huts when these noises were produced. Should one
be curious enough to inquire into their origin and look, she was
generally condemned to death--frequently by starvation. The Bacururu--or
the Coroado Indians--believed that, after such an indiscretion, nothing
could save the life of a woman.

Before starting on a hunting or fishing expedition prayers were offered
to the souls of the departed, so that they might not interfere with the
success of the expedition, and if possible help instead.

The funeral rites of the Bororos were singular. On the death of a man, a
chorus of moans began and tears were shed in profusion, while some one
sang for several days the praises of the defunct in a melancholy
monotone. The body was covered for two entire days, during which all
articles that belonged to the deceased, such as bow and arrows, pots, and
musical instruments