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woman cuts the bride's hair, leaving it in front on a line with the eyebrow, but not touching it in the back. When night falls, the bride's hand is placed in her husband's, and she is delivered to him.'

Both men and women pierce their ears, in which they hang jewels. The men eat together, the women never mixing with them. The latter are occupied in household duties, in which they delight. The husbands pass their time in hunting, fighting, fishing, and different games.

I have omitted many details concerning the customs of the natives and their manner of life, because I remember having described them in the Decade addressed to the Duke Sforza, when I laid them before our India Council, and I fear to involve myself in useless repetitions. I shall enter my seventieth year on the fourth day of the nones of February, 1526.' I have so abused my memory that it is almost destroyed; to such a point that when I have once finished writing on a subject, I am obliged to admit, if asked how I have treated it, that I do not know; especially when it is a question of information which reached me from different sources, and deals with different epochs. There remain, nevertheless, three subjects I must touch upon; when that is done, I shall have finished my work, at least unless new documents reach me. I wish to state how these half-naked and uncivilised barbarians understand and practise magic, secondly to describe their funeral ceremonies, and finally to speak of their belief in a future life.

There are amongst them professors of the art of magic, who are called piaces. The people stand when in the presence of these piaces, and honour them as gods. They

ut ea utatur ad libitum datur venia.

This is one of the passages from which the date of Peter Martyr's birth is deduced: others equally explicit contradict it. He here admits that his memory is seriously impaired, but however untrustworthy it may have been respecting precise dates and incidents in his long and varied life, he would hardly be in doubt as to the year of his own birth.

choose amongst their children some between the ages of ten and twelve years, whom they believe to be foreordained by nature for this ministry, just as we send our children to the schools of grammarians and rhetoricians.

These children are sent into the mysterious depths of the forests, where their life is more austere than that of the disciples of Pythagoras according to the ancient law. They spend two years in huts and become imbued with the severest precepts. They abstain from all flesh foods, and drink nothing but water, avoiding even all thoughts of love, and living their life isolated from their parents, relatives, and friends. During the daytime they do not see their instructors, who only visit them at night, when they call them before them, dictate their magical incantations, and teach them secrets for healing the sick. After this period of two years, the children return home, bringing with them evidences of the learning they have acquired from their masters, the piaces.

The pupils bring certificates of their knowledge from their piace teachers just as is done at Bologna, Pavia, and Perugia, amongst those who obtain the title of Doctor. Nobody else may venture to practise medicine. Neighbours and friends never have recourse, in case of sickness, to the services of doctors whom they know, but always summon strangers; and especially do the caciques call in strangers. The superstitions practised, vary according to the diversity of the maladies, as does also the remuneration. In the case of a slight illness, the piaces fill their mouths with certain herbs, press their lips to the injured part, licking and sucking energetically and pretending to draw out the humour which causes the illness; after which they leave the house with cheeks puffed out, spitting frequently, and affirming that the sick man will be speedily cured, since they have relieved him of his malady.

In case of a fever or more severe pain, when the patient seems to suffer from a serious malady, the piaces change

their method. When they visit the patient, they are careful to bring with them a piece of wood cut from a rare tree, which they know produces vomiting. They dampen this piece of wood by placing it in a dish or basin filled with water. Then, seating themselves beside the patient, they affirm that he is possessed by a demon. Every one present, relatives or servants, believe this, and entreat the piace to supply the remedy. He then approaches the patient, licking his entire body and pronouncing incantations in a low voice. He declares that in this way he drives the demon out of the marrow of the patient, and draws it to himself. Presently he takes the piece of wood, rubs it on the patient's palate, and then forces it down his throat and provokes vomiting; he repeats this operation until the sick man has thrown up everything inside him. During this time the piace pants, trembles, rolls on the ground, howls, and sighs worse than a stuck bull in the circus. He beats his breast and forehead during at least two hours, the sweat falling in drops, like rain on a roof.

The Dominican monks have witnessed this sight and wondered why this agitation did not kill the piace. When asked why they torture themselves in this wise, the piaces answer that these incantations are necessary to drive the demons from the marrow of the patient. They force out the demons and draw them to themselves by suction and friction.

After torturing himself by these wild and frantic movements, the piace, belching disgustingly, throws up a thick mass of slimy matter, in the midst of which is a hard black lump. Carefully removing the black substance from the remainder of this nauseous mess, and leaving the piace half dead in a corner, the people carry it out, shouting the while, and throw the black stuff as far away as possible; the following is the refrain they sing: Maitonoro quian, maitonoro quian! which means, Go forth, demon!

When all is over, the patient is asked to pay for his recovery. He is convinced that he will speedily get well, and this opinion is shared by his relatives and neighbours. Therefore the piace is paid, according to the gravity of the disease, with a quantity of maize and provisions. If the patient is a person of consequence and the malady is serious, they give him in addition some of those golden balls they wear on their breasts.

Let it be well remembered that the Dominican monks, whose evidence is above all suspicion, affirm that very few of the sick treated in this manner died. What this mystery may be, and how sick people may be treated in this manner, I leave others to decide; contenting myself with repeating that I have the story from trustworthy witnesses. Let us further note that if there is a relapse, different remedies and extracts from herbs are employed.

They likewise question the devils concerning the future, calling them up by means of incantations they learned in the retreat when they were children. They question them concerning rain, drought, the temperature, illnesses, and touching war and peace; business affairs, journeys, new enterprises, loss and gain; they also ask them what should be thought of the arrival of the Christians, whom they detest because they occupy their lands, impose laws, and force them to adopt new rites and customs, and to abandon their natural tastes.

Questioned concerning the future, the piaces according to the monks answered with great precision. Two proofs of this exactitude, chosen amongst many others reported to our council, may be cited. The monks, abandoned in the country of Chiribichi, were anxiously awaiting the arrival of Christians. They asked the piaces if the desired vessels would soon arrive, and the piaces foretold the day of their arrival, the number of their crew, describing the appearance of the sailors, and giving many other particulars. Everything they said was true.

Here is another thing even more incredible. The piaces foretold the eclipses of the moon more than four months in advance; nevertheless they are not learned or scientific. As long as the eclipse lasts, they fast and are bowed with affliction, for they are convinced that this phenomenon foretells some misfortune. Hence they salute the disappearance of the planet with melancholy lamentations and lugubrious chantings; especially the women, who beat one another, while young girls cut their arms with fishbones as sharp as lancets. What food and drink existed in the houses before this time are thrown away into the sea or rivers, and nobody thinks of amusement until the moon emerges safe and sound from the battle in which she is engaged. As soon as the light reappears they laugh, sing, and dance with delight.

Ridiculous as it sounds eclipses of the moon according to the piaces, are fatal to criminals. They say that the moon has been wounded by the angry sun, and when that planet's vexation is past, she resumes her primitive state. Such is the version they repeat, as it was taught them; and nevertheless the true cause of eclipses is wellknown to the devil since, being driven from heaven, he took with him his knowledge of the stars.

When, in response to the invitation of a prince or some friend, the piaces want to call up spirits, they enter, at the tenth hour of the night, into a mysterious retreat, taking with them a small number of courageous and daring young men. The magician seats himself upon a little stool, and the young men remain motionless at his feet. He pronounces some senseless words as in ancient times did the sibyl of Cumæ, announcing perfectly simple things in confusing terms. He rings the bells that he carries in his hands, after which, in a piteous voice accenting always the last syllable, he pronounces the following words to call up the demons; Prororuré, prororuré. He repeats these words frequently, and if the

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