The first thing that struck him was that there seemed to be no preparations making for eating; and on inquiry he was told that they did not meet to eat, they met to drink and dance,—­those who were hungry might eat at home.

The preparations for drinking were made on an extensive scale by the women, a number of whom stood round a large caldron, preparing its contents for use.  These women wore very little clothing, and their bodies, besides being painted in a fantastic style, were also decorated with flowers and feathers.  Martin could not help feeling that, however absurd the idea of painting the body was, it had at least the good effect of doing away to some extent with the idea of nakedness; for the curious patterns and devices gave to the Indians the appearance of being clothed in tights,—­and, at any rate, he argued mentally, paint was better than nothing.  Some of the flowers were artificially constructed out of beetles’ wings, shells, fish-scales, and feathers, and were exquisitely beautiful as well as gorgeous.

One of the younger women struck Martin as being ultra-fashionable in her paint.  Her black shining hair hung like a cloak over her reddish-brown shoulders, and various strange drawings and figures ornamented her face and breast.  On each cheek she had a circle, and over that two strokes; under the nose were four red spots; from the corners of her mouth to the middle of each cheek were two parallel lines, and below these several upright stripes; on various parts of her back and shoulders were curiously entwined circles, and the form of a snake was depicted in vermilion down each arm.  Unlike the others, she wore no ornament except a simple necklace of monkeys’ teeth.  This beauty was particularly active in manufacturing the intoxicating drink, which is prepared thus:—­A quantity of maize was pounded in the hollow trunk of a tree and put into an earthen pot, where it was boiled in a large quantity of water.  Then the woman took the coarsely ground and boiled flour out of the water, chewed it in their mouths for a little, and put it into the pot again!  By this means the decoction began to ferment and became intoxicating.  It was a very disgusting method, yet it is practised by many Indian tribes in America; and, strange to say, also by some of the South Sea islanders, who, of course, could not have learned it from these Indians.

When this beverage was ready, the chief, a tall, broad-shouldered man, whose painted costume and ornaments were most elaborate, stepped up to the pot and began a strange series of incantations, which he accompanied by rattling a small wooden instrument in his hand; staring all the time at the earthen pot, as if he half expected it to run away; and dancing slowly round it, as if to prevent such a catastrophe from taking place.  The oftener the song was repeated the more solemn and earnest became the expression of his face and the tones of his voice.  The rest of the Indians, who were assembled to the number of several hundreds, stood motionless round the pot, staring at him intently without speaking, and only now and then, when the voice and actions of the chief became much excited, they gave vent to a sympathetic howl.