Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/349

Rh over the body. The children of the deceased seat themselves at the foot of the bier, and the relatives at the sides, apostrophizing the corpse from time to time. The condolers leap and turn themselves round, stopping occasionally to repeat, in a low voice, certain prayers, agreeably to their native rites and idiom. Each person present contributes half a real for the expences of the interment, and for the purchase of the drink which is distributed. This is commonly the guarapo, a species of fermented liquor, and sometimes brandy. Before the drinking commences, the cup, filled with liquor, is carried to the mouth of the defunct, to whom a long conversation is dire6ted, as if with a view to invite him to partake. He being supposed to have tasted the contents, it is passed to the chief mourners, and from them handed progressively until it reaches the last person in company, the same scrupulous attention to precedence being invariably observed, according to the degree of seniority of each individual. At length, this function, which was begun in sober sadness, concludes by drinking, singing, and dancing.

Our etiquettes of being seated in alcoves, to make a display of our grief; of putting on family mourning; of retiring for a determinate number of days; of incurring superfluous expences, &c. assimilate our funerals with those of the negroes, and render them equally defective, although by a route diametrically opposite.

When the widow of any one of those who had attained the distinction of being corporal of the tribe, is desirous to contract a second marriage, it is necessary that she should give proofs to the whole of the assembly, both of the affection she entertained