The chiefdoms were divided into small provinces, which for the most part only comprised the inhabitants of a valley; but all were subject to the head Cacique, who at the time of the conquest was Aqueynoba. He was actually governor-in-chief, the others being his lieutenants, who carried out his orders in their respective districts. Men and unmarried women wore no clothing, but painted their bodies abundantly, and with much skill, drawing upon them many varieties of figures with the ores, gums and resins which they extracted from trees and plants. In this uniform they presented themselves in their military expeditious, public balls, and other assemblies. To be well painted was to be well dressed, and they learned from experience besides that the resinous matter and vegetable oils with which they painted their bodies served to preserve them from excessive heat and superabundant perspiration. The paint also served to protect them from the changes of atmosphere, the dampness of climate, and the plague of the numerous varieties of mosquitoes and other insects, which, without this precaution, constantly annoyed them. They wore headdresses made of feathers with exquisite colors. They put small plates of gold on their cheeks, and hung shells, precious stones and relics from their ears and noses, and the image of their god Cerni was never forgotten. The chiefs used as a distinctive emblem a large golden plate worn on their breasts. Married women wore an apron which descended to about half their leg; but no clothing was worn on the rest of the body. The wives of the Caciques wore their aprons to their ankles except at the national game of ball, when they also wore short ones. The men took two, three or more wives, according to their ability to support them. The chiefs possessed a larger number of wives than their subjects, but one of them was generally preferred over all others. The women, besides their domestic duties, had charge of the agricultural pursuits and worked in the fields. Those best loved were buried alive with their husband on his demise. The men did not intermarry with relatives of the first degree, from a belief that such marriages resulted in a bad death. Their huts were similar in structure and in character to those of the North American Indians. The hammock was the chief article of furniture of the aborigines, and the calabash shell their only cooking utensil. Their arms were a bow and arrow, in the use of which they were very skilful. They had canoes both for fishing and sea voyages. These were hewn out of the timber of enormous trees, the like of which, owing to fires and seasons of drouth, no longer exist upon the island. Some of the canoes were large enough to hold forty or fifty men. When the Indians saw that the sick were near to death they suffocated them. Even the chiefs did not escape.