For his personal adornment, he had tattooed his face with three dotted blue lines across each cheek, and a purple star in his forehead. He dressed partly in the European style, having learned this on the coast. His trowsers were of blue cotton, and his jacket of red cotton; on state occasions, he wore a long scarf cloak of white cotton about him, and put a conical cap on his head. I must not forget what he considered the most elegant part of his toilette—a small plate of highly polished silver, which hung from his nose. He daubed patches of red and black paint on his face, and thus attired, he went for his wife. She was slightly tattooed on her forehead and chin in blue and red plaids. Usually she was dressed in a long white sacque, but, on this occasion she wore a full skirt of white with a gay scarf wound around her shoulders. Her ornaments were colored seeds, and tapirs’ claws. She also put on a conical cap that Iturim had given her, ignorant of the fact that it was not a proper head-dress for a woman. Miniqui, the bride, lived on the opposite side of the river from the palm grove; and, after the wedding feast, Iturim conducted her to her new home. They crossed the river on a rude suspension bridge, made of osiers; and you may be sure Miniqui was pleased with the large, sumptuously furnished house she found in the palm grove. They were welcomed by a large pet ape, named Simuco. He was a very wise creature, and devotedly attached to his master. For a short time all three lived together in the happiest manner. Iturim hunted and fished; Miniqui did the housework; and Simuco amused them both with his funny tricks. But a tribe of Antis came up from the lower river, and challenged the Upper Antis to a canoe race. The elderly men were in favor of declining the challenge; but the younger ones, at the head of whom was Iturim, were eager for the contest; and so it was determined upon. [Illustration: CROSSING THE SWING-BRIDGE OF OSIERS.] The rivers in the Antis country are mountain torrents. Even in the places where the water seems to flow smoothly there are strong under-currents that call for a great degree of skill in navigation. And every few miles, the rivers dash over rocks, and form dangerous rapids. The Indians are very expert in managing their canoes in this kind of boating, which is called “shooting the rapids;” but with all their skill and practice, they cannot help fatal accidents occurring quite frequently. The mere upsetting of a boat is nothing, for the Antis is almost as much at home in the water as on the land; but it is impossible to swim in the whirling waters of the rapids, and the danger consists in being dashed against the rocks, or violently sucked under the waves. The prize, to be given to the man who should first reach the goal in this race was one of those ingenious pocket knives that contain a number of tools in a small compass.