Their faces all had the
usual scarlet and black stripes. The Chief, and his principal aide, or
sub-Chief, had on their gayest feathers, including head ornaments of
_arara_ plumes and egrets. The club-men were naked, except for their
head-gear, which consisted simply of a band of _mutum_ plumes. When
the warriors stood together in their costumes, ready for battle,
they presented an awe-inspiring sight.
The Chief gave the order for the bow-and-arrow men to start in single
file, the others to follow after, in close succession. The Chief and I
fell in at the rear. In the meantime I had examined my Luger automatic
pistol to make sure of the smooth action of the mechanism, and found
besides that I had in all thirty-seven soft-nose bullets. This was my
only weapon, but previous narrow escapes from death and many close
contacts with danger had hardened me, so I was willing to depend
entirely upon my pistol. The women and children of the _maloca_ stood
around, as we disappeared in the jungle, and, while they showed some
interest in the proceeding, they displayed little or no emotion. A
couple of sweethearts exchanged kisses as composedly as if they had
been bluecoats parting with the ladies of their choice before going
to the annual parade.
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