WINTER CEREMONIAL DANCES 35

through the motion of throwing it to his partner; the crystal
disappears! It has been palmed out of sight at the instant
of throwing, but the presumption is that it has entered the
other séki who falls to the floor as if stricken down by the
powerful object given to him. Now one of the kukusiut, who
has been primed for the duty, strikes the recumbent man on
the back, restoring him to consciousness. Slowly he pulls him-
self together, rising at intervals as if crushed beneath a heavy
weight, and writhes until he finally produces a rock crystal
from his stomach, as if it had been thrown to him. In reality
it is his own which he has carried concealed from the beginning
of the ceremony. He pretends to throw this to X, often so
realistically that the novice blinks, expecting some object to
strike him. All this time a usiut, it does not matter who,
has been drinking water at intervals and spitting it out over
the face of X, “to strengthen him.” When X has received the
stone, the beating on the floor-boards, stilled during the trans-
ference of the crystal, breaks out again with full din. After a
short interval the first siki stops the noise, goes through the
same contortions and produces, apparently from his stomach,
another rock crystal, which as before he throws across to his
partner who falls down, and later passes it to X. Again the
beating on the floor is started. The same ritual is carried out
until four, or sometimes only two, rock crystals have been
given to X. Then the procedure is reversed. The second siki
goes to the novice and after much contortion draws from his
stomach one of the crystals, which he pretends to throw back
tohis partner. As the latter makes the motion of catching it,
he produces his own crystal which he, so it seems, forces into
his own body. This is done for all the crystals (see Plate 4).
At this juncture the uninitiated are told to leave.

One of the siki now kneads the back of X’s neck and goes
through the motions of pulling something from it. The fright-
ened youth realizes that his spirit is being drawn from him
and his terror, great in any case, is not lessened by the szki
taking it in his cupped hands to the fire where he scoops up