Stevens County tribune. (Morris, Minn.) 1877-1880, 1879-06-26
On the Amazon.

ERNEST MORRIS, the young American
naturalist, lectured on the above subject
before the Long Island Historical Society.
He spoke particularly about the tribe of
Mandruca Indians who inhabit village
on the Tapajos river, the stream which
Mr.. Morris explored more than a year ago,
remaining among its solitudes for four
teen months. On his last visit he arrived
at the village of the Mandrucas late in the
evening, just when they were all assem-
bled in great, palm thatched shed to Gel
citrate an important festival. He was well
coined by the chief, given good deal of
monkey stew, and later was provided with
a hammock to sleep in. The festival was
kept up nearly the whole night, but by
eleven O'Clock nearly all the Indians had
become intoxicated On caxaca, a kind of
rum. The music for the dancers was fur
nished by an orchestra of four, one play
ing a rude sort of drum, one iddling on a
stick cut full of notches and the other
two twanging away on old guitars.
All the interesting specimens which
Mr.. Morris brought home he was obliged
to steal. He could have bought boy or
girl for knife or coat, but such
thing as an old skull, an old piece of
pottery, an arrow or little poison such
as they use to tip the ends of their
weapons with, could not be bought for
love or money. The manners and Gus
toms of the natives he would not attempt
to describe, except to say, in the Ian
guage of missionary to the South Sea
Islands: ''They had no manners and
their customs were simply disgusting"
The women performed all the drudgery,
while the law lords ''laid off" and
smoked bad tobacco. The greater part
Of the work done by women was the
making of rubber out of the juice of trees
Crops of corn and fruits grew of them
selves, and the only work to supply the
table was to catch a few fish now and
then when the "lords" craved a little
change of diet. Mr.. Morris discovered
one peculiar tribe Of Indians who could
never indulge in little caxaca without
its making them begin right away
to Cry, and they always cried
and sobbed while the effect of
the spirits remained. The popular idea
that the forests ofBrazil abounded in wild
animals, richly plumaged birds and enor
-mous reptiles was great mistake. Du-
ring his four years of roaming about the
forests he had come across not more than
half dozen snakes. They were big ones
it was true. Sometimes he heard the IL
gers at midnight, but he never feared
them except when he was without fire
arms. He spent many months in the
woods without any weapon except a long
knife. The terrific explosions heard in
the solitude of the great forests each year
just before the rainy season sets in were
spoken Of, out he was as yet unable to
account for them. 1t was believed by
the natives that these explosions were
caused by "gold-bursting." On going
through the forest after these explosions
had been heard, immense trees would be
found shivered from roots, and burrows
would be seen in the ground as if there
had been an earthquake. He believed
that the explosions was caused by the
force of capillary attraction, as the sap
suddenly assembled and filled all the pores
of the trunks of the trees.