Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1889-01-23
suRMlsEs Of sAvAeEs.
Tf'ags That Are Mysteries and How They
Are Inclined to Solve Them.

Sahara thought the Abbc Poret had green
skin because he wore gloves of that hue,
and others In nomadic tribe OF Morocco
were very lluch frightened at seeing Drum.
mond Hay pull Of his gloves, says the st.
Louis G0be-D Democrat. Tasmanians were
very much surprised to sec traveller do
the same. African Laus thought the boots
were part of the natural body, and Won
lcred much that they should be dark, while
the faces were white. Another African
tribe thought that missionary was de.
Oachlng his feet when removing his shoes,
md that his black stockings Wcro dc.
tachable part of double skin with which
he was provided. The Uazaramos of Africa
thought that another, who wore glasses,
had four eyes, one pair of which were de.
tachable. Some New Zealanders were per-
suaded that wig was but the skin of the
head, and that its removal was accom-
plished by magic. Hawaiians thought that
Cooks officers were horned because they
wore three-cornered chapeaux, and be-
lieved that their pockets were entrances to
great natural reservoirs Of treasures within
their bodies. ....
Chairs delighted the natives of New Zea-
land, especially when they found they could
carry them about A Marquesan chief was
struck with establishment at finding that
he could make boil ring by pulling tho
rope.
Guinea negroes, Tahitians and tribes of
the New Britain Archipelago, believed that
cloth, arms, hatchets, mirrors and other OBJ.
jccts of the kind, were fruits of the earth,
and TahitiaIs sowed nails to IA sc crop,
while CARDS planted gunpowder IN the
ground, with similar expectation.
Canadian and Iowa Indians were most i'm.
pressed in London and Paris with the
butcher shops, filled with quantities of meat.
A savage carried to the court Of Charles
TX. of France, was greatly aston5hcd to
see the Swiss guard, six feet high, with
huge mustaches and halberds, obey beard
less STRIPPING of an officer
Several Australian tribes, as we'll as na-
tlves of New South Wales, and Mcxicans,
thought the horse and rider insoparablc,
and were accordingly astonshcd to sec the
human part of the Centaur descend from
his perch. South Sea Islanders thought
the first horse brought on shore was a pig.
to which latter animal they were accus
toned.
Kamschatkans thought all animals under.
stood their language, and addressed to thor
most flattering words Yucuts Of Siber.;
call the bear Lord, Illustrious O,d Man.
Good Father, and beg of him humbly til,
permission to continue their Journey. Tx
tiger is named Lord or Grandfather b.
Camboda tribes, and the Annaml!o cal
him Sir Tiger and address prayers to hn.
PHILIPPINE Islanders beg the crocoliies no
to do them ny harm; while Inhabitants o
one Of the Fiji Islands think the shark Wi
not attack them if they call OUT ~ uIo from
Columbla" (their villagc).
Guaranis of Brazil, when the horses OF
Europeans were restless, begged them to be
still, and promised to feed thcprwcll. S0mc
natives of the Marianne Islands carried
presents to horse, to obtain from him per.
mission to pull few hairs out of his tail =
The Khas, an Indo-Chineso people, can
only add two and two by The use CT their
fingers, and the same is true of the Hottcn-
tots and the inhabitants of FezSan. The
Ccirons, New Guinea tribe, only appre.
ciate the value Of any number utter they
have counted from one TO that number on
the fingers. A chief of Siberian tribe
and a Coranna Of East Africa could not tell
how many children they had (scvcn in one
case, without telling them on the fingers
Livingstone and Du Chailu both testify
the impo5sibility of making savages under
stand hoW thought is communicated by writ
ing and reading. Tribes have been found
from the West to the East Indies whom no
amount of explanation could show how it
was possible to convey words by pen and
paper. The Bassoutos of Africa say it is
impossible, for you can not make the puper
speak. There Is Il well known anecdote of
FiJian, believe, who was sent after some
tools, tho message being written on chip,
astonishing the savage by the procurement
Of the tools. A Tongan chief, upon seeing
white men write, asked that they should
put him upon the paper. Astonished at
finding that u person who had just then
came up could read his name, he still asked ::
Where are my head, my arms, my legs"
etc, deeming the picture necessary to the
conveyance of the idea.
Canadian Indians could not comprehend
how, by looking at the number of q page,
the reader could tell how many pages pre-
Ceded it. A Missouri river tribe, seeing u
traveller read fragment Of newspaper,
thought it charm to cure sore eyes and
wanted to purchase it at any price. Brazil
ian Indians could not be made to under
stand how the white people who collected
vocabulary of their language could, by re
ferring to their written lists, mako them
selves so easily understood in SO short
time.
Some tribes think the books speak to the
reader. Caribs and Guiana Indians so be-
ievJd, and some Esouimaux, seeing priest
read from the Evangelists, thought that he
heard the voice Of the book, and repeated it
to them. Tribes in Africa, South Amer ca
and Oceanica thought tho reader was con-
versing with the book, and Wcddell said a
Fuegian put the book to his ear in order to
hear tho sound of tho voice that spoke to the
reader. In West Australia, books and letters
are thought to reveal hidden secrets, and
are called speaking papers" 1t was in.
applicable to them that the person receiv.
ing letter announcing the sending of o
number of sheep, should be able by it to
detect loss of one. Some Cochin China
Baunois were likewise astonishcd at finding
that q demand for double fees for carrying
letter, was detected by that letter itself
the writer having announced The plymen,
of the sum- A California Indian being de-
tected in the theft of one out Of number
of loaves OF bread which he was carrying
to missionary, adopted tho plan Of hid
ing the note under stone the next time
so that it should not sec hun cat the bread
Canadian Indians, Brazilians and Peruvians
thought books and letters were spirits, Oh
live beings.
It's frequently difficult to induce savages
to take money, and tho French, after long
possessing Senegal, have not as yet sue
ceeded in circulating their coinage. Bar
ter is the only means of trade known t
most Of the African t.ibes, and Livingstone
found that they would choose buttot
with hole in it rather than a gold coin
aud the Tchucktchcrnes, OF Siberia, make {
similar choice. Many natives of the Eas
Indian Islands will only accept gold and sill
yer Coins that can ha used Us ieWelrY Of