The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-06-24
QUEER SAVAcES IN PERU.
MOST INTERESTING OF THE SOUTH
AMERICAN TRIBES.

Ensign w. 4. Stafford, of '',e United
commissioner by the State Department to
South America, brought home wonder
full collection of costumes and curiosities
from the savage tribes of Peru.
The wild people inhabit the shores of
the tributaries OF the upper Maranon.
Among them are the fierce, warlike, and
singularly dressed Jivaros.
The men wear coronets of exquisite
feathers, and tunics of like material hang
ing from the waist nearly to the knee.
From their ears depend strings of feath-
ers, fastened together at the breast with
tusks OF the jaguar. The plumage for
these articles OF attire and adornment are
obtained chiefly from the scarlet and
tufted sinami, which is often of a deep
cobalt blue tint, and q species of toucan
that bears in its tail feathers OF brilliant
orange and rose color. The garments are
Of great value, not even the royal feather
mantles OF Hawaiian monarchs comparing
with them in beauty. They are made on
foundation of bark cloth, the bark being
soaked in water for several days, and
pounded into kind of felt on q smooth
stone, after which the pieces are sewn to-
gether with twine of agave fibre.
The Jivaros also adorn themselves with
armlets and leglets of monkeys teeth and
beetles wings OF prismatic hues. They
practice the extraordinary art, peculiar
TO themselves, of preserving the heads of
their enemies for ornaments.
Most of these tribes are migratory in
their habits, travelling up and down the
rivers, fishing and hunting. They have
no form of government, dwelling or row.
ing in scattered bands, that are summoned
together for war by beating drums made
OF hollow logs. The chief motive for war
with them Ia the capture of women for
wives. Having no want worth mention
ing they cannot be persuaded to do any
work, the labor that must be performed
being done by the women. Their houses
are thatched with palm leaves, the roofs
being on posts.
The Lorenzos, at least the men, wear
not a single stitch. Nevertheless on oc-
casions they decorate themselves, with
exquisite headdresses OF bright-colored
parrot feathers. Perhaps the most re-
markable thing about them is their light
complexion, which, it is understood, Is
due to q mixture with the whites under
extraordinary circumstances. Three CEN
tuiiSo asO WIG 1Pohididb obtCiuPbCu W
wipe them out by force OF arms, but in
one conflict in 1890 they won a victory
and destroyed Spanish settlement, car
rying away all the women. Many Of
them were almost like the Caucasian in
appearance.
OF the Cessivos tribe the men wear
absolutely nothing, abjuring even orna-
ments, except an occasional necklace. The
women are dirty and repulsive, covering
themselves only with brown cloth about
the waist. To show that q perception of
the decorative may exist without an ac-
companying sense of decency, the instance
may be cited of the Auishiris, on the
borders of Ecuador, of which people the
male representative clothes himself with
beautiful crown and necklace of feath-
ers, the female wearing short petticoat.
The Cassivos, IL Is said, are cannibals, but
the allegation Is, probably, untrue.
Most gentle and tractable of all these
forest tribes Of Peru are the Zeparos,
famous for the cloth they make from the
bark of the llanchama tree and for the
hammocks they manufacture out of vege-
table fibre. They are incorrigible thieves
and resemble the Chinese physically, their
stature being small and their eyes set an
gularly. They have no words for num-
bers above 3. Above that and up to 10
they show fingers, but beyond 10 they can
not go. They use narcotic drink which
produces an effect like that of opium.
Their dead they bury in sitting posture,
each corpse being wrapped in the ham,
mock which belonged to the defunct
while living. The old men, however, are
inferred head downward, for reasons not
ascertained. They believe that the spirit
of evil Is black spectre called Mungia,
that lives in the woods. According to
their notion, the souls Of the good and
brave enter the bodies Of beautiful birds,
which feed upon delicious fruits, while
towards are transformed after their de-
mise into crawling reptiles. Polygamy il
common among them.
A comparatively civilized tribe, whose
enlightment is sufficiently illustrated by
the fact that its members always swear by
the name of the devil, is that of the Napos,
on the frontier of Ecuador. They bury
their dead in canoes, hold wakes over
them, and, in every case where a family
man has died, take the widow to the river
and wash her.
The Cunivos are among the most fierce
looking OF the Peruvian savages. They
wear coins through their noses, and their
faces are painted with brilliant stripes of
arnstto. The pigment is a red powder
which covers the seeds contained in the
prickly burr of the bixa plant. 1t is an
article OF commerce on the upper waters
of the Amazon and its tributaries, being
exported in large quantities to
Europe, where it is used for
coloring butter and cheese. The same
kind Of face painting is practiced by
the Campos, the most ferocious and
treacherous OF all the South American
Indians, who wear necklaces composed OF
birds dried whole. OF interest also are
the Canelos, who adorn themselves with
beautiful earrings OF beetles wings, end
ing In tufts Of bright feathers, and with
strings of toucan tails dangling from
their shoulders. But most surprising of
all, from another point of view, are the
Quichuas, who have peculiar method of
communicating intelligence, by which
they have been known to convey informa-
tion over a distance of 240 miles in less
than two hours by taps OF drums from
hilltop to hilltop, a sort of code being
employed In making the taps, like the
dots ma daehea nf the falsnronb "a