Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-04

| NE OF MR.. BLAINE'S
n TA Y ideas for making the
III 3 lpeople Of the United
| ,rcIA w States familiar with the
9f Is South American repub.
~ w" lies, newly opened tt
IH Yankee commercial en-
"" terprise by his scheme
A-G, ofreciprocity, is 10 illus
MWAX trste by exhibits at the
K@ Columbian exposition
-Ess$| the various tribes oil
savages in that part Of
the world Most interesting of these groups Of
little-known aborigines are those found in Peru
from which country the special commissioner
sent by the Department Of State, Ensign W. E.
Stafford Of the navy, has just returned with 9
wonderful collection of costumes and curiositief
of all sorts. He has also secured many photo
| graphs OF native types though with no small
difficulty, the photographer being wounded SC
severely in the side by a warrior who threw his
spear at the camera that he had to have part
Of one Of his ribs removed and is likely to die.
FIERCE AND wARLIKE PEOPLE.
These remarkable wild peoples inhabit the
shores of the tributaries of the upper Maranon.
Among them are the fierce and warlike Jivaros,
1
dressed human beings in the world. The men
wear coronets of exquisite feathers and tunics
| of like material hanging from the waist nearly
to the knee. From their ears depend strings Of
feathers, fastened together at the breast with
tusks OF the jaguar. The plumage for these arti-
cles OF attire and adornment are obtained chiefly
from the scarlet and tufted cock of-the-rock,
| the "simani," which is of q deep cobalt-blue
| TINT and q species Of toucan that bears in its
tail feathers OF brilliant orange and rose color.
These garments are of great value. not even the
| royal feather mantles Of Hawaiian monarchs
comparing with them in loneliness. 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 together with
Irvine of agave fiber.
| HEADS FOR ORNAMENTS.
| The Jivaros further adorn themselves with
armlets and legiets of monkeys teeth and
| beetles wings of prismatic hues. No dudes to
be found anywhere on earth are so gorgeous as
they. At the same time they are very ferocious,
and it is they who invented and practice the ex-
traordinary art, peculiar to themselves, of pre-
serving the heads Of their enemies for orna-
ments. For this purpose the head is cut squarely
| off. the scalp is split up the back to the crown
and the skull is removed, the knife being ap-
piled around the eyelids, ears and lips so as to
! leave them attached to the skin Of the face
the head thus emptied of skull and brain in
| filed with small hot stones. These stones are
replaced again and again with others freshly
heated, and the head is hung finally for long
| time in the smoke Of fire, the hair being
protected from injury with leaves wrapped
| around it.
THE RESULT OF THIS PROCESS
is to reduce the head Of an adult man or woman
| to about one-qusrter the size of an infants
Uranium. Three specimens prepared in this
style are on exhibition in an out-of-the-way
| corner of the National Museum. They are
grofesquely horrible beyond description. It is
impossible to realize that they are human, re-
sembling as they do nothing but dolls. Although
| so shrunken the faces are perfectly preserved
in form, without wrinkles, though as black as
charcoal. To each one is attached a luxuriant
natural growth of long black hair. Across each
diminutive countenance red stripes are painted
this being the final touch in the preparation Of
these trophies As such they are used being
hung around the neck Of the warrior by a cord
preserve their dead by smoking, thus trans
forming the corpses into mummies.
INTERESTING PORTRAITS.
Portraits of this and other tribes Of strange
| savages who people the forest regions of Peru
some Of them the first likenesses Of these ma
tive types ever secured-have been brought
back by Mr.. Stafford. Quite number, done in
oils, are admirable works Of art and will be
shown at the Chicago fair, together with cos
TUNED figures, huts, utensils, weapons, &C., il
Illustrating the different groups Of aborigines.
Most Of these people are migratory in their
habits, travelling up and down the rivers for
| the purpose Of fishing and hunting. They have
no form of government, dwelling % rowing in
scattered bands, which are summoned together
for war by beating drums made Of hollow logs.
The chief motive for war with them is the cap
ture Of women for wives. Having no wants worth
mentioning those of them who are partially civil
lied cannot be persuaded to do any work such
labor as must be performed being done by the
women. Their houses are matched with palm
leaves, the roofs being supported on posts.
THE LoRENZos.
If beauty unadorned is adorned the most the
tribe Of Lorenzos-save for their undeniable
ugliness- be justly considered better
dressed than the gorgeously clad Jivaros. For
they, at al events the men, wear not single
stitch. Nevertheless, on occasions these peo-
pie decorate themselves with exquisite head
dresses Of bright-colored parrot feathers. Per-
haps the most remarkable thing about them is
their light complexion, which is understood to
be due to a mixture with the whites under ex-
traordinary circumstances. Three centuries
ago the Spaniards attempted to wipe them out
by force of arms, but in one terrible conflict in
the year 1899 they won q victory and destroyed
Spanish settlement, carrying away all the
women. Many OF them AZ this day nearly APP
proaeh the Caucasian in appearance.
ONLY AN OCCASIONAL NECKLACE.
When it comes to a question of nskedness the
Cassivos Of Peru are unrivaIed in South Amer
lea. Very few tribes Of savages in the world 60
entirely nude, but the men Of this one wear alb
solutely nothing whatever. abjuring even orna-
ments save for an occasional necklace. Thewomen
are dirty and repulsive, covering themselves only
with brown cloth about the middle. 70 show
that q perception Of the decorative art may ex-
ist without nm accompanying sense Of decency,
the instance may be cited Of the Auishiris, on
the borders of Ecuador, of which people the
male representative clothes himself simply with
beautiful crown and necklace Of feathers, the
female wearing short petticoat. The Cassivos
above referred to are said to be cannibals but
the allegation is probably incorrect. Among
all ssvages the favorite denunciation of one
tribe against another is that Of cannibalism.
CLOTH AND HAMMOCK MANUFACTURERS.
Most gentle and tractable Of all these forest
tribes of Peru are the Zaparos, famous for the
cloth they make from the bark of the llancbama
tree and for the hammocks they manufacture
out of vegetable fiber. They are incorrigible
thieves and resemble the Chinese physically,
their stature being small and their eyes set
angularly. They have no words for numbers
above three. Above that and mp to ten they
show fingers, bat beyond ten they cannot 20.
They use narcotic drink which produces an
~ ~ 49, H.