Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-06-05


while towards are transformed after their
demise into crawling reptiles Poiygamy
Is common among them.
A comparatively civilized tribe. whose
enlightenment is sufficiently illustrated Dy
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 family
man has died, take the widow to the river
| and wash her Intoxicating beverages
being apparently indispensable even to
wild people who live in the forest, the old
i women of this nation make themselves use
ful by chewing yuca root, transferring the
masticated masses to big jars of earthen-
ware, where they are left to ferment. The
resulting beverage is said to be highly sttm-
ulating.
The Tribe Famous for Arrow Poison.
| But there are several wholly savage
tribes which are far more remarkable in
| point of manners and habits, not least in
| teresting being the Orejones, whose ear
| lobes are pierced for holding tambourine-
shaped discs of bone, two inches and more
in diameter. Naturally, when there is .
| fight, these queer ornaments afford . hold
| for the adversary, and it is no unusual thing
| for one of them to be torn out 20 that the
victim is disfgured for life, being no longer
| able to sport an ear plug. These people
| are particularly celebrated as makers of the
| famous "woorari" poison, for tipping ar
rows and spears
The Cunivos are among the most fierce
looking of these Peruvian savages. They
wear coins through their noses, and their
| faces are painted with brilliant stripes Of
''arnatto." This pigment is a red powder
which covers the seeds contained in the
prickly burr of the "bixa" plant. It is an
| article of commerce on the upper waters Of
the Amazon and its tributaries, being ex-
ported in large quantities to Europe, where
it is used for coloring butter and cheese.
The same sort of faee-painting is practIced
by the Campos, most terocious and treach-
erous 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 ear.
rings of beetles wings ending in tufts of
bright feathers, and with strings of precious
toucan tails dangling from their shoulders
A Morse Code Beat on Drums
But most surprising of all, from another
poin. of view, are the Quichuas, who have
peculiar method of communicating intelli-
gence, bv which they have been known to
convey information over a distance of 240
miles in less than two hours by taps of
drums from hilltop to hilltop, q sort of
Morse code being employed in making the
taps, like the dots and dashes of the tele-
graph.
These savages of Peru have certain arts
of their own which are not understood else
where in the world. They catch fish, upon
which the migratory tribes chiefly depend
for food BY shooting them with arrows
The smaller kinds they capture by throwing
poisonous root, mashed to pulp, into
stream between two artificial dams It
stupefes the fishes, which presently rise to
the surface and arc readily gathered in.
For killing birds they utilize blowguns
made out of q species of palm. This sort Of
weapon is ordinarily about ten feet in
length, the pith being removed from the
stalk and leaving a smooth and polished
bore. For arrows the leafstalks of another
kind of palm are employed, each one sharp
ened at the point and wrapped about the
middle with siik-cotton. obtained from q
tree The dart is introduced into the blow
gun like a cartridge, filling up the bore,
and puff of breath sends it on its deadly
mission. So great is the skill of these wild
marksmen with. this noiseless instrument
that they will kill an entire flock of birds
one after another, without frightening
them.
BOW They Hunt the Crocodile.
A favorite sport in that part of the world
is to slay the crocodile by stratagem. The
mighty saurian, especially if imam
eater" needs no other bait than is afforded
by the hunter himself, who is armed only
with a stake sharpened at both ends. He
edecoys the huge reptile, leaping quickly
aside when the latter makes grab at him,
and finally planting the stake between the
jaws of his adversary, which is thus rem
dered helpless. A strong rope fastened to
the middle of the stake is then seized by the
spectators, and the helpless monster is
dragged about in triumph until his persecu-
tors decide that it is time for him to die.
The warlike Jivaros commonly exchange
their wives with one another. The women,
when about to be confined, go into the woods
alone, and there give birth to their Off.
spring. Meanwhile the husband in each
case takes to his bed, and the wife, return
ing, deyotes herself for eight days to wait
ing upon him, and supplying him with all
possible dainties. Another strange thing
about the people of this tribe is that they
eat no salt. 1t is said that the women some
times reduce their consorts to a condition Of
idiocy by dosing them with an infusion Of
foripondie, male from the seeds of plant
allied to the "stramony," which was util-
lied by the priests at Delphi for producing
the oracular frenzy. Having thus disposed
of her spouse, the discontinued female Sc
lects another one to fill his place, and in
thus deprived of his mind has served his
wife and her new lord as slave.
"A Tribe of speckIed Beauties
One entire tribe is afflicted with a very
extraordinary skin disease, which produces
sores When the latter have healed, the
skin in those spots is left white, owing to
the destruction of the pigment cells locally.
Thus all the members of the tribe are more
or less speckled, and individuals are fire.
quently seen who have become almost en-
tirely white. 1t is favorite passion with
them to weave cloth out of the hair of their
enemies, and belts Of this material are worn
around the waist for trophies.
Among other things brought back from
Peru by Commissioner Sanford are II num-
mics of ancient inhabitants. They were
obtained by the accidental discovery Of
subterranean chamber, in which the desic-
Gated body of a female, doubtless dead for
many centuries, was found seated on
throne-like platform. Upon her lay many
utensils of various sorts In calabash
were the remains of some small fishes, and
in an open bowl were several sea-crabs per-
fectly preserved There were also jars
which had presumably been filed with
water originally. Grouped around this
strange figure were the other mummies,
their knees drawn up beneath their chins
after the manner peculiar to the early Peru
Wan method of burial. The underground
together with its grewsone occu-
pants and the objects referred to, will be
exactly at Chicago. A remark
able collection of vases was also secured, all
of them of great antiquity.
RENE BAcHA