The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-12-30
AMONG CURIOUS PEOPLE.
QUEER INDIAN TRIBES LIVING NEAR
THE ORlNOCO RIVER.
Peculiar Habits and Customs of South
American Aborigines They Wear
scant Clothing ii How the Indians
Fish-Exquisite Bead Work.

"Twelve hundred miles from the mouth
of the Orinoco River was as far as ! ex-
tended my explorations toward the
sources of that great stream" said En-
sign Roger Welles, who has just returned
from the region mentioned. He is the
only white man that has penetrated these
wilds, at all events since the days OF the
early Spaniards.
"The Orinoco ia one of the biggest
rivers in the world, as you may see by
glancing at a map of South America. 1t
is dotted all along it's course with numer-
GUS small islands, and its upper waters
are obstructed by many cataracts. Dur
ing my long journey toward its sources
my canoe had often been carried over
land around impossible falls. By the
time one reaches the Rio Meta, which
is the largest tributary of the Orinoco,
navigation is further interfered with by
the wild and savage Indians who use
poisoned arrows, SO that traders who
buy and sell goods along the stream
anchor the sailing scows out in the
middle of it at night, keeping guard
with rifles against possible surprise.
"In that part of the country and be-
yond toward the interior, whittier pene-
trated, nakedness is the rule among the
natives, neither men nor women wearing
anything besides loin cloth of the most
restricted dimensions. Here is one OF the
loin cloths, which represents the height
of fashion as to dress among those people
You see it is but a rectangular scrap of
| beadwork fastened by string. The bead
work, however, is very beautiful, being
done in an exquisite pattern. Two hum
bred miles beyond the mouth of the Rio
Meta the Infrida River enters the Orinoco.
l started up that stream with my canoe
loaded with trinkets for exchange with
the natives, who live in a condition of
extreme savagery, although they are
amiably disposed and usually harmless.
They go entirely nude, save for the loin
cloths, as | have described, and get their
subsistence by hunting and fishing,
chiefly by the latter.
81 was much interested in their method
of taking fish by the use of the bow and
arrow. For this purpose they employ ar
rows six feet in length, made of reeds
tipped with iron. While canoe is pad
died gently along in the shadows a
marksman stands ready with his arrow
on the string of the bow. AS soon as a
large fish is seen, if the approach can be
made within range, the arrow is let fly,
and rarely fails to strike the prey. These
young stalks of certain kind of palm,
from which the pith is removed. The ar
rows employed as projectiles are simple
splinters of reed, sharpened at one end,
the other end being wrapped with
enough silk cotton obtained from another
kind of palm to fill up the bore of the
blowgun. The arrows are about ten
inches long and very light. They are
tipped with the famous and deadly
'woorari poison. Used by one of these
naked savages, the blowgun is a weapon
of great accuracy and effectiveness, even
small bird on tree being brought down
by the skilled sharpshooter with reason
able certainty at the first try.
"These primitive aborigines dwell in
huts built of palm leaves mostly. Each
family has its little garden patch, which
is chiefly devoted to raising the root from
which cassava is made. They depend
upon this root almost entirely for food,
apart from what they get by hunting and
fishing. 1t is prepared by grating to be-
gin with. The crater employed is of the
most primitive possible description, being
simply plank with perforations, small,
sharp pieces of flint being inserted in the
holes. Being reduced to a sort of meal
by rubbing on this CRATER, the cassava is
/ u,
the root is as watery as the potato. Then
it is sifted and formed for cooking into
what looks like an enormous griddle cake,
two or three feet in diameter. The cake
is baked on a fiat piece of earthenware of
corresponding size.
! can Indian will go off for weeks
/ hunting with no other food than guam
tity of cassava prepared in this fashion.
l myself was obliged to live upon it al
most wholly for months At first l did
not find it palatable, but after awhile |
acquired the taste, and became quite
/ fond of it,. The chief trouble was that it
! was cooked Oh the bare ground, and al
! ways contained considerable percentage
| of dirt. However, one must not be TOO
particular about ones diet when travel
/ ing in the wiIds. These savages are quite
cleanly, SO far as bathing is concerned
| but their habits IF living, otherwise, are
not such as to promote the virtue which
! is next to goodness.
Matrimonial methods are extremely
simple among these natives. When a
young man and young woman wish to
marry they go to housekeeping together,
and that is all there is of it. Often q
youth of one village will woo and win a
maiden of a village hundreds OF miles
| distant along the river. AS rule they
seem to enjoy as uninterrupted a domes-
tic felicity as civilized couples obtain
The Indians are gradually retiring toward
the higher sources of the Orinoco be-
cause OF the harsh and dishonest treat
ment which they receive at the hands OF
the white men and half-castes of Vene-
zuela.
" Cassava is an important food of the
poorer classes all through Venezuela, be-
ing ground by machines in factories
Among the curiosities which I obtained
from these savages are number of inter-
esting musical instruments, such as rec
flutes and drums made out of kind Of
corkwood. wv Washington Star.