Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-15

WFsysASs5SN savage and untamed as
Y 49, any tribe in the dark
.TX&zWE. continent. Vastly rich
in gold, the whole interior is one big placer
mine, the bed of every stream being a-gitter
with the precious metal Ensign Roger weles
of the navy has newly returned to Washington
from visit to this strange region and the de-
scription he gives Of it and its inhabitants is
very remarkable.
THE POPULATION OF DUTCH GUIANA,
which does not number more than 20, 900, is
mainly composed Of civilized negroes. They
are very different from people of African race
| anywhere else. so that the stranger on first as
cending the Surinam river is apt to be aston
| ished at their peculiarities. The costumes worn
| by the women are extraordinary, the invariable
| rule being that the skirt shall be made exactly
the length of the wearer from the top of the
bead to the toes. This article Of dress is fast
ened around the waist by gathering string,
which leaves ono half of it trailing on the
! ground. But the slack is pulled up to the
waist and fastened again about that part Of the
| body with u second string, so that the super
fuous material falls in an enormous double
| hounce around the stomach and hips.
THE WAIST OF THE GOWN
| Is made OF q single piece of calico, with short
sleeves. which is starched to such stiffness that
it projects from the body all around at an angle
of forty-fve degrees. From the back of this
garment always dangle two long pieces Of tape,
though what they are for nobody knows, tradi-
ton having ceased to record the use to which
these streamers may be supposed to have been
put formerly. Presumably they were once
meant to fasten something like the two buttons
at the back of the white mans coat, which we're
originally intended to secure the sword belt.
On their heads the women wear bandana hand
kerchiefs. tied in peculiar turban-like fashion,
which cannot be successfully initiated by any
one not initiated in the art They 60 barefoot
usually and the men likewise. the latter being
attired In commonplace pantaloons and shirts.
SENSE OF THE RIDICULOUS
These people are wonderfully initiative and
have a keen sense of the ridiculous. Not long
ago an American gentleman landed at the prin-
cipal town, Paramaribo, and found himself sur
rounded by crowd OF curious negroes at the
landing. They took in every detail of his APP
pearance and sized up his belongings on the
wharf, much to his disgust. SO that he looked
around him with naughty air and frigidly in
Quired: why am / fn object of SO much at
tention?" This behavior on his part struck
them as extremely rich, and by the next day a
new song was being sung on all the streets of
Paramaribo. set to the tune of "Boom-.a-
ra-ra," which melody the inhabitants had
learned from colored troupe of wandering
Ministries that had visited them short time
before. The first stanza of the song, phrased
in ridicule Of the naughty stranger from the
United States, was as follows:
San go nanys wsni me!
Me no lubba You.
Me no wanna you"
Which, overset into English, means:
II am not j.ckass;
Why do you stare at me-
lido not want YOU"
sung with humorous appreciation by the entire
colored population of the town.
LANGUAGE RESEMBLES ENGLISH.
1t seems very remarkable. and is a fact not
satisfactorily accounted for, that the patois
spoken by these negroes resembles English
more than any other tongue. although the COL
Ony Is Dutch and they have had very few OPP
portunities to come into contact with English
speaking people. There are only about three
persons from the United States in Paramaribo,
and no English except a consul and vice consul
The population Of that settlement may be any
where from 10000 to $4,000 largely mulattoes
through mixture with Europeans. There are
less than 900 whites. Nicherie the next most
important town, has only few houses. 1t is
on the Nicherie river and is a sort Of starting
point for miners bound for the interior, serving
as a base Of supplies. The great estates along
the coast, which produce sugar and cacao are
mostly owned in Holland and managed by
agents. At Paramaribo there is a colonial gov
ernor, legislature, Judiciary and military
post.
THE BUSH NEGROES.
The wild people already referred to are
known as the Bush negroes. They live in the
forests Of the southern part of the country and
are almost naked. the men wearing only a loin
l al III
hair, and their skins are glossy. 1t is believed
| that they are descended from African slaves
who escaped from their masters during the
early slave days In Dutch Guiana They sus-
| tain existence by fishing and hunting after the
most primitive methods having no firearms,
| but pursuing game with the bow and arrow
Nobody knows how many Of them there are
| They build shed-like huts of palm leaves. Very
| rarely they come into the towns for the pur-
pose OF bartering certain raw products for
| liquor, OF which they are very fond, like all
| savages For such trading they collect gum
from the balata tree, which is exported in con-
siderable quantities from Paramaribo. It
serves excellently q substitute for gutta
| percha, now that the latter substance is becom-
ing scarce. These Bush negroes are quite
harmless and are froqently hired by miners to
help in the work. They seem to have no
tribal organization. each family living by IT,
self in an isolated dwelling or small group Of
| huts.
THE CIVILIZED NEGROES
Of the country mostly make their living by
catching fish, selling fruit and working at the
mines. the women doing Washing also Up to
the present time the mines have remained un-
developed. only the most primitive processes
being employed to obtain the gold. However
companies have been newly formed for the
purpose Of properly opening up this source Of
wealth and before long it may be expected
that Dutch Guiana viii contribute large quanti-
ties Of the yellow metal to the worlds supply
In addition to specimens Of gold and gold bear-
ing earths, the colony will contribute to the
woods, in which her territory is extraordinarily
rich.
COOLIES FROM INDIA.
Another very interesting class Of people in
Dutch Guiana includes the agricultural
lnborers, the majority Of whom are coolies from
India They are fetched from that country