Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-08-16
I'D I'VE 0EillOco.

UP the oEiNoco.
"Twelve hundred miles from The
mouth Of the Oviuoco River was % far
a. ! extended my explorations toward
the soarccs Of that great stream" said
Enslgn Roger welles, Who has returned
from the region mentioned, 10 the writ
90 Tor ths star. lie 10 thu only white
man that has penetrated thosc ~ilds, st
ell svents since tbs days OF the early
Spaniaris.
"rhs Orinoco IL one Of the biggest riv-
ere In the world, ~ you may s~c by glanc-
Ing at the map of south America. It's
dotted all along its source With numer-
ous small Islands, and lie upper waters
are obstructed by many cataracts. Dur
Ing my long journey toward lie source,
my canoe had often been carried over
land around impossible falls. By the
time one rvaclses the lilo Meta, which IL
the largest tributary of the Orinoc".
navigation IL further lntcrfercsi With by
Wild aud savage lndisns, Who usc po'-
sonci arrows, so that the traders Who
buy aud cell goods along the strcams
anchor the sailing scows out In The mid
die Of u nc night, keeping guard With
rifles against possible surprise.
"in that part of the country and be
yond towards the Interior. whittier ]
penetrated, nakedness IL the rule among
the natives, neither men nor women
wearing anything besides . loin cloth of
the most restricted dimensions. Here 10
one of the loln cloths, which represents
the height Of fashion ~ to drrss among
those people. You sec u IL bat RE-
tan .ular scrap of bad wofk fastened by
q string. The bead work. however, 10
very brsutifui, being done In an exqui-
site pattern. Two hundrri miles beyond
the mouth of the lilo Meta the Indian
River enter. the Orinoco. ! started up
that stream with my canoe loaded With
trinkrts for exchange with the natives,
v DO live in q condition of extreme sav.
sgery, although amisbly disposed sud
usually harmless. They 60 entirely
nude. ave for the loin cloths, ne have
described, and get their subsistence by
hunting aud fishing. chiefly the latter.
"a. much Interested In their method of
taking h,h by the Use of tho bow aud
arrow.
"For TIL. purpose they employ arrow.
.ix feet In length, made of reeds upp~i
With Iron. While q canoe Il padded
gently along In the shadows, the msrk.-
man stands ready with his arrp~ on the
string of the bow. A. soon n large
i.h {. seen. u the approach can b. made
within range, the arrow u Jet ny aud
rarely fall. to strike IN. prey. The..
Indians hunt With blow-guns made out
~ young stalks az rrtain Kind of
palm, from which the pi,h IL removed.
The arrows employed a projectilc. are
simply splintsrs of Rcd .harpcnci at
Que end, the other rnd being wrapped
With enough .ilk cotton obtained FROM
another Kind 81 palm Ia OIL up the bor-
% Oh. blo~.gun. Tic arrows are about
ten inche. long aud very light. They
ar. tlpp~i With the famous aud deadly
'woorari' poison. iced by one 81 these
naked sa,agr., the blow-gun LA ~rsp'
on ~ great accuracy aud effectiveness,
even . small bird on . tr-s~top te'ng
brought down by the sklll~i sharp
shooter With reasonable certainly Of the
hrst try.
These primitive aborigines dwell in
huts built % palm leaves, mostly. Zach
family has u. little garden patch, which
from which ca.ssys !. made. They de-
pcnd upon TIL. root almost entirely for
iood, apart from what they get by hunt
lug aud f.hlng. u !. prepared by graf
in. 10 begin With. III. Crater employ
cd !. of IN. most primitive possible de-
.crip,ion. bcine simply plank With per-
foration., small sharp PIECES ~ flnt be-
Ing Inserted In the holes. Being rc'iuc-
Ell 10 a sort IL meal by rubbing on this
CRATER, the css.a,a Ia pressed Ia get the
water out, because the root IL o. wstsry
a. the potato. Then 10 l. slftrd and
foLsned Into What looks like an snorm0u.
gr.idle cake two or three feet Ia diane
ter. This cak. I. baked on q Hat plec.
Of ear'henwarr of corresponding slis.
IAN Indian will 10 OF Tor q week.
hunting with no ether food than . gusn.
THY Of ca..a,a prepared la this fashion.
I, myself, was obliged Ia live upon u
almost wholly for months. AZ hr.t !
did no, fnd Il palatable, but after while
I acquired the taste aud becam. quite
fond 81 u. The chief trouble MAS that
Il VAS cook~l on the bar. ground and
always contained q considerable per-
ccntsgr of dirt. lIo~c,.r, on. must
no, be too particular about one. diet
when travelling In the Wilde. These
.avsges ar. quite cleanly, 80 lar a,
bathing 1. concerned, bat their habits of
living, otberwi.e are not such ne la pro-
mote the virtue which !. next to godli-
ness.
ESQ far q. the virtue % the women !.
GOVERNED, I should ssy II was of high
order. some of them are fairly good
locking, aud have excellent hgur-s, but
their comelinc-s IL nearly always spoiled
by badly dccsycd teeth. assisted un.
Intentionally la the performance. Of
quite n romance on one occasion. When
my canoe va. on the point of leaving q
native village, where We had been so
journing. q young Indian girl seemed Ia
b. considerably sgltated, aud manifest
.,i an evident desire To accompany IA.
Nv pilot. against my wish, permitted
her Ia get aboard. aud .he came With us
down the strram la our next halting
place. I poiicci the pilot VAS extreme
iy attentive a. her. shortly after We
made our next landing, the mother of
the girl made her appearance In canoe,
having followed us 10 get back her
daughter, whom abe took away With
her. The pilot WAS very melancholy
after this occurrence. aud subsequently,
confessed Ia me that De- had brought the
Young lady away for the purpose of
a IL