Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-05-05
sAvAGRs OF TEE UPPER AnAzo,
Strange Stories OF the Jivaros, The
Apaches OF Ecuador.

Strange Stories OF the Jivaros, The
Apaches OF Ecuador.
IFrom the San Francisco ExAminer.l
o. T. Baron, an enthusiastic scientist of
this city, recently returned from Ecuador
with o collection of beautiful butterflies,
birds and queer trophies of the natives It
was in pursuit of scientific specimens that
he lived for years among the JivAros, an
interesting tribe of sAvages along the banks
of the upper Amazon.
"White men never venture into the
Wilderness" said be, Except to collect
rare orchids or butterflies or birds There
is nothing else there worth carrying away,
and the climate lie exceedingly hot As for
the people themselyes-weil,e even the In
dians of the west and upper Andes shud-
der st the name Of JivAro. Where trav-
ellsd among them Is almost as far from the
Pacific coast IS Nevada is from San Fran
cisco across the mountains. That 10 the
country where the Amazon has lite source
In the Cordilleras. You will generally find
the Jivaros along the rivers. There are no
rosds nor trails. Nature is SO vigorous and
luxurisnt In that hot and moist region that
trails would be covered with vegetation in
few months. So the natives do the next
best thing to following psihs-;hey take to
the rivers. With all their ssvagery 81 is
astonishing how splendldly they make ca
noes with an old Axs carried over the Andes
from some distant trading post. They
don't understand metals. But with the
coca bean as an article of merchandise, they
go hundreds of miles and return with met
al spear heads. hk;chsts and knives.
"They cultivate the plantaIn, banana,
ard live than with the
game they get. Their staple In game is q
species Of Wild hog that lives In the dark
est and thickest placer Of the forest. Hunt
ing this hog Is sport for the Jivaros. Men,
women and children tske part In the hunt.
When a hog Is sighted they give chsse and
nothing can retsrd the hunters progress.
They crowd through jungles, squirm
through brush wood, all the time keeping
pace with their do9s, and going ss fast ss
a white rssn could in the open. On all
other occasions the women remain At work
In the houses and plantations"
Mr.. Baron has full dress of a Jivaro
warrior, given him by g young doctor
| doomed to death by his people for allowing
| three patients 20 die. Ih> Jivaros run
| very exclusively TO earrings in their Coz
tunes. The earrings are suspended from q
bit of cane passed through the ear. They
/ consist of four long pendants of beetles
i wings Of glistening green, gold and purple,
/ strung so ss to form 3 pretty tsssel. The
brilliant scarlet and orange feather of the
i resplendent toosn are used for fringe. The
Il arrangement of color shows remarkably
Il good taste.
"The women are not SO elAborstely pro
vided with earrings" says Mr.. Baron.
i "Thcir sole ornament is stick passed
through the lower lip.
/ zone of the most interesting things ]
i saw them at wss killing monkeys. Ycu
see II takes 5000 monkey teeth TO make a
necklace. The saysges move along noise
lsssly, like snakes In the grass, and st sight
of a monkey through the folisge they blow
e tiny poisoned arrow through q pipe al
him. Poor Mr. Monkey Is hit every time.
He is dead In three minutes. 1t the air be
calm it is dangerous 10 be within q hun
dred yards OF Jivaro armed with these
i miniature weapons, for he can blow a
Il poisoned arrow and kill at that distance.
/ "Poison is also used in catching hsh.
/ The Jivsro is not bCusd by game laws or
i fish commissioners, 50 he takes large QuGn-
titles of poison from the vsrvssco plant
| and throws it into tine river. Then for
/ fully twenty miles IN thsr down the stream
/ fish are gathered in canoes from the sur
| face Of the water. They are only supplied
| by the narcotic. The Jiysro cares nothing
| for sport so long as he can get the food.
| Yet you can meyer meet him without his
| lance poised and Tesdy for his mark. he
/ carries it above his shoulder SEaying back
| and forth with every stsp he takes. Even
| when standing be keeps his right arm NOV
/ ing-alwsys ready TO strike. The Jivaro
i wsrTior Is like a sentinel in war time. BE
| Is taught when a child that he mIst be ey-
i er en- the alert to defend himself. and 60
You zee him proddipg his lance at your
face without any reason l was going &c
shoot on my hTst experience Of this kind
but my guides explained and smiled st my
inexperience. / laughed, but lsugheC
alone. In all my experience with the sAv
ages don't remen bsr having heard one o.
them laugh.
They hsve no religion. They worship
nothing. though they bslieve in dresms
When well supplied with chichs, an intoIi'
eating liquor, they dream of killing tbeil
enemies. Their doctors are the sctors
| medicine men and fakirs of the savage,
| aloug the upper Amazon. Their existencs
is like tho butterfiy'r, pleasant and sunny
OF first. Free chicha and oonquests in love
affairs are among their perauisities. When
anybody Is sick the family get great
quantity of chicha and call in the doctor
He al once proceeds to decrease the sup
ply of liquor. When almost drunk b,
4 Auu Sbtr A4ADSAi
gsmut of ineantations. Then he looks q
his patient and sucks the affected place in
dustriously- He spits out at a spider.
How do you feelF he ssks.
"'No better
"He sucks again and spits out gravel o
thorn.
1.-The same question Ia repeated, sn,
each time the doctor brings forth a scor
pion or lizard or monkey tooth, until th
patient imsgines there lie come improve
ment aud says 80.
"If the first patient dies the doctor
suspected of being a witch; the secon'
time he is declared one, sud the third tim
his own life is in danger, 70 much so tbs
his own brother will sssist in killing him
This very thing came under my own oh
servstion, and IL was from one of these IN
fortunates that got this dress and thesi
ornaments. The condemned man CAV,
them to me shortly before he was killed.
| NEARLY every museum has one of th'
Jivsro preserved heads. They are grea
ouriosities The warriors decspitste theIi
victims In warfare and keep the heads a
ornaments at their girdles. How thes'
heads are preserved Is good deal of mys
terry. The skull is removed and skin anI
flesh treated with extracts from plants
which contract and tan them Then tbs
hollow head is filled with hot pebbles ant
dried. The pebbles are removed and
strange object the size of q mans hand re
msin'sn
4 r + 4 III n