Evening star., 1898-07-16
Der coat. heavy boots, a vacupa rug and
ca nned provisions

4
| canned provisions.
| Tropical Bolivia.
! This part of Bolivia through which I am
| travelling may be said to have a temperate
| climate. La Paz, IN fact. is just now a
| little too cold for spring fall clothing,
and 1 have pm two heavy suits OF under
wear and the same wooden clothes that l
| wear at home in December. 1t showed this
! afternoon. Still, week or SO on horseback
would take me into tropical Bolivia. The
eastern part of this country is one of the
| richest lands of the world, and l am told
/ that it will be the great Bolivia of the fu
ture. L have met several men who have
| gone from La Paz down the rivers whicl
| flow into the Amazon and by the Amazon
| to the Atlantic. They tell wonderful
stories of rubber forests. of trees of wild
cotton, of plants with fiber like silk and of
vegetation which is so dense to be al
most impenetrabie. They speak also of
SaVageS who are cannibalS and of other
tribes who go about stark naked and re-
gard not the laws of God or man. At
Lima met a young German explorer nam
ed kroehle, who had spent three years in
travelling about through the eastern prov
lnceS of Peru and among the Indians of
the faraway branches of the Amazon. He
had an excellent camera with him, and L
have had the good fortune to get some
prints from his negatives. Mr.. Kroehls was
many times in danger of his life. He was
twice wounded with poisoned arrows, and
he describes the travel through these
regions as dangerous in the extreme. He
was for time among the head hunters of
the River Napo in Ecudor and Peru, and
the first pictures ever taken Of these people
were made by him
The Napo region is full of queer people,
The Indians of one tribe there wear plates
of wood or metal in the lobes of their ears
as big around the bottom of the average
tulnbier. They have their ears pierced
when they are children and at first put
bits of grass and twigs in the holes to
lot fhr n f1sat
twigs are inserted and the holes are grad
ually enlarged, until they are as big around
as bracelet: | have seen in Burmah and
in southern India natives VINO follow the
same custom. 1t is not an uncommon
thing in Burmah for a woman TO carry
cigar made of tobacco wrapped in corn
husks and as big around as d broomstick
IN her ear hole These Indians go the
Burmese one better, but the extra expen-
dlture they put on their holes they
save on their dress, for both women and
men go about naked There are other
queer tribes on the Napo. The river, you
know, rises in the Andes of Ecuador and
flows distance of 800 miles before it emp
ties into the Amazon. It is navigabIe for
900 miles from its mouth by small steam
boats. The Javary river, which flows be-
tween Brazil and Peru, is said TO be 1900
miles long, and the Ucayli, another branch
of the Amazon, is of about the same length
The Upper Maranon flows through Peru,
and it is navigabIe to Borja a distance of
900 miles from the Atlantic. Think of a
stream running across the United States
frt m New York to far beyond Salt Lake
CITY, and let this be navigable for small
steamers and you have idea cf the pos
sihiiities of trade on these Amazon
branches. The Benz is another Amazon
branch which flows through Bolivia, and
the Mamora and Guapon are other long
navigable waterways
Among the CannibaIs.
All of these tropical districts Of Peru and
Bolivia contain curious tribes. There are
some cannibals among them who eat the
flesh of their enemies and do not scruple to
serve up baby roasts and woman stews
upon occasion Some Of the pictures that
Mr.. kroehle took were of the cannibal
tribes. He calls them the Cachiro Indians
and says they live along the River Pachi-
tea, branch of the Amazon. Others of
the Indians OF these regions use blow guns
and poisoned arrows. The arrows are made
OF iron wood, tipped with fiuts which are
poisoned at the points. The guns are reeds
from ten TO twelve feet long. The Indians
use these weapons for killing their game
as well as for their wars The s!ightes.
scratch of the arrow will cause death and
strange to say, the poison does not injure
Il meat OF the animals killed by il. The
king of this poison is kept a secret by
tine Indians. l am told it is made by stick
: g the arrows in purified human flesh
Fhich has already been poisoned in some
other way. The poison acts very quickly
and causes death within a few moments
On the Pachitea there are Indians who cut
their hair close and who look much like
negroes. though their hair is brown. The
women wear waist clothes, but their legs
and the upper parts of their bodies are
bare In trading with these people it is
necessary to carry a stock of goods with
you. They do not use money, and all of
their dealings are by trade. Not a few of
them have gold to exchange for hatchets
knives and guns. They especially like
American hardware. They wash the gold
out of the streams and bring K to the trad
ers in nuggets and coarse dust. They will
not take coin at all unless each piece has
hole In it. They use such pieces to make
necklaces. 1t is seldom that any of these
people cultivate the land. There are plenty
of fruits, and things grow so easily that
all that is necessary TO get a crop is to
stick in the seeds or plants. They burn
over the ground and plant without plow-
ing. Corn ripens at four months and
onions, beans and turnips at three. In the
valley of the Maranon there are planta-
tions of sugar cane. The cane is cut when
nine months old and the same stalks will
produce for twelve successive years.
In the Rubber Forests of Bo;fyin.
1t is estimated that Bolivia now produces
100000 pounds of rubber a year. and that
the total annual product of the Amazon
forests is over 4J,O90,OcO pounds. There
are rubber camps scattered ell along
| the branches of the Amazon. and the
most of the product Is shipped down
that river to Para and thence to the United
States or to Europe. Within the past year
or so rubber has been coming into La Paz
from the forests rear here, and l learn
that this IS one of the few good businesses
of Bolivia. / had chat last night with
Mr.. Alberto Vierland, an Austrian who is
largely interested in Bolivian rubber ani
quinine plantations In speaking of the
rubber forests near here he said:
"All of the best lands have been taken
up, but they are in the hands of people
- "a
n MW5g llMTA