The National tribune., 1898-10-20

| l had retained the woman who smoke
| TaCaloc, and in the long conversations
which l held with her she initiated me
| thoroughly in all their customs and
uSa<cS.
| The Ajetas have no religion; they do not
adore any star. Ii seems, however, that
| they have transmitted to. or received from.
the Tinguianes the practice of adoring
during one day rock or a trunk of any
| tree on which they find any resemblance
! whatever of an animal; they then abandon.
| il and think no more of an idol until they
meet with strange form, which for a
| short time constitutes the object of their
/ frivolous worship.
| They have a strong veneration for the
dead, and during several years 1t is their
practice to visit their graves and there to
| leave little tobacco or betei. The bow
| and arrows which once belonged to the
| deceased are hung up over his grave on
/ the day of his interment, and every night,
| according to the belief OF his surviving
| comrades, he rises up out of his grave,
| and goes to hunt in the forest.
| IntermentS take place without any cefe-
mony. The dead body is laid at fulb
| length in a grave, which is covered up
Aietas is dangerously i'll, and his recovery
despaired of, or that he has been even
| slightly wounded by a poisoned arrow, his
| friends place him seated in a deep hole
with the arms crossed over his breast,
! and thus inter him while living.
STRANGE BURIALs.
thought of speaking to my interpreter
on religion, and asked her if she did not
believe in a Supreme Being-an allpower-
| full Divinity, on whom all nature-even
| we Ourseives-depend in all things, and
who had created the armament and who
was looking on at our acts. She looked
at me with a smile and said: When 1
was young amongst your brothers l re-
| member that they spoke to me of a
| master, who, as they said. had Heaven
TO- - &c xHf1 Ill
| lies, for see" (she here took up small
stone and threw it into the air, saying in
very serious tone) "how can a king, as
you say, remain in the sky any more
give to such reasoning? l left religion
aside to put TO her other questions.
l have already stated that the Ajetas
did not often wait for the death of a per-
son to put him into the ground. As soon
as the last hOnOrS are rendered to q de-
ceased it is requisite, conformably to their
uSageS, to take revenge for his death.
The hunters of the tribe to which he be-
lOnged set out with their lances and their
arrows to kill the first living creature
which should appear before their eyes-be
it man, stag, wild boar or buffalo. From
the moment they start IN search OF a
victim they take care, in every part OF
the forest through which they pass, to
break the young shoots OF the arbutuS
shrub by pointing its tops in the direction
which they are following. -
This is done to give caution to tn cir
friends and other paSSerS-by to avoid
those places in which they are searching
for victim, for if one of themselves fell
into their hands he would without fail be
taken as the expiatory victim.
They are faithful in marriage, and have
but one wife. When a young man has
made his choice his friends or his parents
make a demand for the young girl; re-
fusal is never given. A day is chosen.
and on the morning of that day the young
girl is sent into the forest, where she hides
herself or not Just as she pleases, and
according as she wishes to be married to
the young man who has asked her.
An hour after her departure the young
| man is sent out to find his bride. If he
has the good luck to- find her and to bring
her back to her parents before sunset the
| marriage is concluded and she becomes
his wife without fail; but If, on the con-
trary, he returns to the camp without her,
he is not allowed to renew his addresses.
Among the Aetas old age is highly re-
spected. 1t is always one of the oldest
| men who governs the assembled body
All the sayages of this race live, as have
stated, in large families of from GO TO so
persons. They ramble about through the
forests without having any fixed spot for
their abode, and they change their en-
campment according TO the greater or less
quantity of game which they find in yaTi-
Gus places.
While thus living in a state of nature
no instrument of music and their language,
initiating, as | have stated, the cries of
monkeys, has very few sounds, which are
extremely difficult for a stranger to pro-
nounce, how much soever may be his
eagerneSS to study them. They are ex-
cellent hunters and make a wonderful
use of the bow. The young negroes, how
ever little, of each sex, while their parents
are out hunting, amuSe themselves on the
banks of the rivulets with their small
bows. If by chance they see any fish in
the translucent stream they let fly an ar
row at it, and it is seldom that they miss
their aim.
POISONED WEAPONS.
All the weapons of the Ajetas ars
poisoned; a simple arrow could not cause
a wound so severe as to stop strong
animal such as a deer, in its course,
but if the dart has been Smeared with the
poison known to them the smallest. pune
ture of it produces in the wounded animal
an inextinguishable thirst, and death
ensues upon satisfying it. The hunters
then cut out the flesh around the wound,
and use the remainder as food, without
any danger; but if they neglect this pre-
bitter that even the AjetaS themselves
cannot eat 1t.
Never having given credit to the famous
boab of Java, L made experiments at
Sumatra on the sort of poison OF which
the MaIays make use TO poison their
weapons. | discovered that it was simply
strong solution of arsenic in citrOn
Juice, with which they coated their arms
several times. 1 tried to find the poison
used by the AjetaS. They led me to the
foot of large tree and tore off piece of
it's bark and told me that that was the
poison they used. / chewed some of it
before them; it was inSupportably bitter,
but otherwise not injurious in its natural
state. But the Aietas make preparation
of it, the secret of which they refused to
impart to me. When their poison is made
up as a paste they give TO their arms
thin coating of it, about an eighth OF an
inch in thickness.
The AietaS in their movements are act
i've and supple to an incredible degree
They climb up the highest trees like
monkeys, by seizing the trunk with both
hands and using the sOleS of their feet.
They run like a deer in the pursuit OF the
wild animals. This is their favorite oc-
cupatiOn.
1t is a very curious sight to see these
SavageS set out on a hunting excursion;
men, women and children move together
very much like a troop of ourang- -outangs
when going on plundering party. They
have always with them one or two little
dogs OF very special breed, which they
employ in tracking out their prey when
ever it is wounded.
Il enjoyed quite at my ease the hospi-
tality exercised towards me by these
primitive men. | saw amongst them,
and with my own eyes, all that | was
desiriOus of knowing. The painful life