Evening star., 1898-07-30

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Of the Spaniards that these red men did
not share the fate of the milder peoples of
Cuba, Porto Rico and Jamaica; but to their
superior bravery and prowess. The for
e.gners could not sutdue them. and so they
bestowed a name upon them that has
cldng through all the centuries, calling
them Caribs, or "Cdnnibals-man-eati ting
AEthropophagi."
The aboriginal hab!tants of the Ba-
hamas Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti who
were absolutely ex- erminated by the Span
i&rd5 within the fl ST century of their dis
c0veTy by them, were Arawak-like the
Car!bs. originally from South America. but
unlike them, gentle and refined though
tEeir inEeterate enemies. They were better
NtrseG in the rude arts Of the stone age
making masks. arrow heads, spears and
rude images, but not so robust and war
Ike The present defendants of the Car
lbs practice few Of the aboriginal arts
hewing out great canoes. from the gigantic
forest trees, after the manner of their an
cestors. making waterproof baskets from
canes and rushes, lining them with wild
plantain leaves, and many other little
things from the bark and roots of trees
and shrubs
Many Relics Left.
EVen If there were no living Caribs we
should be able to inform ourselves of their
existence at one time, by means of the
numerous relics which they have left be-
hird. These are found scattered through
out the Lesser Antilles, on the shores and
In the gloomy woods in the shape of stone
hatcheis, spear and arrow heads and bat
ue-axes' also fragments Of rude pottery,
some OF which are carved and ornamented
with barDaric designs. Thousands of the
smaller articles have been found, the best
collection of Carib relics being found i'll
our government museum here in Washing
ton The small objects known as ceIts are
called thunderbolts by the natives of the
Islands now, who, unaware of their origin
ascrloe 1t TO the sky and the lightning.
They will grayely relate that they have
seen these same ''thunderbolts" descend
direct from the skies. and have picked
them out Of trees struck by lightning And
whenever West Indian negro finds one of
these thunderbOlts, turned up in a field by
the plough, or washed upon shore bv the
waves. he will hide il away in some dark
corner, firmly believing il will protect him
from the dangers Of the thunder storm
In Guiana, on the north coast of South
America, the Caribs of that section still
use many aboriginal weapons and particu-
larry the heavy wooden war club; they also
use poisoned arrows which they shoot with
almost the accuracy of rifle bullets after
having made them deadly by dipping in the
terrible woural poison. There is no doubt
that the ancestors Of the present existing
CARDS came from the Guiana country CEN
turtles ago, advanced upon the southern
most of the West Indies and conquered
their Inhabitants, the Arawaks and at the
5Iline or the discovery of these islands by
Europeans had killed all their male sne.
inlies and probably eaten them But they
saved the comeliest Of the women and the
.chlIdren' and so II happens that We find the
remains OF AraWak words among them ar
the present time.
Early Woman's Rights
Ancient historians assert that tho r,aIe
Caribs spoke one language. and the females
another; but this was owing to the fact
that the women had preserved the speecb
OF their tribe, while the men still smoke
thelr native tongue. As these cannibals
would not touch the flesh of women he
neVing IL TO be tainted. the latter were
onereDy saved 10 become the slaves and
conSofts OF their conquerors. They were
IN TACT, very fast;dious about their meat
as lhstanced by tbe finding among them at
kShe time, OF a Spanish priest, whose life,
ne aVerred, had been nliraculousIy Dre-
served by special intercession Of his patron
SAINT But when the ungodly Caribs were
lhterrogated about it they said it was be-
cause ne smelt SO of garlic they could not
bring themselves to eat him So also they
spared the lives Of some English sailors
owing TO their being so impregnated with
TOBACCO smoke that the flesh of the first
one whom they had killed and tried to
eat made them very i'll.
That second voyage of Columbus in
which he discovered the CannfbaI Islands
has been recounted many times but never
more quantity than by dear old Hakluvt
who says, in his translation from the Span
ish OF Herrera: The third dav of the Ides
OF October, 1893, departing from Ferria and
from the coaste of Spaine with a nayie of
seFenteene shippes, they columbus and
his crews sayled XXI days before they
came 10 any lande, and arrived first at the
flands of the Canibales or Caribes of
which only the fame was known 10 onr
men. They found in their houses all kindes
OF earthen vessels, not much unlike unto
ours And they also found in their
kytchens mans flesh. ducke's flesh and
goose's flesh, all in one pott, and other ON
the spits, ready to be layd TO the fire.
An Unsavory Reputation.
It was upon this evidence that the new
ly discovered Caribs were declared to be
csnnibals. or man-eaters, '-incurable an
fhropophaei." unworthy to be treated like
civilized beings. But this declaration Sc
Cured them immunity from Spanish at
,fseks for many years. owing to the un-
eaYofy reputation, and to their great yalor
tneir descendants are still living In the
fWest Indies. while all the other Indians
pave long since disappeared There is NOT
The slightest doubt as to their bravery
Tor all the Spaniards testified to IL before
Queen Isabella on their return to Spain
Ana l5D years after their discovery a
'frenehmsn describes a fight tha, took