The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1899-02-09
CANNIBALS OF PERU.
they Regard Man Flesh as Dainty,
Hut They VIII Not eat
women.


By even the most excellently edu-
tsted folk cannibalism is hardly reck-
oned among American defects Of char
icter. and yet there is no need Tor any
one who has the curiosity to cross the
seas in order to gaze upon a human
man eater. Down in darkest Peru, over
an outlying eastern ridge of the Andes,
toward the very unsettled boundary
line of Brazil and Bolivia, flourish
ing race of cannibalistic Indians can be
found. They are so fierce and unap-
lp-oachable, even for Indians, that dur
ing the several centuries that Peru has
been known to the civilized world few
miss sionaries or explorers have ever felt
courage enough to guarantee anything
like a close study Of their eccentricities.
IL was an English woman and an enthu-
s.astic traveller who recently brought
home.a a photograph of one of he wom-
Ell of a cannibal tribe, and though full
of eagerness to know more of these peo-
PIE she was persuaded to forcgo inves-
tigation. History in Peru, even as 1t
runs back to the traditions of the ear
hest Incas, mentions no time when this
race, commonly known as Chuncho,
ever submitted to any intercourse or al
Iliances with their more domes;!cated
brethren.
The civilized Indians regard them
with horror that only cannibalism eau
inspire, and only at long intervals have
the white residents of Peru seen or cap
tured any of these remarkable savages.
The fiercest of the Chunchos are the
Antes and the Cascibos, who range the
forests where the precious Peruvian
bark is found and who fight each other
in the hopes of securing prisoners for
q cannibalistic orgie. But there ds a
queer code in their savage law. They
make no effort to seize women for their
fcasts. The very degradation of the sex
Is in its way preservation.
The male Ante or Cascibo regards a
woman as an impure being. She is a
ne cessary torment, but by no means a
comfort, though she accepts her shar c
of duty, and cannibal brave would
well-nigh perish of starvation before he
would pollute his lips with female flesh.
Not only is woman thus desrised, but
her blood is feared as poison, from the
taste Of which no man could recover.
The cannibal women profess no such
dstaste for mans flesh, but are said u
eat il with relish, while in their own
turn they have evidently taken no ac
tive steps to convince the man against
their ancient error and prejudice.
Saving the protection she receives
from this strange superstition, the can
nibal woman enjoys slight benefits a.
) far as any explorers in eastern PERI
have been abe TO find out. She cult
Yates the ground little, looks after thl
, children, and, curiously enough, il
scme of these tribes polygany is for
bidden. Whether this is due or not tt
feminine influence nobody has yet hat
the pluck or luck TO find out.
When in seclusion of her forest hom,
the cannibal woman wears rougl
cloth garment, falling to the knees
from the hips, beads and heavy neck
laces that suspicion and some reliabl,
evidence say are composed chiefly o
polished bits of human bone, and d
gala occasions ear and nose buttons
with plentiful bedaubing of pant, max
, up the toilet. There is no effort a
coiffure, and over the upper lip, unde
the eyes and across the cheeks and chil
the paint is laid on.
!, In certain arts these fierce women ar
cminently skilled. They prepare tn
pcisons for tipping the arrow used b
the men in war and for smearing tn
, heavy clubs employed in the bushes
oe finishing off an enemy when prough
i to his knees. Among the civilized In
I dams the belief is that so virulent al
, these poisohs that where they ouch tn
broken skin the wounded person die
within a few moments. So far as IN
= vestigation has been pursued the cam
bal Indians have always recognized tn
I properties of the cascarilla bark. TIL
{ women in case of fever use an infnsio
I of it drawn from the green bark, whic
=" is after all regarded as more prompt
( efficacious than the white qainine pow
e der that civilized chemistry extract
frcIn the same source.-St. Louis r.
pubic.
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