The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17
NEGROES or THE WOODS At WAR.
One Tribe PoisOns the Fish on Which
Another Tribe Partly Subsisted.

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Another Tribe Partly Subsisted.
The news comes from Dutch Guiana that two
large tribes o. the bush negroes engaged in a
fierce war growing out of a quarrel over II fishing
stream 10 which both claimed exclusive rights
One Of the tribes finally scattered SO much poison
in the stream that n large part Of the fish died.
and the result was resort 10 arms and at last
accounts the fighting still going on. The Sc
blacks who are scattered all through the bush
in Dutch Guiana have unique and remarkable
hiaory. The white men in the colony long ago
decided To let them alone and would doubtless look
on with satisfaction if the negroes would exter-
inmate one another They are known the
Negroes Of the Woods and have reproduced in the
Western Hemisphere the customs and character
iscs Of savage Africa.
The ancestors Of these negroes were brought to
America over two centuries ago in slave ships
To work on the coast plantations Of their Dutch
masters Terribly maltreated in the early days
Of the colony, many Of them took refuge in the
forest depths and in time they tempted hundreds
Of other slaves to run away and enjoy with them
the freedom Of the bush Early in the last century
the slaves played sorry trick on their masters.
II the time when Admiral Cassaret attacked
the Dutch settlements and nearly all the slaves
were hurried into the interior for concealment
They never came back, for they preferred the
wild life OF the woods with their friends. near the
head waters Of the river 20 drudging their lives
away on the coffee and tobacco plantations
There their descendants have lived ever Stree,
distinct from the Indians around them es from
the whites on the coast They seem not 40 have
grown in numbers 70! many years and there ere
believed To be only abouts, 900 Of then. ThorouEh
savagcs as they are, they fight one another on
the sliG htest provocefon and have been involved
in a great deal Of trouble with tie Indians and
whites. As C. great many Of them die with their
war paint on, they increase IL ECmtc!s very
SLOWLY il at all
Tee Moravian Brethren have lGbored for years
among these regroeS with little apparent result
They arc low in the social scale, aad have shown
little aptitude for Improvement They have
Only family preserved tho r2cmC-y Of their father
land. but they know their ancestors ceno from
acrogC the sea and tlrouG.. tho customs herdcd
down 70 tAem thoy have turmoil a bit Of CnEicAl
America into Q scmblance Of the negro3 rnt ye
home. Ike THO equatorial African, they tstio"
themselves witaOut the adjunct Of color. twi at
their wool into many little br.its, wes- arm and
lee orn. nents Of copper. brcca and iron, and
adorn ihe. recI with strings Of beads or tho teeth
OF wild animal They 1.-Two chiefly upon vegeta
Tie ilod end f9h, end work no moro then their
ncoec1itcs require.
I. IN al interesting feet that thoso aayasrs e-c
moro muscular and Tisorou1 better formed, and
mora bryant in spirit than their kindred who
for generations have continued 10 Toll on tho
COST pcatctionr. They ore mentally BRIG hteI,
too than those nea- them, who for generations
have been the derand.nts Of rlaves Thus they
see-n 70 afford striking p,ooi of tho fact that man
can Gar Setter perpetuete his best physical and
mental qualities In c stato Of SavAGim Than
undor conditions whcre he u simply Condemned
N = hnnsloas Hfo oA r.nFOouitnd dFudrurE