Evening star., 1899-03-11

They are as straight as our pine trees and
as proud i'm their bearing any Indian
chief of the west They have high cheek
bones. copper-coioCed skins and straight,
black hair
The TOBIAS commonly wear no clothes ex-
| ctpt when they come in 10 the presence
OF white people or cross over To Paraguay
10 trade At such times the women wear
Whlte sheets draped about their bodies
AT home they have nothing except a
blanket about the waIst. that is. when they
are in fun dress. The men ar satisfied
with band tied about the head.
The Indian Women.
The younger women are very fine looking,
and the young braves are among the no.
hlest of their race. Both sexes age early,
and after thirty the women look old
Among most of the tribes polygamy is COM
mon, but / am told that the women get
along peaceably and that a new and young
wife is welcomed into the family This
may be from the fact that the women do
:tu the work. and the more women the less
work. 1t is the woman who plants the
crop, cooks the meals. makes the fishing
nets and weaves the blankets
The men only hunt, fish and fight They
are skilled in the use of the bow and are,
it is said, very brave in battle. They do
not scalp, but cut off the heads of their
dead and cure them in such way that
. they can the skulls for drinking cups.
AS rule they kill the grown-ups of the
tribes they conquer. but save the children
for braves and wives.
The marriage customs of the Chaco In
dams are strange. Giovanni Pellaschi an
Italian who Travelled among them, says
that when one of the TOBIAS wants to marry
he paints his cheek bones. lips and the
hollows of his eyes red. He then struts
about the tent Of his sweetheart, aud later
on brings all the sheep. chickens, skins
and other property which he possesses to
the young lady and offers them to her as
a present. If she accepts them the mar
riage is on. and he can come in and live
with her family. shortly afterward remoy-
ing to hut of his own If she refuses, he
goes elsewhere. j am told that such mar
riages are happy, that the women are
faithful, and that they make good mothers.
These Indians are not very int. .ligent-
They cannot count more than four. They
have no money and their trading is alto
gether by barter. A community of inter-
ests seems to prevail, and If one of the wo-
men gets piece of finery from a foreigner
she has to divide il with her sisters, her
cousins and her aunts.
The Wigwams of the Chaco.
The wigwams of the Chaco are different
from those of our savages. A village often
has its huts built together, so that one
thatch can cover a number of dwellings.
One of these common houses looks much
like a great hay wagon. several families liv-
ing in the different apartments under it.
ohe part OF eacn nut Is USED 1or cooking
and another for sleeping. The people sleep
upon skins when they have them, other
wise on the bare ground. The huts are so
well made that they do not leak They are
built by the women, and when comp eted
one of the braves crawls upon the roof and
stamps about to see If he can make the
thatch break through. If he cannot the
hut is all right; but If the roof gives he
tells his wife to get up and go TO work
again.
The Indian women are said to be good &.
cooks. They use pots and spits for cook
ing, and / am told they always wash their
pots after using them. They use shells or
gourds for spoons, forks are unknown and
the man is happy who has his own knife.
FRANK @. CARPENTER