Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-10-24
iba1 Dandies of the K@ri.

The tribe numbers between two ana three
thous nd and all the members of it live in
one enormous house This house is more
than three hundred feet long and over
forty feet wide At the base, slopfng up
ward in a triangular form The walls are
m1de of thin fern sticks and leaves. deli
CT ely md beautifully woven together. and
very solid. It is wonderful piece of work
manship
Inside the house IS supported by a great
number of postS between which bammockS
are slung for the men of the tribe to sleep
in On the floor. beneath these hammocks.
are small squares of bamboo, on which the
women sleep with their children. Each
family has its own cooking fire and do
mestic utensils and lives its own family
life in this vast house. surrounded by all
the other families.
We were conducted into this house. and
the Indians crowded around us-men wo-
men and children-all overlooking with hos
ptality and curiosity. The first sight that
met our eyes in the house was long line
of skulls suspended on the walls. There
were skulls of monkeys. pigs, fishes, ja-
guars and many other animals. and also
among the lot there were eighteen which
were Enthusiastically the skulls of human
beings. 1t was evident, too. that they were
the skulls of civilized men, for some of
them had gold filings in the teeth.
1t would be absurd to say that this sight
did not make US feel queer, but we were
not so frightened as might be imagined.
because we had heard the story of those
the river.
The Fate Of the Colombians.
They were eighteen Colombians who had
fled from civilization to escape being pressed
| into the government army to fight the
revolutionists. Four months before our
arrival they settled among the Yari In
dams Being we'll armed with guns and
| revolvers they cowed the tribe for awhile
tod 70 r1lnh
men of the lowest and mo brutal char
acter, and before long they began to fog
and shoot some of the Indians
| One afternoon a baby cried In the big
house and annoyed the leader of the gang.
| He cooly drew his revolver and blew Its
head off. The Indians who were sitting
around busy at their various occupations,
did not say a word. They showed no trace
of emotion Even the baby's mother sup
pressed her grief. But that night they
arose from their leep and slew the eigh-
teen Colombians.
Next morning by wireless telegraph. they
invited the neighboring tribes to a "barra-
coucha"-a feast of white men, At
"barracoucha" all tribal feuds are sunk.
and the chiefs sit together in an enormous
hammock, which holds as many as forty
men, They do not eat human flesh for
food; they have plenty CT that Of all kinds.
Nor do they eat 1t because they like it.
The motive is religious. or, rather, super
stitious. They believe they will acquire
the qualities-courage, strength, endurance,
, cunning, skill-of the enemy who forms the
dish.
The Yaris and all the other tribes we
visited hate South American white men.
for they have suffered much at their hands:
and they kill and eat them whenever they
get chance. But they readily understood
that We were a different kind Of white men.
They are always ready to behave we'll to-
ward Americans, Englishmen, Germans
and others whose motives and deeds are
good. There was never any suggestion of
making 'barracoucha" of us.
The Guests of the Chief.
! AS soon as we got inside the big house.
| the chief inquired by signs whether we
| would eat and led us to his fire. which
| was the largest in the house. His wife
| who was particularly attentive, no doubt
under his orders. gave US two clay bowls
and filled them from a stewpot simmering
on the fire. She used for ladle a dried,
| shriveled human hand. The bony fingers
were close together, and curved like the
talons of an eagle. The sight took away
| my appetite and made me wonder what
! might be in the pot. But the portion served
| to us consisted mainly of pigs feet so we
concluded 1t was all right.
The kindly, generous hospitality with
| which we were received was continued
during the whole of our six weeks stay
| among the tribe. Apart from their un-
| pleasant habit Of eating their enemies, the
| Yaris are fine race of savages who can
| give points in morals and manners to many
| civilized men, There was much in them to
/ admire.
The men had only one wife aniece and
| were always most kind and faithful to her.
| Marriage was by consent of the woman-a
| thing rare among savages. Adultery was
| hardly ever heard of; If it happened it was
| punished by the sure divorce of death The
| guilty man and woman were each put alone
| on one Of the thousand little islets in the
river to starve to death or be slain by wild
| beasts.
! 1t was plain, even to us, who could not
| speak their language, that the husbands
| and wives were deeply attached to one an
| other and fond of their children. Family
| love was often charmingly displayed, and
| the men took great pains to teach the
| youngsters how to hunt and fish, and to
] train them in the myriad points of wood
craft invaluable to an Indian.
Honor Is Great Among the Yaris.
| They were honest folk, too, and men of
their word. The Yaris and all the neighbor-
| Ing tribes never fail to carry out an engage
| ment if they can possibly do SO. They had
it in their power to rob us of all our pos
sessions, which. be it remembered, consist
ed of articles they coveted intensely But
| they stole nothing.
One day we went down the river about
| five hours journey, to another small tribe
| an offshoot of the YariS, which comprised
only about twenty-four people. An Indian
| there fell violently In love with big knife
| carried, and intimated by signs that his
I earthly happiness would be complete if he
could only have that knife. He would dc
anything for it. l signed to him that we
wanted big fish, and then gave him the
knife. Among these people it is always the
| custom to pay in advance
We returned to the Yari house expecting
to see the fish, but about midnight we were
awakened by the playing of a flute on the
| river. 1t was our friend coming UP with
an enormous fish which he had captured fo1
us.
The business methods employed by the
rubber collectors striking TESTIMONY
to the honesty of these tribes The white
merchant goes to the big house of the
tribe and throws down his stock of barte,
on the floor. Each Indian takes what he
desires-one a looking glass, another q
machete, u third pair of scissors and sc
forth. The merchant then departs to his
station, having disposed of his stock il
trade and received nothing for it. He does
not even know what each individual Indar
has taken; indeed, he does not know one
Indian from another. But he can rely or
| their good faith
Three months or six months afterWard
according to the season, the Indians begir
to arrive at his station, bringing rubber t.
pay for the goods they took. They tell hin
what they had, and he weighs the rubber
, and usually has to give them somethine