The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-10
INDIAN DANDIES.
MEN OF UNEXPLORED REGIONS
 OF SOUTH AMERICA VAIN.
Virtuous and santtary-AfectiOn of Parents and Children Unusual in Barbarians.


 The most extraordinary thing about the Yaris, an Indian tribe living in Co., lombia, South America, is their dandy ism. They are the greatest dudes un- der the sun. No men on earth think more of their personal appearance or devote more time to it. Yet the result is by no means entrancing.
 The men are absolutely hideous in the face, with pronounced, protruding teeth. Their complexion is bilious copper color. In stature they are stunted, but they are well formed, 1.-the, agile and hold themselves very erect. Their ex- pression, which is ferocious, bellies their nature. They cut their hair very short at the neck and straight on their fore heads. Through the cartilage of the nose they put stick about an inch long and quarter of an inch thick, which raises the nostrils. They put a similar stick through each ear. They paint their faces and bodies in gaudy colors with vegetable dyes, and it is in this they show their dandyisn most forci- bly,. When they are not working or hunting they spend all their time paint ing themselves and arranging their hair.
 The Yaris paint the foot up to the half of the leg with some red vegetable dye which protects them from insect bites. On this foundation they create a fine decorative scheme in blue and black, The body and face are also painted.
 WHAT PLEASED THE YARIS MOST.
 Of all our trade goods, what pleased the Yaris most was an article never in tended for them. We took with us some blue ink in tablet form, intended to melt it to write our diaries with. One of the Indians took up a tablet, 4 dipped it in water and drew some lines on his body with it. He was overioyed when he found that these lines did not wash off readily, like his own vegetable dyes. After that these tablets were our most valuable coin.
 The women of the tribe have very del- icate noses and fine hair. Like the men, they are most cleanly in their per- sons and their habits and attentive to their toilet. They go naked, but are
 
 upper lip they thrust two thorns, each being an inch and a half or two inches long. They do not adorn themselves so much as the men or waste so much time in dandyism. Both men and women have remarkably small feet and hands.
 The chief wears necklace of tiers teeth, to indicate his rank, and also three gaily- -colored feathers in a coro-. net made of the plumage of birds Un- Iwke most savage chiefs, he is not a fat, lazy, dissipated brute He is the cleverest and hardest-working man in the tribe. His children wear necklaces of monkeys teeth, and his chief assist ants, or body-guard, also wear few monkeys teeth.
 During the six months of the year, when the river is high, the entire tribe lives in the big house, and during that time the men and women do not cohab- it. When the rivers fall and leave great sand banks exposed, each family builds little hut of sticks and leaves on one of the sand-banks, and the husband and wife can live together. As natural consequence, nearly all the children of the tribe are born about the same time. A chiidIess woman is regarded as very unfortunate person. She is dosed with a mixture made chiefly of the scraped claws of the giant armadillo, which is supposed to remedy her misfortune.
 CLEAN AND ORDERLY.
 Perfect cleanliness and order prevail in the big house. One day we were smoking cigars there, and carelessly ,1 &I, diately one of the women came along and carefully swept up every particle into palm leaf. The tribe has good ideas of sanitation, and, in consequence, their health is always excellent. In the evening the house is lighted by oil pro- cured from turtles eggs.
 During our stay the Yaris behaved splendidly. They could not do enough for us. We could only communicate by signs, but they showed great intelli- gence in comprehending our wishes. When they understood that we wanted butterflies they went out into the jura- gle and brought us basketfuls, but, un- Fortunately, all were crushed and use less.
 Our 'bogas,'' on the return Journey, < The family love they displayed was pretty and touching.
 On our way back to Cali we were att tackled by about forty Indians, who had evidently not heard of our friendship with the tribes. They fired scores of poisoned arrows at us from their poi soned blowpipes, but, fortunately, they were on the bank and our canoe was in inidstream. Some of the arrows stuck in the canoe, but we were not hit. We padded out of danger without return ing their fire.
 Cali was safely reached last June, af- ter many exciting adventures, and from that place came to New York. The doctor went to England, where he is now making preparations for another journey into the unexplored interior of Central South America. Thomas s. AL exander in Letter from Colombia to the Washington Star.
 VARIOUS ITEMS.
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