The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-02
Strange Savages in South America
Mystery of the Roarr Which No Woman Ever Allowed to se

ing by the corpse of her child. the
hairs Jerked from her head half
dozen at time, by a female crouched
behind her, the lamentations of the
father, with his hair clipped. as he
kneeled on the other side of the body
and recited the virtues of the deceased
loved one, and the low, mournfuI chant
of the female relatives or friends as
they slashed their legs and arms, or
even their entire bodies, with sharp
ened shells-this was the drama that
unfolded itself one beautiful summer
morning as we crept into the baehytu
OF the Ta-Dare-Mano Paro village.
Strange Funeral Rites.
The little daughter Of a chief had
been summoned from her earthly bae
to wander with the bope (eviI Spirits.
ana the funeral ceremonies were in
progress.
When Bororo is i'll a priest is call
ed 10 determine whether he will re-
cover or die. On entering the hut and
looking at his sick tribesman and con-
Guiding that he will probably die or
should die, he will count his fingers.
ana each time he touches one finger
VIII repeat, 'Meri, meri, meri. meri.
meFi. BIZ meaning that the man will
see five suns, five days. and die, or he
! may say, 'Nadua, nadua nadua, etc
OF, meaning sleep, sleep, etc. five
days, and die. If at the end of this
time he still lives, the executioner
sent, of course, by the priest, will sud
dehly appear in the hut, sit astride his
stomach and strangle him 70 death
LOT the reputation of the priest must
be sustained. The priests are proba blv
responsible for not a few deaths. They
are the bane of life in the tribe. They
must nurture the delusion that they
can communicate with and have influ-
ehce IN the other world and r,CWer 90
avert or cause evils and cgiamities
They are therefore on the aIsct to take
advantage of any proDitious occasion
10 prey upon the superstitious fears of
their ellow-tribesmen. They are
freely supplied with food by their fell
low tr1besmen in order to retain their
good will
The Bororo consider the sun is the
fountain head of majesty and power
and even of beneficence, and as the
ABODE OF the great priests who have
passed to the spirit world, and fear
him. Bope means spirit or disenbnd-
led soul, but they seem to have 10 idea
OF a good spirit The boDe. who are
evil spirits, must therefore not be Of
Iehded although they must be driven
away.
Driving Off Spirits.
ITO drive the spirits off they use a
ouil-roarer, peculiar instrument
made of a slab of wood about nalf an
inch thick, shaped something like a
fish, and of varying size, hung by p
long cord, from the end of stick like
a fishing rod, and swung round and
round through the air. As it swings
and rapidly revolves it sends folIn
loud sounds to a surprising distance
pitched from a seoulchral moan TO an
unearthly shrek, the wall rising and
descending the scale according ID the
rapldlty OF the swing or the size of
the instrument.
ITO hear several of these roarers at
once certainly produces most unusual
sensations, particularly when operated
as we heard them, during q tropical
storm amid the play OF lightning the
crash and roar of thunder, the falling
floods and dismal gloom. No femala
is allowed to see this instrument IN
der pain of death. New ones are made
as occasion demands, and thew arc
burned Immediately after tbeir need
has passed. We entered the baehvtu
as some of these roarers vera being
made for the funeral prelude. There
was deep silence, and the word bone
whispered low and mysteriousIy. Ger
tain warning calls are gfvcl some
hours in advance Of the time for bring
ing the rOarers into use, and, hearing
these warnings, the females enter their
nuts, close the openings and hide their
heads; Inc roare 5 are manipulated
outside the village up and down
through the bush. We had difficulty
in securing examples of these instru-
ments. They were brought to us at
night, securely wrapped and amid the
greatest secrecy, every precautiOn be-
ing taken to make sure that we WOlifI
keep them where there would be no
possibility of a female seeing them.
The Bororo are expert swimmers
and are fishermen of the highest or
der. One mode of fishing is to swim
out into the river, three or four miles
above the village, with a net called
Duke, like great bag, it's mouth Sc
cured to two parallel rods nine to
twelve feet long. bound together at
their ends. Ws1en one or more fish are
seen the mouth Of the sack is opened
by springing the rods apart, and with
wonderful dexterity the fish are bag
sed and the mouth of the net quickly
closed by allowing the rods to sprinc
together. The fisherman then PLAYS
the game, especially if il be large.
gradually rolls the net over the rods
till the fish cannot move brings it to
the surface and kills it with a club
which he trails by a cord from his
neck.
Big Fish Catches.
The fish is now taken from the net.
strung on a cord and floated along
with the club. Sometimes two or more
fish of II or Is pounds will be taken at
one catch, or maybe one weighing as
much as the man himself will be bag
ged in this way. A Bororo will remain
in the mater an hour or two continu-
ously, and return ashore with six or
eight large fish"
The BOrOrO are wonderful whis-
tiers" says Mr.. Cook, land seem able
thus TO communicate whatever they
otherwise would by speech.
All the fine ornamental work is
done by the men. A great deal of time
and labor is spent in making seemingly
unimportant articles, and the time
consumed in shaking and furnishing
an arrow is astonishing, generally the
larger part of two days. The shell or
nament worn around the neck is made
by the reciprocating motion of the
point of a sharp instrument of flint or
of iron or steel, if they can obtain It,
fastened near the center Of a roughly
shaped she'll, A fire is kindled in the