The Washington herald., 1907-09-01

Tie daughter Of a chief had been sum
moned from her earthly bae to wander
with the bope (evil spirits), and the fu-
neral ceremonies were in progress.
When They Are III.
when Bororo is III. a priest is called
to determine whether he will recover or
die On entering the hut and looking a,
his sick tribesman. and concluding that
he will probably die or should die, he
Will count his fingers. and each time he
touches one finger, win repeat. 'Meri,
meri, meri, meri, meri, bi,' meaning that
the man will see five suns. i've days. and
die. or he may say, Nadua. nadua.
Ladua, &c, 'bi. meaning sleep. sleep.
&c, FIVE days. and die If at the end Of
this time he still lives, the execu-
toner. sent. of course, by the priest.
viii suddenly appear in the hut.
sit astride mis- stomach, and strangle
him 10 death. for the reputation OF the
priest must be sustained The priests
are probably 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
hava influence In the other world, and
power to avert or cause evils ana calami-
ties. They are therefore. on tbs alert 70
take advantage OF any proprtious occa-
sion to prey upon the supeTstitiOus feafs
OF their fellow -tribesmen. They are freely
supplied with food by their fellow-trihes-
men in order to retain their good will.
THE Bororo consider the sun as tho
fountain head of majesty and power, and
even OF benefcence. and as the abode of
the great priests who have passed to the
spirit world, and fear him. Bope means
spirit or disembodled soul, but they seem
to have no idea OF a good spirit The
bope, who are evil spirits. must, there
fore, not be offended, although they must
be driven away. To drive the spirits off
they use a bull-roareT. a peculiar instTu-
ment made Of a slab Of wood about half
an inch thick, shaped something like a
fish. and OF varying size, hung by long
cord from the end of a stick like fish
ing rod, and swung round and round
through the air AS it swings and rapidly
revOlves, It sends forth loud sounds to a
surprising distance. pitched from sepu!-
chral moan to an unearthly shrek. the
wall rising and descending the scale ac-
cording to the rapidity Of the swing or
the size Of the instrument.
AoAESE AhhAEAnSMASs
To hear several OF these roarers at once
certainly produces most unusual sensations.
particularly when operated. as we heard
them, during a tropical storm amid the
play OF lightning, the crash and roar of
thunder, the falling foods. and dismal
gloom. No female is allowed 10 see this
instrument under pain Of death. New
ones are made as occasion demands. and
they are burned Immediately after their
need has passed. We entered the bae-
hytu as some Of these roarers were being
made for the funeral prelude. There was
deep silence. and the word bOpe was
whispered low and mysteriously. Certain
warning calls are given some hours in
advance Of the time for bringing the
roarers into use, and. hearing these warn
/ ings, the females enter their huts. close
the openings. and hide their heads. The
/ roarers are manipulated outside the vii
lage, up and down through the bush
We had difficulty in securing examples
Of these instruments. They were brought
to US at night, securely wrapped. and
amid the greatest secrecy, every precau-
would keep them where there would be
no possibility of a female seeing them.
"The Bororo are expert swimmers, and
/ are fishermen Of the highest order. One
mode Of fishing is 10 swim out into the
/ river. three or four miles above the vii
| lage, with a net, called buke, like a great
/ bag, its mouth secured to two parallel
rods, nine to twelve feet long, bound to-
gether at their ends. When 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
! bagged, and the mouth Of the net quickly
/ closed by allowing the rods 10 spring to-
gether. The fishermen then plays the
/ game. especially if 1t be large; gradually
rolls the net over the rods TIL the fish
cannot move, brings It to the surface,
/ and kills il with a club which he trails
by a cord from his neck. The fish Is now
taken from the net, strung on cord.
and hoated along with the club Some
times two or more fish OF twelve or IF.
/ teen pounds will be taken at one catch,
or maybe one weighing as much as the
man himself will be bagged IN this way.
! A Bororo will remain in the water an
hour or two continuously. and return
ashore with six or eight large fish"
Ornamental Work.
''The BoToro are wonderful whistlers, IS
says Mr.. Cook, 'and 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 un-
important articles and the time con-
sumed in shaping and Furnishing an ar
row is astonishing, generally the larger
part Of two days. The shell ornament
worn around the neck is made by the
reciprocating motion Of the point OF q
sharp instrument OF flint, or OF iron OF
steel, II they can obtain II, fastened near
the center Of a roughly shaped shell,
fire Is kindled in the same way by boring
q wooden rod into another bit Of wood
"The Bororo are the tallest OF any
South American Indians I have seen.
do not remember one man under five
feet seven inches. and they are some
times six feet three or four inches tail
/ They are fuil-faced, the nose well shaped
and not large or particularly fat not
are the cheek bones especially prominent
Many OF tho children, and some Of the
young men are quite handsome.
1.-THE tribe is supposed to number be-
tween 500 and i0,Oco souls. We visited
eight villages and settlements"