The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-09-07

hairs jerked from her head half {
dozen at time, by q female crouchet
! Dehlnd her, the lamentations of the
father, with his hair clipped. as ht
kneeled on the other side of the body
ana recited the virtues of the deceased
loved one, and the low mournful chant
OF the female relatives or friends az
they slashed their legs and arms, o,
! 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
oil the Ta-Dare-Mano Paro village
Strange Funeral Rites.
THE little daughter of chief had
been summoned from her earthly bae
TO wander with the bope Cevil spirits)
ana the funeral ceremonies were in
| progress.
Wnen Bororo is i'll a priest is call.
ed TO determine whether he will re.
cover or die. On entering the hut ana
looking at his sick tribesman and con.
| Guiding that he will probably die ol
should die, he viii count his fingers
ana each time he touches one finger
VIII repeat, Meri, meri. meri. meri
merl, bi, meaning that the man viii
see i've suns. five days and die, or he
may say, 'Nadua, nadUa, nadua, etc
bl, meaning sleep. sleen. etc. five
days, and die If at the end Of tbie
time he still lives, the executioner
sent, of course by the priest. will sud
denly appear in the hut. sit astride his
stomach and strange him TO death
Tor the reputation of the priest must
De sustained. The priests are proba bly,
responsible for not a few deaths. They
are the bane Of life in the tribe. They
must nurture the delusiOn that thew
can communicate with and have influ-
ence in the other world and ucwer "a
avert or cause evils and culamities
lhey are therefore on the alert to take
advantage of any propitious occasion
10 prey upon the superstitious fears OF
their Acknowledgement They are
freely supplied with food by their fell
low tribesmen in order to retain their
good will
The BOroro consider the sun as 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 disembod-
led soul, but they seem to have 40 idea
Of good spirit. The bope. who are
evil spirits, must therefore not be Of
tended although they must be driven
away.
Driving Off Spirits.
ITO drive the spirits off they use a
bull-roarer peculiar instrument
made of slab Of wood about nalf an
inch thick, shaped something like a
fish, and Of . varying size, hung by a
long cord, from the end of a stick like
a fishing rod. and swung round and
round through the air As it swings
loud sounds to a surprising distance
pitched from sepulchral moan 70 an
unearthly Shrek, the wall rising and
descending the scale according II the
rapidjty of the swing or the size of
the instrument
To hear several of these rnarers at
once certainly produces most unusual
sensations, particularly when operated.
as we heard them, during a trepical
storm amid the play of lightning the
crash and roar of thunder, the falling
floods and dismal gloom. No female
is allowed to see this instrument IN
der pain Of death. New ones are made
as occasion demands, and they gre
burned Immediately after their need
has passed. We entered the baehytu
as some of these roarers were being
made for the funeral prelude There
was deep silence, and the word hone
whispered low and mysteriously Ger
tain warning calls are given some
hours in advance of the time for bring
ing the roarers inro use, and, hearing
these warnings, the females enter their
huts. close the openings and hide their
heads. The rOare ) are nlanrpulated
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 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 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 a great bag, its mouth Sc
cured to two parallel rods nine to
twelve feet long, bound together 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 bag
ged and the mouth of the net quickly
closed by allowing the rods to spring
together. The fisherman then plays
the game, especially if it 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 u or Is pounds will be taken at
one catch, orgmaybe 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-
Dusly and return ashore with six or
eight large fish,
The Bororo are wonderful whis-
lers," says Mr.. Cook, and seem able
-hus to communicate whatever they
otherwise would by speech.
"All the fine ornamental work is
lone by the men. A great deal of time
and labor is spent in making seemingly
articles. and the time
consumed in shaking and furnishing
3n arrow is astonishing. generally the
arser part of two days. The shell or
lament worn around the neck is made
by the reciprocatirg motion of the
point of a sharp instrument of flint or
If iron or steel, if they can obtain it,
fastened near the center Of a roughly
shaped shell A fire is kindled in the
same way by boring a wooden rod into
another bit of wood