The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

now little mall steamers leaving Asun-
eion twice a month for cuyaba, and it Is
likely that Mr.. Roosevelt will go north
upon one of them.
He might enter the Piloomayo, near
Asuncion, and make his way up the high
lands of Bolivia into the Amazon, but
there are no steamers. and the upper
portions of the river have not yet been
explored. Indeed. 1t is safe to say that
he will go north into Matto Crosse. and
probably outfit for the widest part of his
trip at Cuyaba.
Some of the most interesting features
of this journey will be the Indian tribes
of which Mr. Roosevelt may probably
bring back many original photographs.
The Gran Chaco. which lies on the
western side of the River Paraguay. is
Inhabited almost altogether by savages,
some of whom are practically unknown
to ethnology. | was told that the In
dians there often go naked from one
years end to the other and that those
of some tribes pull out all the hair on
their bodies except that on the head
Indeed, 1t is said that there Is one
tribe which has done this for SO many
ages that it has become naturally hail.
less. Its people can grow hair upon
their heads only. l doubt this An
other tribe is the Tobias, who wear
no clothes except when they come il
the presence of white people. At home,
they often have a blanket about tho
waist, but they also go about as the
sculptors say of their models in "the
altogether"
A recent report from the Brazilian
rubber region states that some of the
Indians there are cannlbals and thera
are branches of the Amazon upon
which the famous head hunters live.
The latter Indians are not at all like
the head hunters of Formosa and Bor-
neo and such of our savages who in
habit the northern part of the Philip
pine islands. They are of copper color
and have Indian features. They have
a way of curing the heads which pre-
serves them forever. The bones of the
head are taken out and the skin then
so shaped with the hand that it re-
talns It's features as in life 1t Is dried
and baked, and after this it is, so they
claim, practically indestructible | saw
enc OF the heads in Panama city only
two years ago and I was offered one
for 800 Mexican during my travels
In South America In 1898.
There are other Indians in Brazil
who wear plugs as big around as the
bottom of a tumbler in the lobes of
the ears and in the skin of the lower
lip. which are gradually stretched for
that purpose. Only a small hole is made,
at first and stem of grass or wood is
inserted. Larger pieces of wood are
put in from time to time until tho
skin and the holes grow into these hor-
rible deformities. This tribe Is known
as the Botacudo.
The Indians of eastern South Amer
lea are altogether different from those
of the Andes. Their civilization at the
time America was discovered compared
with that of the Incas as the eiviliza :
tion of darkest Africa compares with
that of the United States now. The
lneas, after centuries of oppression
and practical slavery, have degeneratsd
INTO hewers of wood and drawers Of
water The Indians of the Amazon
and the Parara have remained station
airy, and the most of the tribes are
not much more advanced In this year
1913 than they were in 1893, when the
south American continent was discov-
cred