The Ordway new era., 1913-04-18

tstence and manifest a certain
spect to Itoma, the sun. and f'uei. 'ne
moon. They generally bury thei1
dead in their own tent wrapped up AZ
a new hammock. which contains a.
the weapons and utensils they useo
in the course of their lives.
"The young Indian who wishes 10
he married goes to the tent where MS
beloved lived. cuts some wood tor n''
future father.in-law and presents tne
cacique with a certain quantity
cocoa and tobacco. Some fourteen
days afterward the young woman 10
allowed to follow her husband TO ms
tolpa. This is the occasion for very
picturesque festivities. parades ana
dances at which Huitoto bellies ois-
play their talent in skin painting. All
, the time is heard the booming sound
of the mangare calling from every
hill
THE mangare is a curious instru'
ment, a sort of wireless Of the Jungle
which is used not only to express
tribes rejoicing, but to communicate
the caciaue's orders to the men at
work In the forest. 1t Is sort OF
drum made by following out two tree
trunks OF slightly different size BY
striking the surface with mallet
two different notes are produced. and
the various combinations OF those two
sounds permit the transmission OF
code signals very similar to the signs
in the Morse alphabet. AS the tents
are generally built on top Of high
hills the sound of the mangare car.
ries to a distance of from ten to hf-
teen miles.
Certain travellers have stated that
the Huitoto Indians. especially those
of the Nonuya tribe. are anthropopha-
gous. In the course of ten years ]
have never observed a single case OF
cannibalism nor heard one mention
ed by any reliable witness.
As said before. forest Indians
| are absolutely harmless as long as
travellers respect the law Of the vari-
GUS tribes. When forced to work be-
yond certain limit or in unfavorabie
weather, they may revolt. as they did
in 1908, and drive their prosecutors
out of the forest. For that matter.
they simply acted as perfectly ctvtliz-
ed working men would act under sim
ilar circumstances.
Indians have no sense Of value and
no desire to earn money. They buy
supplies at any price, paying for
them with large quantities Of rubber.
and seem to have no idea Of profit. 1t
is rather difficult to demand steady
| NJ hrty rit ~
Traders have therefore tried to en-
ploy Chinese and Japanese laborers
and also African negroes at gathering
rubber. No other race. however. can
stand life in the tropical Jungle. The
slightest exertion, even for those for
tunate enough to escape the jungle
fever, means a gradual weakening Of
the organism and death.
"The tapping of rubber trees Is
arduous work. and the fitting out Of
rubber tapping expeditions is cost
ly enterprise. With the present meth.
DDS of work. rubber trees can only be
tapped six months year. from Octo.
ber to December and from April TO
June. During January. February and
March continuous tropical rains cause
| all the TIVeTS u oVcEHo~ anu Tue IOT-
est becomes an uncharted swamp. All
work must cease. human beings and
animals alike must take refuge on
the hills.
"In July. August and September the
rubber trees shed their leaves and re-
lapse into their annual slumber. They
hardly give any latex or milk at that
time. and the slightest wound on their
trunk is likely to kill them. During
that period. however. rubber trees
can be more easily distinguished from
the tropical growth which sometimes
hides them entirely from view. and
the Indians roam the forest locating
new gonzales. They make slow prog
ress. for as soon as they leave the
river bank they must travel on foot,
carrying on their back provisions for
several months. AS soon as they
have located tree they cut down the
underbrush around 1t with their ma.
chete and make notch Of special
design on its bark. The tree thus
becomes the absolute and undisputed
property of the cauchero who finds
It."