The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1913-04-25

EfAF
istence and manifest a certain re-
spect to Itoma, the sun, and tuel' lhe
moon. They generally bury thelF
dead in their own tent wrapped up III
a new hammock, which contains al
the weapons and utensils they useu
in the course Of their lives,
"The young Indian who wishes 10
be married goes to the tent where ms
beloved lived, cuts some wood for MS
future father-in.law and presents the
cacidie with a certain quantity OF
cocoa and tobacco. Some fourteen
DAYS afterward the young woman Is
allowed to follow her husband to HIS
tolpa. This is the occasion for very
picturesque festivities, parades ana
dances at which Huitoto bellies dis
play their talent in skin painting. All
4 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 cacique's orders to the men AT
work in the forest. It Is a sort OF
drum made by following out two tree
trunks Of slightly different size. By
striking the surface with a 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 tif-
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 I
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 a certain limit or in unfavorable
weather. they may revolt, as they did
in 1903, and drive their prosecutors
out Of the forest. For that matter.
they simply acted as perfectly civiliz-
ed working men would act under sim
liar 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
labor from such a type of humanity
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 fer
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 a cost
ly enterprise. With the present meth |
DDS of work, rubber trees can only be |
tapped six months year. from Octo. !
Der to December and from April to |
June. During January, February and |
March continuous tropical rains cause |
all the rivers to overflow and the for
est becomes an uncharted swamp. All
work must cease. human beings and |
alike must take refuge on
the hills
In July, August and September the
rubber trees shed their leaves and re-
apse into their annual slumber They
hardly give any latex or milk at that
line. and the slightest wound on their
trunk is likely to kill them. During
that period, however. rubber trees
,an be more easily distinguished from
he tropical growth which sometimes
hides them entirely from view, and
The Indians roam the forest locating
lew gonzales. They make slow prog
'ess, for as soon as they leave the
liver bank they must travel on foot,
on their back provisions for
several months. As soon as thew
lave located tree they cut down the
around 1t with their ma
'hete and make a notch Of a special
iesign on its bark. The tree thus
becomes the absolute and undisputed
property of the cauchero who finds
t."