Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-04-19

lips are sewed up and the head Is
then shrunk until 1t is hardly larger
than child's fist. In certain tribes
no man is allowed To marry unless
he can show one of those little heads
as evidence of his valor."
Another CHASTITY thing which you
see now and then is a ladle whose
handle is made up of a dried human
arm. This does not mean that the
Indians are especially cruel and MUIR
derous. The white man has little to
fear from them. provided he finds out
all about a tribes habits and Gus
toms before venturing into an Indian
settlement. If you see three round
stones at the entrance to a hut II
means: Keep out. the master is out:
there are only women and children
within
Disregard the warning, let the
chief find you in his hut and soon
after your head, conveniently shrunk,
may adorn the door of his tent.
Three sticks laid on one another
at certain angle in front of the hut
means: Everybody out Again death
would be the penalty for trespassing.
Shoot some OF the Indians domestic
animals and a little poisoned arrow
will soon dispatch you into eternity
1t is the lay of the forest. and much
as we may object to such a code Of
laws. it mu. be confessed that the
Indians are very law-abiding people.
"A rubber tree bearing the brand
OF one Taper is never tempered with
by another Taper. Masses of coagu-
lated rubber may be left in the forest
unprotected. The owners mark
stamped upon each piece is enough
to keep thieves away
While forest Indians are not like
ly to modest a white man who OBJ
serves all the rules of the jungle
code, they seem to abhor the sight
of black man. Many of the difficult
ties which arose in the Putumayo be-
tween Indians and rubber traders and
led to acts of brutality on the part
of the latter were due to the fact
that the English-Amazon company
employed Barbados negroes as fore.
men. The Indians called them
'Taife' or devils. and only worked
under them when C npelled by sheer
violence.
The Hu::oto tribe, from which
most of the rubber tappers are re.
cruited. presents curious characters
tics. AS many as hundred families
live in common under a strange-look.
ing edifice called tombo. or tolpa. II
is a sort of a cross between a bu,
and a tent, rising to a height of AZ
or so feet. Jungle creepers are
stretched upon light conical timber
frame, and then the whole thing is
covered up with bamboo. From a dis
lance II gives the impression OF q
travelling circus tent. II has no win.
dows, and the doors are so low tba,
one has to stoop considerable to pene-
trate into t'Se tolpa. Around the cir.
cular space covered by the tolpa arc
/ separate groups of hammocks for tho
various families. Every family bas
its fire. on which a large kettle 10
kept simmering continuously. II con.
tains a sort of meat stew which
never seems to become exhausted. for
after every meal the women refill tho
kettle with fresh meat and season.
/ ing. without ever emptying it. Over
the fire hang pieces of fish or venison
which are being cured by smoke.
The Huitotos have no definite
form of worship. They believe in
the existence of superior being call.
ed Usinamu and of a lower elemen,
called Taife. They admit a future ex.