El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-10-24

q ~ III 70. Az linz III eAaalAr AlEA-
The government here has been
l. paying great attention TO the col
lection of chronological relics and it has
now one of the finest exhibits In the
National museum known of the indians
of this part of the world. There Is much
vet to be discovered and the scientists
of the country are collecting material
and preparing reports that will give new
information regarding the indians Of the
South American continent.
We look upon Mort America as the
home Of the red man and upon the terri
tory occupied by the United States as
about the only home OF the typical in
dian. The truth Is the indians OF our
country have never numbered more than
a few hundred thousand. The great bulk
of the red race has always lived on the
plateau south Of the Rio Grande and on
the South American continent.
The indians of South America num-
bered millions at the time the new world
was discovered. Americas NespucIus and
others found indians along the north
and east coast of Brazil and later they
were found In great numbers on the
OrinocO and the Amazon. Plzarro, when
he went south to conquer the indians,
found millions of these seml-clylllzed
people living on the high plateaus of the
Andes. and we now know that there
was a great population running along
the western half OF the continent all
the way from Panama to Patagonia
Killed by Thousands.
Just how many indians there were in
Brazil at that time we cannot estimate
Thew probably numbered several mil
lions. They we're found along the whole
coast and IN the great alluvial basIn-
The white men enslaved them They
killed them by thousands and, nOtWithS
standing the Jesuits obtained a decree
from the Portuguese government freeing
the indian slaves, they were kept in
servitude here and there throughout the
country for more than 200 years.
As late as 1907. A. II. heane. the
GRographer. estimated that there were
100000 indians still IN Brazil There
are vast tracts in Brazil that have never
been explored. The country. all told, has
an area as large as the United States
proper. and it has three states-namely,
AmazOnas. GOvaz and Matte Crosse
which contain more land than One-hsh
of our country. with an aggregate pOpu-
lation not greater than that Of the city
of Baltimore. In some Of those states
the people number not more than one
to every ten square miles, and in many
districts the indians are so savage that
it would be unsafe to take a census
except under arms.
Wild Indians in Brazil
There Is no doubt that the largest
number of wild indians to be found
anywhere Is here IN Brazil They are
Of MANY tribes and Of all stages of
savagerv and barbarism. with very little
civilization. When the Portuguese
came they clsssed the indians into four
great families and all OF these were
found in Brazil. The Tupi-Guaranis
occupied one-fourth of Brazil. They
were to be found also in Paraguay and
Uruguay, and they covered much OF
Bolivia and Argentine. They are a mild
people. good looking and intelligent
The Tupi indians have one language
with many dialects. The Jesuits- who
have done most of their work among
them have redued their language to a
grammatical and literary form, and it
Is now spoken throughout central South
America. 1t Is understood from the
Amazon to the Rio dc Ia Plata.
Remnants of the BotocudOs.
The second family of these original
indians was the Botocudos. These IN
dams lived some distance hack from the
coast, and remnants of them are still
TO be found in Alinas Geraes. EsparitO
Santos and Sac Paulo. They are about
the most degraded of the Brazilian
savages. They wear great plugs of
wood, bones and pebbles in their ear
lObes and lips not unlike some of the
tribes of Central Africa. They wander
about naked in the woods and live on
nuts and roots and what they can kill.
They are broad shouldered and mUscu-
lar. but are under medium height. Their
hair Is coarse and black and their color
a yellowish brown. almost the same as
that of the Chinese.
Few Become Civilized.
few of the BotOcudOs have become
civilized, but the bulk of them are still
savage. They live IN little huts in the
woods. seldom more than four feet In
height, and their only weapons are reed
spears and bows and arrows. The use
of the plug in the lips Is now confined
10 the women. When a girl is s years