The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-06-29

about from place 10 place 10 get water
ana food Some Of the larger clans |
nave sheep and goats. and some have |
a few cattle and two or three horses
Their chief business l. hunting os-
triches. deer and small game. They
also nsh in the swamps. Some have
in which they grow sweet
potatoes and pumpkins
The Lenguas believe in witchcraft
and they have their witch doctors.
they live in constant dread of devils
and are afraid to go abroad at night
IN the SwampS because they say the
SWamps are the homes of the devils.
They are much afraid of the witch
doctors h as they believe. can send
cats. rats or snakes inside ones body.
They believe in dreams. They think
that the spirit leaves the body during
a dream and wanders away. and that
at TINS time any other wandering soul
may enter in and take possession. In
this case the mans own soul cannot
get back. If they have a dream OF
being killed by a certain man. they
think they are justified in killing that
man in return. 1t is said that they
bury people alive from a religious mo-
tive and that they practice infanticide.
Some of the customs of the Len
guas are not unlike those OF the Bur
meSe. One ls the piercing of the
odIS. MS Is uOffe Win great cSTe-
mOny and feaStins and dancing. A
small hole is made at first This is
gradually enlarged by putting sticks
or plugs of increasing size in it until
it reaches a diameter of two or more
inches.
One of the advancing tribes of the
ChacO is the Toba. These people live
In the southern part of the Ountry
Some of them have been driven out by
the white settlers. and not a few are
!, beginning to hire themselves to the
!, planters and the timber prOprie-
tors. They work during the cane
cutting season, receiving wages OF
, about a dollar a day. After the harry.
, eSting season they go back to thei1
! hunting and fishing. They are goot
i hunters and trappers and can TAX
, anything from an antbear to an ALI
gator. They are Skillful snake hunt
ers and have certain herbs which the,
q chew to cure themselves when bite
by poisonous snakes. They are goo
I climbers and will gamble on anythin
from the bark of a tree to the bar
q Of a dog. Very few of them spea,
Spanish and they are fond of thei
own language. These Indians wea
anklets Of horse hair. which the
o stray around their legs so that tn
q hair stands out like the bristles upo
the back of a wild hog.
| hear tales here of other Indian
outside the TOBIAS. who wear ha
twisted aroun the legs below TT
knees and around the waist. This
- not the hair Of horses, however, b
that Of women These Indians IL
:, in the swamps and they feed large
- upon wild fruits, roots. reptiles al
!, caterDillarS. Besides this hair Orn
=. mentation their only clothing is
strip Of cloth about the loins. Tn
~ paint the skin with black pigme
III and some of them make holes in t
y lower lip, in which they hang a sc
- Of a tongue made Of gum that e
1e tends down in front of the chin. TIL
are warlike. They use powerful boz
es and long barbed arrows Of point
ne hard wood. Some of the AFRO
en- Measure over six feet in lei. 9Th a
re it must take great strength to she
them.
RI These people believe in witches a
have drums to drive off the e
ed spirits. They make water pots
tie basket work covered with beesW
cd and also a rude pottery. The potte
is made without a wheel. The clay
SO rolled between the hands into 10
at. ropes and the pot is built up coil
III coil, being smoothered as the desir
shape is produced. 1t is the burn
cir They make Irvine n they wea
W. their loin clothes on a crude fra1
ley Hidue VI Ihe o."ihoS VI HeoS' u"
re III Tie sToutlo-
Paraguayan tribes is the Mbay;
This was strong at the time
Spaniards came. The nation had
tSe own traditions and it's own faith. {
ar tenet Of it's belief was that God ere
1t ed the Mbayas to prev upon otl
nations and that it was its duty
in. fight and onoue all others. Acco
art ing to the Mbayan theory of
ion creation. God did not start
world with n man and one WON
He created a great population all
once ana dlVldeu the ianus up aIn'
them. He then married, and fr
his offspring came the Mbayas. II
nd were his chosen people, but all
ist- land had already been given av
are anu ne hdo NJ - ~ - II