Evening star., 1925-12-02
BY COL. r. II. FAwCETT, F.R.G. S.
ii. INTO THE UNKNOWN.
VFTTdI 70 INs ~Ta" and N0rth Amerlca
Newspaper Alliance.

IL. lNIu lHE NkNON y.
FORT BAKAIRI. Matto Crosse
Brazil. May % Thy courier to Rio
de Janeiro.-In our final reparations
for the coming months of exploration
and archaeological research, which we
hope will reveal the cradle Of the old
est Of all American civiliza tions, we
have been making some important
studies and inquiries regarding the
savage tribes which will surround us
in the jungle.
The Brazilian Indian has an un-
savory reputation. He has never re
sponded TO advances from the Bra
lillian goverpment. He has retired re
luctantly before the invader. until the
vast state of Matto Crosse is his last
stand" and here the white man has
left him alone and defiant.
There are dozens of Indian tribes in
this unknown land. Some OF them are
cannibals: others have habits and Gus
toms almost equally unpleasant-such
A the stick throWers. who first break
your leg and then inquire your bust
ness. Practically all the tribes regard
banditry as an honorable profession
and the white man as their natural
enemy.
Yet | believe our little party Of three
white men will make friends with
them all. using such primitive medi-
ums Al the ukulele and the f1ashlight
to express our friendship. During our
few days in Fort Bakairi we have had
an opportunity to try the ukulele as a
weapon Of friendship" and 1t sue
ceeded nightly.
Tomorrow we plunge into the wilds.
A Fast-Growing Town.
Fort Bakairi is a growing frontier
settlement 1t has grown from one
hut in 1920 to 90 huts in 1925.
But it has no particular reason for
existence. 1t is A monument to the
utter futility of Brazilian attempts to
make friends with the Indians of the
Jungle There are about SO or 10 in
habitants, bul their contacts with the
sava ges are infrequent and purpose
less Occasionally a few of the milder
Indians drift into the post to see what
they can get for nothing. but there is
no organized trading or intercourse
of any Importance.
The main motive of the government
in establishing the post was to seek
the lost gold mines of Martiri, which
prominent government official be-
lieves are located somewhere nearby.
No progress has been made in this
quest but il is conceivable that real
initiative might find valuable gold de
posits in many parts of MattO Crosse.
In ancient times the plaCerS of this
area Welded enormous riches.
As A secondary motive. Bakairi WAS
expected to prove commercially profit
able through the exploitation of rice.
beans and tapioca. which could be
mark keted in Cuyaba. The local popu-
lation. in fact. lives from the cultiva,
ton of these articles. for which they
receive an infinitesimal return.
d.. &, n;.. Dor,.t,.
The people of the post are in rags.
except for a few who wear govern
mental military clothing. and practi-
cally all are sick. They are destined
to'dfe out in few years from neglect
and lack of hygiene.
These local citizens are low caste
Brazilians of degenerate type. There
are no schools and no religion. The
people are ignorant, ShiftlesS and OBJ
sessed by fetishism, borrowed from
the Indians. The witch doctor and
the soothSayer hLT2 full rein in these
backward communities.
If any place ever cried cut for the
services of a good British or Ameri-
can medical missionary it IS Bakairi
There are number of such mis-
sionaries in towns farther down the
river. where | think their work is
not so necessary as here. Yet this
place would be a pleasant and profit
able station-the location 's high and
healthy and it would give A good man
an unparalleled opportunity to extend
his ministrations amCrg the ncChhnr-
ing Indian tribes.
Our Indian \eiehbors.
To the east of Bakairi are the
Caiapo Indians. an aggressive hut
primitive lot of stiCk-thrOwerS who
cut off and kill wandering individuals
and rob the plantations. Their only
weap pon is a short club like A police
mans billy. but they are so skillfui
with it that they can break the leg
of victim at more than 100 yards
This Is their ordinary method Of at
tack: having broken a Strs nger's .es,
they crawl up on their crippled VIC
tim and dispatch him at their leisure
u u u M m mlu w n u % n "
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