Evening star., 1938-10-27
OF STARS,
MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress
in Field, Laboratory
and Study.
By THOMAS r. HENRY.

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
The last direct descendants of the
Indians first met by Christopher Colum-
bus now are rapidly on their way to
extinction after surviving their kindred
for 200 years.
They consist of about 400 Caribs on
a 3,000-acre reservation on the noun
famous British island Of Dominica in
the West Indies, according to report
just made to the Bureau Of American
Ethnology OF the Smithsonian Institu-
ton by DR.. Douglas Taylor, English
ethnologist.
Following the discovery and first set
Elements by the white men, the abo-
riginal inhabitants Of the West Indies
succumbed rapidly. partly due to wars
with the newcomers and partly to
disease and ill-treatment. This particu-
lar group, cross between the friendly.
sedentary Apewaks, who occupied most
Of the West Indies in pre-Columbian
days and the war-like Caribs from the
northern coast of South America, who
conquered them, managed to survive.
Up to the present little has been known
about them.
Physically they are a curious people.
as described by DR.. Taylor. They are
almost dwarfish in stature, the men
averaging around feet inches ana
the women seldom exceeding feet.
Most of them have sturdy bodies and
skin the color of which is lkened to
dried cinnamon" Their eyes are small
and deep set and are often fringed with
long, silky lashes. Their ears are large,
long, and often without any lobes. Their
feet are small, broad and extraordinarily
high arched
AS a race, Mr.. Taylor found, they
are sensitive, melancholy and extraor-
dinarily reserved and shy. In the
local patois they are described as "cou-
quia." a name originally applied to
variety Of crab which, when it cannot
escape unobserved will curl up and re-
main perfectly still, so that no amount
OF poking can make it show the least
sign of life. This trait of 'couquia"
may have contributed to the survival
OF the group in the past, but 1t now Is
contributing to their extinction.
They are great travellers, constantly
migrating as far as South America in
search of adventure. They have, Mr..
Taylor found. no realization Of the value
Of money. Social organization hardly
exists among them. So far as the eth
nologist was able to find out, there never
was any real political organization. So
ol, ,ofc hoI tu
other than of an advisory or paternal
nature. Punishment of crime was left
to the individuals or family concerned.
Today the only social unit which exists
at all is the family.
Mr.. Taylor made an extensive study
of the customs, superstitions and ways
of life of these people. job made quite
difficult by their secretiveness and sus-
picion. One of the outstanding super
stitions. he found, was in regard to ones
own name. The belief is that the name
is part of the person to whom it belongs
and that if an enemy gets possession
Of it he can work all sorts of malevolent
sorcery. Hence one Of the best ways
to arouse Carib's suspicion is to ask
him his name.
Death and all serious sicknesses are
looked upon as the effects of sorcery.
or 'pial." A "pial," to be effective. must
be instituted by three persons, usually
two men and woman. The actual
harm is wrought by spirits who have
no personal grievance but are unleashed
against person when he or she unwit-
tingly touches some object-like stick
thrown across the path. This object
has been treated by magic in order to
| make it an agency for releasing the
pial. The Carib lives in constant terror
of touching such a magic trap intended
for somebody else.
The Carib children, Mr.. Taylor found,
are almost entirely undisciplined, but
very sedentary. They will sit idle and
silent in a corner for hours rather than
go out to play. Most of their games
are such as can be played sitting down.
One of the good things to be said about
| both children and adults is that they
are very clean. bathing in the river
daily and periodically taking ceremonial
baths when certain magic herbs are
mixed with the water.
Their ancestors used bows and arrows.
| The Caribs of today have forgotten all
| about them. There is very little game
| against which they could be used. Fish
and mollusks constitute very large part
| of their diet. The main source of food
supply is the family garden. made by
burning the forest and sowing or plant
| ing in the ashes between the burned
| stumps The ground soon becomes ex-
hausted and new garden must be made
every three or four years.
The Caribs' intelligence. Mr. Taylor
| found, "is in their hands and feet" The
| individual must have a manipulative
mastery of his environment in order to
survive. Their language presumably
| close to the tongue spoken by the Indians
who greeted Columbus. is almost COM
pletely lost. The present Indians speak
the Creole patois Of the neighborhood.
Their native tongue. Mr.. Taylor be-
lieves, disappeared about 20 years ago.
Those who still retain some vestiges of
| it regard it as joke. From these YES
tiges the ethnologist rescued as much
as possible.