Show Strange Savages in South America Mystery of the Hoaxer Which No Woman is Ever Allowed to See Cincinnati Enquirer i iThe The survivors of past 1 ast generations of aborigines still barbaric in their cus customs customs customs toms to the popular mind are located in Africa or In the far east The new world Is commonly supposed to be free of ot human relics relies of ot a thousand years ago Yet In the heart of South America near the southern border of Brazil there exist at present resent 1 tribes of savages not as advanced In civilization civilization tion as the red r d men met by Columbus or the prehistoric Virginians found by Captain John Smith on these thee the e shores A trip among these Indians of South America made by W A Cook partly in the Interest of the bu bureau bureau bureau reau of American ethnology Is de do described described scribed In a recent publication of the Smithsonian Institution in which he tells of the Indians of Matto Grosso Brazil a people strange to the descendants of ot Europeans Mr Cook made this adventurous trip in company with Senor Antonio Candido de Carvalho a Brazilian ex explorer explorer explorer of large experience and influence Influence Influence ence and with him collected many na native native tive implements ornaments and othor objects which have since been for forwarded forwarded forwarded warded and placed with other ethnological ethnological ethnological logical collections In the United States I National museum Indians I Gathered He describes his journey through the wilderness to a rough ranch belonging to Senor de do Carvalho near a village He says As soon as our arrival became known our ranch scarcely more than an open shed began to fill rapidly With our painted friends of all ages and sizes and both sexes who came cameto caine cameto to observe us and to see the marvelous things we had brought them from our enchanted world They pour in upon us regularly at the break of day and stay faithfully until the shadows of night begin to deepen and though coming and going constantly we al always always always ways havo have our full complement If wo we open one of our trunks our visitors are on the alert to handle whatever may strike their fancy If we eat every mouthful of food Is close closely closely ly my scrutinized and whatever we may maydo maydo maydo do is observed with the closest atten attention attention attention tion They recline on our boxes sprawl on our tables lean against the posts squat on the ground and hunch down around our pot as It boils bolls al always always a ways leaving a patch of paint wherever wherever ever they sit or lean Some smoke others lazily pick and eat the kernels from a roasted ear of ot corn others nib nibble nibble nibble ble the white heart of or a diminutive palm that furnishes a con considerable considerable considerable part of or their food the boys devour bits of fish roasted black or shoot at a stick or a stump with their crude bows and arrows Just outside the door men gossip vacantly gazing but never once toward the one they the address or they ask us a few questions In the limited language that we know knowin in common The women and children usually form fonn an outer fringe to this group Whenever there Is prospect of obtaining beef our congregation is at once largely Increased They never steal anything that Is distinctively ours though they will take anything we have bought of them If they have an opportunity They Wear Bangs The long straight coarse black blackhair blackhair blackhair hair of both males and females hangs bangs in a tangled mass about their shout shoulders shoulders ders except above the forehead where It Is kept chopped off to form bangs Nearly all the single young plaster these bangs with a sort of red putty made from the small y fruit of the palm and fish oil and the same sam paste Is used to paint the entire body Boys and girls who are esteemed by their parents also have the for foretop top arranged in this way and a few of the latter who are re regarded regarded regarded with special favor have it plaited with ith a layer of beautiful red L feathers One woman was covered with white feathers from head to foot with a brilliant plume in her hair All young men and boys wear sus suspended suspended from a hole in the lip Up bored L during Infancy a kind of ot chain called I about six inches long lo g made of flat bits of shell ter terminating termInating terminating in a red feather The older men have a plug In this hole for If ii left open It causes difficulty in drink drinkIng drinkIng drinkIng Ing The village itself according to Mr Cook Is Just as strange He says There were thirty huts In the vil village village village lage that encircled In a very irregular way facing In every direction a very large hut that stood In the center and anc I was called Bae by Is the name of the ordinary family hut This Thir Is the bachelors hall the headquarters of all the unmarried men menthe menthe menthe I the workshop work hop where the men make weapons and ornaments o and Instruments instruments Instruments ments the dining room the town townhall townhall hall ball where most public functions oc occur occur occur cur and the club where visitors are received and entertained The bae Is entered through an air opening at each end like a hole In a hay haystack haystack haystack stack and within Is la always dark gloomy and foul smelling To Keep Out Flies The family huts are a aroot roof root resting on the ground and strong strongly ly resemble an old haystack with a ahole ahole ahole hole eaten In each end though occa occasionally occasionally the hut Is raised a little and woven palm branch tongues form fonn a basketlike wall Deep gloom reigns Within these th se huts They rhey are made dark that they may be free from flies and are dens of rubbish and filth Stuck to the roof are bows and bun bundles bundles bundies dies of o arrows war clubs fishing gear and Instruments and ornaments not in use at the moment The occupants of this human lair are sprawled on a palm leaf rug with a log of at wood four i Inches in diameter for a pillow and sleeping or gnawing an ear of corn a abit abit abit bit of ot fish or vegetable or sitting making beads arrows or other objects or kneeling by the little fire preparing food When the filth becomes unbearable unbearable unbearable able or disease Is prevalent they do donot donot donot not trouble to clean house but simply abandon and burn the old and build a new one on a clean spot Usually the entire village moves to a new place some distance away Their death ceremony Is a weird un undertaking undertaking Undertaking Mr 1 Jr Cook paints it vividly i iA A day or so after our arrival a achild achild achild child of seven or eight years yeara belong belonging belongIng belonging ing to one of the leading families died This gave us an opportunity to witness a strange ceremony A loud deep prolonged hoo was bellowed J by y a quartet of naked painted and feathered sav say savages sava ages a squatting slightly in unison with each note and shaking huge calabash rattles This was wa accompanied by the walling chant of ot a chorus of women women standing Just behind the quartet and waving fans taxis to keep away the tle tl flies The snort of ol two huge flutes the bark barkIng barkIng barkIng Ing of the calabash trumpets the la Ia lament lament ment of the savage mother her body besmeared with her ber own blood bl od kneel eel ing tag by the corpse of her child the hairs Jerked from her head half halt a dozen at a time by a female crouched behind her the lamentations of ot the theather father ather f with his hair clipped as he kneeled on the other side of the body and recited the virtues of ot the deceased loved oved l one and the low mournful chant of the female relatives or friends as they the slashed sl shed their legs and arms or even their entire bodies with sharp ened shells was the drama that unfolded itself one beautiful summer morning r as we crept Into the of at the Paro Pare village Strange Funeral Rites The little daughter of a chief had been summoned from her earthly bae 10 to wander with the hope bope evil spirits and the funeral ceremonies were In I progress When a Is III ill a priest Is call ed sri to determine whether he ho will re cover or die On entering the hut and looking l at his sick tribesman and con eluding that he lie will probably die or should die he will win count his fingers and each time he touches touch s one finger fingerr will ivill r repeat Peat Men MerI merl men merl meri merl men men marl bif bl bi meaning that tho man will see five lve suns five days and die or he may say etc bi hi meaning sleep sleep etc five days das and die If at the end of this time he still lives the executioner sent of course by the priest will sud denly donly appear In the hut sit astride his stomach and strangle him to o death for tor the reputation of the Driest must be sustained The priests are probably responsible for not a few deaths They are the bane of life in the tho tribe They must nurture the delusion hat they can communicate with and ha influence Influence ence enco In the other world and to avert or cause evils and calamities They The are therefore on the alett al t to take advantage of any propitious ocra ion to prey upon the superstitious fears of their men They are ure freely supplied with food by their tel fel tribesmen in order to retain their good will The consider the sun as the fountain head of majesty and power r rand and even of beneficence and as the abode of the great priests wh win have passed to the spirit world and fear ft ar him Bope means spirit or led soul but they seem to have io o idea of a good spirit The hope bove who are arc evil spirits must therefore not be of fended although they must be driven away Driving Off Spirits 0 To drive the spirits off they use ue u a 11 a peculiar Instrument made of a slab of wood about half an inch thick shaped something like a fish and of varying size hung by a long cord from the end of a like a fishing rod and swung round and round through the th air As A it I swings and rapidly revolves It sends forth fOl to loud sounds to a surprising distance pitched from rom a sepulchral moan to an unearthly shriek the tire wail vaIl rising ria in and am descending the scale according t the tire rapidity of the tho th swing or the izo of the Instrument To hear several of these at once certainly produces most unusual sensations particularly when operated as we heard them during a tropical storm amid the play lay ot lightning the crash and roar of thunder th falling floods and dismal gloom No female em I is allowed to see this Instrument un der den pain of ot death New ones are as occasion demands and they are UC burned Immediately after their need has passed We entered the tho as some of these WON we b lIn made for the funeral prelude There was deep silence and the word bope bop whispered low and mysteriously tain tam warning calls are gIver Jm hours in advance of the time for bring ing the Into IntA use and hearing hearin these warnings the females enter their huts close the openings and hide their heads The S are arc I outside the village up and down through the tho bush We had difficulty in securing examples of these instruments instruments instruments ments They were brought to us at al night securely wrapped and amid the th greatest secrecy every precaution be b 1 ing taken to make sure that we would keep them where there would be no m possibility of a female seeing them The are expert swimmers and are fishermen of the highest or der tier One mode of fishing is to swim swin out into the river three or four miles mile above the village with a net called callec buke like a great bag Its mouth se secured secured secured cured to two parallel rods nine to tc twelve feet long bound together at a their ends Wien 1 one or more fish are an een the mouth of the sack Is opened by springing the rods apart and with wonderful dexterity d the fish are bag bagged god ged and the mouth of the net quickly closed by allowing the rods to spring together The fisherman thy t n rOa a the game especially If f it be large gradually rolls the net over the rods rod till the fish cannot move brings It to t the surface and kills It with a club which he trails by a cord from his hi hineck neck Big Fish Catches The fish is now taken from the net strung on a cord and floated along aloni with the club Sometimes two or more mon fish of 12 or 15 pounds will be taken at atone atone a aone one catch or maybe one weighing as aj much as the man himself will be bag bagged bagged bagged ged In this way A will remain in the mater an hour or two continuously continuously continuously and return ashore with six or c eight large fish The are wonderful whis whistlers whistlers tiers says Mr Cook and seem able thus to communicate whatever they the otherwise would by speech All the fine tine ornamental work Js Ss J done by the men A great deal of time timi and labor Is spent In making seemingly unimportant articles and the time timi consumed in shaking and burnishing an arrow is astonishing generally the th 3 larger part of two days The shell or ornament ornament ornament worn around the tho neck Is made by the reciprocating motion motton of the tb S point of a sharp Instrument of flint or 0 r of Iron or steel If they can obtain It ft fastened near the center of ot a roughly shaped shell A fire tire is kindled in the th S same way by boring a wooden rod Into another bit of wood The are the tallest of ot any an South American Indians I have seen sees do not remember one man under five fly feet seven jaches and they are some sometimes sometimes sometimes times six sl feet three or tour four inches tall tat They are the nese well we i shaped and not large nor particularly particular y flat nor are the cheek bones especially especially especially ally prominent Many of the children n nand and some BOme of the young men are quite quit e handsome The tribe Is supposed to number be between between between tween and souls We Vis Visited vIsIted visited eight villages and settlements |