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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1903)
The Cannibal Dandies of the Yari (Copyright, 190", by Thomjs S Alexander.) N AUGUST 29, 1902. I left Cull, I the principal town tn the Ue- I liartmcnt of the Cannn. rtnniitilln of Colombia, on an expedition into the Interior of the cuuntrv. I was areompanied by another white man an ,ngusn doctor and Tour natives. Our object was to collect entomological speci mens in a section of Colombia hitherto un explored. We did not return to Call until June of the present year. In the Interval we had many stirring Adventures and extraor dinary experiences among savage tribes, but the one episode of the trip which over shadowed nil the others in romance. Inter, est and excitement was our six weeks" stay among the cannibal dandies of the Yarl river. They are surely one of the strangest savage races ever discovered. Skipping over weeks and months of travel and adventure, let us start with one morning when, on the banks of the Illo Ilacha, our native peons deserted us. They would go no farther, because wo were ap proaching the dominions of a succession of savngo tribes who hate the Colombians, and practice cannibalism. Fortunately, we struck the camp of a white Colombian who was gathering rubber on the banks of tho river. We had leen recommended to him by Senor Pedro Tcsaro, a great man in the Colombian rub ber business, and he, therefore, gave us, for guides, two Indians who had corue in from one of the neighboring tribes to sell him rubber. One of these men spoke Spanish, and so we could use him as an Interpreter. Besides our guns, revolvers and provi sions we carried In our canoe a large stock f machetes, looking glasses, scissors, pen knives, fish-hooks, brightly-colored cloths, nd other articles calculated to purchase the good-will and assistance of the savage tribes through whose territory we had to pass. We rowed down the Rio Ilacha for four flays, until we arrived off the settlement ef the Tama Indians. There we landed,, leaving the guns and everything else be hind in the canoe. Our guides led us along a narrow track, through dense tropical vegetation, to a clearing where the tribe dwelt together in one great house, as is the custom of all the Indians In this pnrt of Colombia. The trlbo only numbered from forty to sixty people, the rest having been killed off shortly before by smallpox. Fcrhaps this misfortune had soured the temper of the tribe, for they certainly gave us a very cold and forbidding reception. Our two Indians walked before us, carrying paddles over their shoulders-a sign of peace and ex plained that we were friends. Tho chief of the tribe was lying on the ground, evidently suffering agony. He had a bad ulcer on the calf of his leg, and had rot been able to move or sleep for a week. Tho doctor offered to cure him. and, after some demur, he consented to an operation. We sent hack to the boat for n lancet, nnd the doctor opemd the leg, made an Incision down the calf, took out a big thorn and dressed the wound. While he was doing this several of the Tamaa grouped themselves around our party, handling their blowpipes, wioden swords and hatchets significantly, and plainly Intimating that they would kill us If anything went wrong with the chief. Luckily, he slept that night for the first time In a week, and the next morning noth ing was too good for us. We stayed three days with the tribe, until the chief was quite recovered. During that time they found out from our Spanish speaking Indian what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. As soon as the chief was convinced that we were not there for gold or land, or to enslave and murder the Indians after the-Colombian fashion, but only to look for butterflies and eueh like things, he wsb eager to help us. He gave us two picked men to act as our "bogas," or guides, and take us to the next tribe. Our own Indians went back. The etiquette of these trll es directs that men of one tribe must not pass through the terri tory of another trfbe to n third. Travelers aro passed along by different guides from each tribe unless they are killed by the first savage Indians tliey meet. Our "bogas" conducted us to the Orte quasas, a tribe numbering about 400. Hear ing a flattering account of us, they natu rally received us well, and promised to pass us along with all due honor. The Tumas then returned to their tribe. Now came one of the most remarkable experiences of our trip. The Ortcquasas sent a message introducing us to the next tribe, and they sent It by wireless teleg raphy. This is the only name I can apply to their method. The transmitter was a felled tree trunk about twenty feet long and one and one-half feet In diameter. Down the center of It a groove was cut about three inches wide by six inches deep. One end of the trunk flouted In the river and the other end lay on a sandbank. The operator had a heavy stick about three feet long, on the end of which was a bull of crude rubber weighing n bunt twenty-five pounds. He got this by the sirr.ple expedient of cutting the bark of the rubber tree and twisting the sap round the stick as it flowed out. He struck the end of the trunk several times with this heavy ball. It did nut make much noise indeed, hardly any but a very powerful concussion or vibration of the air could be felt! It was just like the sensatiou of being In a tunnel when a shot Is fired. You felt the sound rather than heard it. And the next tribe, several leagues farther down the river, could feel It equally well, and could read off the message as a tele graphist receives the dots and dashes of the Morse code over the wire. Evidently these savages had a code of thi ir own by which they could telegraph any message they wished. All the tribes in this region were constantly communica ting with ono another by this wireless sys tem. Next day we saw a man of the tribe to whom wo had thus been introduced sending back a message to the Ortequasas by a similar apparatus. Kvery tribe we passed after that sent an Introduction ahead In this way, besides giving us two "bogas." Travelers among savage tribes in South America, as well us in other parts of tho world, have often been puzzled by the rapidity and accuracy with which these barbarian Marconis transmit news to ono another. Here is one explanation, at all events. No doubt there are others. At last we got to the Yarls, who are named after the river on which they dwell, which Is a tributary of the River Caqucta. At 7;30 o"clock one morning, while we were having breakfast, we heard strains of weird, barbaric music, which evidently came from r.atlve reed flutes. We pushed off our canoe from the bank and paddled out on a river twice as broad as the Hud son at New York. Around tho next bend we met a number of canoes filled with scores of painted In dians. They paddled alongside, gave us a warm welcome, and were very eager to help us with the canoo. Never had we been received more cordially. Our two "bogas" from tho last tribe, of course, went back; and the Yaris took us up a tributary of the river to their home. The tribe numbers between 2,000 and 3,000, and ail the members of it live In one enor mous house. This house is more thin 300 feet long and over forty feet wide at the base, sloping upwards in a triangular form. The walls are mado of thin fern sticks and leaves, dcllcate'y and beautifully woven to gether, and very Bolid. It Is a wonderful piece of workmanship. Inside tho house is supported by a great number of posts, between which hammocks are slung for the men of the tribe to sleep In. On the floor, tquares of bamboo, on which the women Bleep with their children. Each family has its own cooking fire and domestic uten&ils, and lives its own family life In this vast house, surrounded by all the other families. We were conducted Into this hquse, and the Indians crowded around us men, women and children all overflowing with hospitality and curiosity. The first Bight that met our eyes In the house, was a long line of skulls suspended on the walls. There were skulls of monkeys, pigs, fishes. Jaguars, and many other nnimals and also, among the lot, there were eighteen which were unmistakibly the skulls of human be ings It was evident, too, that they were skulls of civilized men, for some of them had gold fillings in the teeth. It would be absurd to say that this sight did not make us feel queer, but we were not frightened as might be imagined, be cause we had heard the story of those eighteen men from the other tribes along the river. They were eighteen Colombians who had fled from civilization to escape being pressed into the government army to fight the revolutionists. Four months before our iirrlval, they settled among the Yarl In dians. Being well armed with guns and revolvers, they cowed the tribe for a whila and started to collect rubber. They were men of the lowest and most brutal char acter, and before long they began to flog and shoot tome of the Indiuns. One afternoon a baby cried in the big house and annoyed the leader of the gang. He coolly drew his revolver and blew its head off. The Indians, who were tltting around, busy at their various occupations, did not say a word. They showed no trace of emotion; even the baby's mother suppressed her grief. But that night they arose from their Bleep and blew the eigh teen Colombians. Next morning, by wireless telpgraph, they invited the neighboring tribes to a "barracoucha" a feast of white men. At a "barracoucha" all tribal feuds Hro sunk, and the chiefs fit together in an enormous hammock which holds as many as forty men. They do not eat human flesh for food; they have plenty of that of all k I nils. Nor do they eat it because they like it. The motive is religious, or. rather, super stitious. They believe they wlil require the qualities courage, strength, endurance, cunning, skill of the enemy who forms the dish. The Yarls and all the other tribes we visited hate South American white men, for they have ruffored much at their hands; nnd they kill and eat them whenever they get a chance. But they readily under stood that we were a different kind of white men. They are always read.r to behave well toward Americans, English men, Merman and others whoso motives and deeds are good. There was never any suggestion of making a 'barrac mch.i" of vs. As soon as we got Inside the big house, the chief inquired by nigns whether we would eat, and led us to his lire, which was the largest In the hnus.'. Ills wife, who was particularly attentive, no dot. lit limb r his orders, gave us two clay bowls nnd filled them from a sti wpot simmering on the fire. She used for u ladle a dried, shrivelled human hand. The b my fingers were close together, nnd curved like the talons of an eagle. The sight to. k aw.ty my appetite, and made me wonder whit might bo in the pot. Hut the portion served to us consit-tcd mainly of p's" feet, bo we concluded it was all right. The kindly, generous hospitality with which we wero received was continued during the whole of our six weeks st ay among the tribe. Apart from their un pleasant habit of eating their enemies, the Yaris are a fine race of savages, who can give points In morals and manners to many civilized men. There was much In them to admire. The men had only one wife apiece, nr.d were always most kind nnd faithful to her. Marriage was by consent of the woman a thing rare among savages. Adultery was hardly ever heard of; If It happened it was punished by the sure divorce of death. Tho guilty man and woman were each put. alone, on one of the thousand little Islets In the river, to starve to death or be slain by wild beasts. It was plain, even to us, who could not speak their language, that the husbands and wives were deeply atttached to one another and fond of their children. Family love was often charmingly displayed and the men look great pains to teach the youngsters how to hunt and fish and to train them in the myriad points of wood craft Invaluable to an Indian. They were honest folk, too, nnd men of their word. The Yaris and all the tu Igh borlng tribes never fail to carry out nn en gagement if they can possibly do so. They had It In their power to rob us of all our possessions, which, be It remembered, con sisted of articles they coveted Intensely. But they stole nothing. One day we went down the river, about five hours' Journey, to another small tribe, an offshoot of tho Yarls, which comprised only about twenty-four people. An Indian, there fell violently in love with a big knife I carried and intimated by signs that his earthly happiness would be complete if he could only have the knife. He would do anything for It. I signed to him that we wanted a big fish and then gave him the knife. Among these people It is always the custom to pay In advance. We returned to the Yuri house, expecting to see the fish; but about midnight we were awakened by the playing of a flute on the river. It was our friend coming up with nn enormous fish which he had captured for us. The business methods employed by the rubber collectors nre a striking testimony to tho honesty of these tribes. The white merchant goes to the big house of the tribe and throws down his stock of barter on the floor. Each Indian takes what he desires one n looking glass, another a ma chete, a third a pair of scissors, and bo forth. The merchant then departs to his Btatlon, having disposed of his stock in trade and received nothing for it. He does not even know what each individual Indian has taken, Indeed, he does not know one Indian from another. But he can rely on thetr good faith. Three months or six months afterwards, according to tho senBon, the Indians begin to arrive at his station, bringing rubber to pay for the goods they took. They tell him what they had, and he weighs the rubber and usually has to give them some thing extra, according to tho scale of barter. Sometimes a few Indians will not arrive, but the chief of tho tribe says, "So-and-so was killed while hunting. Here is the machete he took," or "So-and-BO was sick and could not gather any rubber. Here is his looking glass." The most extraordinary thing about the Yaris Is their dandyism. They are the greatest dudes under the sun. No men on earth think more of their personal ap pearance, or devote more time to It. Yet the result Is by no means entrancing. The men are absolutely hideous in face, with pronounced, protruding teeth. Their complexion la a bilious copper color. In stature they are stunted, but they ore well formed, lithe, agile, and hold them selves very erect. Their expression, which is ferocious, belies their nature. They cut their hair short at the neck and straight on their foreheads. Through the cartilage of the nose they put a stick about an inch long and a quarter of an inch thick, which raises the nostrils. They put a similar stick through each ear. They paint their faces and bodies in gaudy colors with vegetable dyes, and It is in this they show their duiidjism most forcibly. When they are not working or hunting, they spend all their time painting themselves and ar ranging their hair. On one canoe voyage we had with us two old "bogus," who were, the greatest dandies of this primping people. Every fifteen or twenty minutes they would stop the canoe, jump out and wash themselves thoroughly. Then they would renew their paint and gii ahead. When they arrived at the end of the day's Journey, tiled and lummy. Instead of hurrying to light il lire, cook dinner and make thcninclvcs com fortable Tor the night, they would first spend an hour painting themselves and doing up their hair. The Yarls paint the foot, up to the calf of the leg. with some red vegetable dyo which protects them from insect bites. On this foundation they create a Una decorative scheme tn blue ami black. Tha body and face arc ulso painted. Of all our trade goods, what pleased the Yarisi most was un article never Intended for them. We took with us some line ink In tablet form. Intending to melt it to write our diaries with. one of the In dians took up a tablet, dipped It In water and drew some lines on Ms body with It. 11c was overjoyed when lie found that these lines did not wash off readily, like liis own vegetable dyes. After that thesa tablets were our most valuable coin. The women of the tribe have very delicate noses and fine hair. I. Ike the men, they are most cleanly in their persons and their habits, and attentive to their toilet. They go naked, but are modest and virtuous. Thiotigh their upper Hp they thrust two thorns, each being an Incn and u half to two inches long. They do not adorn them selves so much as the men. or waste so much time In dandyism. Both men and women have remarkably small feet and hands. Tho chief wears a necklace of tiger's teeth, to Indicate his rank, and also three gaily colored feathers in a coronet made of the plumage of birds. Eiilike most savage chiefs, he Is not a fat. lazy, dissipated brute. He is the cleverest aud hardest working man In the tribe. Ills children wear necklaces of monkey's teeth, und his chief assistants, or bodyguard, also weur a few monkey's teeth. During six months of the year, when the river Is high, the entire tribe lives In the big bouse, nnd during that time the men and women do not cohabit. When the livers fall and leave grout sandbanks exposed, each family builds a little but of sticks nnd leaves on ono of tho sand banks, and the husband and wife then livo toirfthiT. As a natural consequence, nearly all the children of the trlbo ure born about the same time. A childless woman la regarded ns n very unfortunato person. She is dosed with a mixture mado chiefly of the scraped claws of the giant arma dillo, which Is supposed to remedy her misfortiiiie. Iixft cleanliness and order prevail lr the big house. One day we were smoklnaj cigars there, and carelessly dropped somej ash on the llonr. Immediately one of the) women cnme along nnd carefully swept uq every particle Into a palm leaf. The trlhd has good Ideas of sanitation, und. In con, sequence, their health la always excellent In the evening the house la lighted by ol procured from turtltt's egra. During our stay the Ynrls behaved splen dhlly. They could not do enough for us. We could only communicate by signs, buf they showed great Intelligence In compre hending our wishes. When they under stood that we wnnted butterflies they wenf out Into the Jungle and brought us basket, fuls, but. unfortunately, all were crushes and useless. Our "bogas" on the relurn Journey wero a man and his wife and child. The family love they displayed waa pretty and touch ing. On our way back to Call we were at tacked by about forty Indians, who had evidontly not heard of our friendship with the tribes. They fired scores of poisoned arrowa at us from their blowpipes, but for tunately they were on the bank and our canoe was in midstream. Some of the ar rows stuck in the canoe, but we were not hl. We paddled out of danger without re turning their fire. Call was safely reached Inst June, after many exciting adventures, and from that place I came up to New York. The doctor went to England, where he is now making; preparations for another Journey Into tho unexplored Interior of Central South America. THOMAS S. A LEX AND Kit. Poor Richard J unior Formerly it was, Be good! Now It Is, Make good! Some of the dollars of the daddies now go to the caddies. There are no fashionable sections along the road to success. He who hesitates Is well, ho Is apt to get the better of the bargain. This Is tho season when the debutant comes out by going Into society. Water in the trusts does not include tha weeping of those who bought the stocks. With a million children outside the schools there does not seem to be enough prosper ity to go around, John Bull's new Idea of economics Is t nsk his children to send their savings home. Of course, John Bull is noma. Saturday Evening. Post.