Odd People Part 2

and "montanas," literally signifying "mountains," are not so understood among Spanish Americans. With them the "montes" and "montanas" are tracts of forest-covered country, and that of the Amazon valley is the "Montana" _par excellence_.

Sloths of several species, and opossums of still greater variety, are found all over the Montana, but both thinly distributed as regards the number of individuals. A similar remark applies to the ant-eaters or "ant-bears," of which there are four kinds,--to the armadillos, the "agoutis," and the "cavies," one of which last, the _capibara_, is the largest rodent upon earth. This, with its kindred genus, the "paca," is not so rare in individual numbers, but, on the contrary, appears in large herds upon the borders of the rivers and lagoons. A porcupine, several species of spinous rats, an otter, two or three kinds of badger-like animals (the _potto_ and _coatis_), a "honey-bear" (_Galera barbara_), and a fox, or wild dog, are widely distributed throughout the Montana.

Everywhere exists the jaguar, both the black and spotted varieties, and the puma has there his lurking-place. Smaller cats, both spotted and striped, are numerous in species, and squirrels of several kinds, with bats, complete the list of the terrestrial mammalia.

Of all the lower animals, monkeys are the most common, for to them the Montana is a congenial home. They abound not only in species, but in the number of individuals, and their ubiquitous presence contributes to enliven the woods. At least thirty different kinds of them exist in the Amazon valley, from the "coatas," and other howlers as large as baboons, to the tiny little "ouist.i.tis" and "saimiris," not bigger than squirrels or rats.

While we must admit a paucity in the species of the quadrupeds of the Amazon, the same remark does not apply to the birds. In the ornithological department of natural history, a fulness and richness here exist, perhaps not equalled elsewhere. The most singular and graceful forms, combined with the most brilliant plumage, are everywhere presented to the eye, in the parrots and great macaws, the toucans, trogons, and tanagers, the _shrikes_, humming-birds, and orioles; and even in the vultures and eagles: for here are found the most beautiful of predatory birds,--the king vulture and the harpy eagle. Of the feathered creatures existing in the valleys of the Amazon there are not less than one thousand different species, of which only one half have yet been caught or described.

Reptiles are equally abundant--the serpent family being represented by numerous species, from the great water boa (_anaconda_), of ten yards in length, to the tiny and beautiful but venomous _lachesis_, or coral snake, not thicker than the shank of a tobacco-pipe. The lizards range through a like gradation, beginning with the huge "jacare," or crocodile, of several species, and ending with the turquoise-blue _anolius_, not bigger than a newt.

The waters too are rich in species of their peculiar inhabitants--of which the most remarkable and valuable are the _manatees_ (two or three species), the great and smaller turtles, the porpoises of various kinds, and an endless catalogue of the finny tribes that frequent the rivers of the tropics. It is mainly from this source, and not from four-footed creatures of the forest, that the human denizen of the great Montana draws his supply of food,--at least that portion of it which may be termed the "meaty." Were it not for the _manatee_, the great porpoise, and other large fish, he would often have to "eat his bread dry."

And now it is _his_ turn to be "talked about." I need not inform you that the aborigines who inhabit the valley of the Amazon, are all of the so-called _Indian_ race--though there are so many, distinct tribes of them that almost every river of any considerable magnitude has a tribe of its own. In some cases a number of these tribes belong to one _nationality_; that is, several of them may be found speaking nearly the same language, though living apart from each other; and of these larger divisions or nationalities there are several occupying the different districts of the Montana. The tribes even of the same nationality do not always present a uniform appearance. There are darker and fairer tribes; some in which the average standard of height is less than among Europeans; and others where it equals or exceeds this. There are tribes again where both men and women are ill-shaped and ill-favoured--though these are few--and other tribes where both s.e.xes exhibit a considerable degree of personal beauty. Some tribes are even distinguished for their good looks, the men presenting models of manly form, while the women are equally attractive by the regularity of their features, and the graceful modesty of expression that adorns them.

A minute detail of the many peculiarities in which the numerous tribes of the Amazon differ from one another would fill a large volume; and in a sketch like the present, which is meant to include them all, it would not be possible to give such a detail. Nor indeed would it serve any good purpose; for although there are many points of difference between the different tribes, yet these are generally of slight importance, and are far more than counterbalanced by the mult.i.tude of resemblances. So numerous are these last, as to create a strong _idiosyncrasy_ in the tribes of the Amazon, which not only ent.i.tles them to be cla.s.sed together in an ethnological point of view, but which separates them from all the other Indians of America. Of course, the non-possession of the horse--they do not even know the animal--at once broadly distinguishes them from the Horse Indians, both of the Northern and Southern divisions of the continent.

It would be idle here to discuss the question as to whether the Amazonian Indians have all a common origin. It is evident they have not. We know that many of them are from Peru and Bogota--runaways from Spanish oppression. We know that others migrated from the south-- equally fugitives from the still more brutal and barbarous domination of the Portuguese. And still others were true aboriginals of the soil, or if emigrants, when and whence came they? An idle question, never to be satisfactorily answered. There they now are, and _as they are_ only shall we here consider them.

Notwithstanding the different sources whence they sprang, we find them, as I have already said, stamped with a certain idiosyncrasy, the result, no doubt, of the like circ.u.mstances which surround them. One or two tribes alone, whose habits are somewhat "odder" than the rest, have been treated to a separate chapter; but for the others, whatever is said of one, will, with very slight alteration, stand good for the whole of the Amazonian tribes. Let it be understood that we are discoursing only of those known as the "Indios bravos," the fierce, brave, savage, or wild Indians--as you may choose to translate the phrase,--a phrase used throughout all Spanish America to distinguish those tribes, or sections of tribes, who refused obedience to Spanish tyranny, and who preserve to this hour their native independence and freedom. In contradistinction to the "Indios bravos" are the "Indios mansos," or "tame Indians," who submitted tamely both to the cross and sword, and now enjoy a rude demi-semi-civilisation, under the joint protectorate of priests and soldiers. Between these two kinds of American aborigines, there is as much difference as between a lord and his serf--the true savage representing the former and the demi-semi-civilised savage approximating more nearly to the latter. The meddling monk has made a complete failure of it. His ends were purely political, and the result has proved ruinous to all concerned;--instead of civilising the savage, he has positively demoralised him.

It is not of his neophytes, the "Indios mansos," we are now writing, but of the "infidels," who would not hearken to his voice or listen to his teachings--those who could never be brought within "sound of the bell."

Both "kinds" dwell within the valley of the Amazon, but in different places. The "Indios mansos" may be found along the banks of the main stream, from its source to its mouth--but more especially on its upper waters, where it runs through Spanish (Peruvian) territory. There they dwell in little villages or collections of huts, ruled by the missionary monk with iron rod, and performing for him all the offices of the menial slave. Their resources are few, not even equalling those of their wild but independent brethren; and their customs and religion exhibit a ludicrous _melange_ of savagery and civilisation. Farther down the river, the "Indio manso" is a "tapuio," a hireling of the Portuguese, or to speak more correctly, a _slave_; for the latter treats him as such, considers him as such, and though there is a law against it, often drags him from his forest-home and keeps him in life-long bondage. Any human law would be a dead letter among such white-skins as are to be encountered upon the banks of the Amazon. Fortunately they are but few; a town or two on the lower Amazon and Rio Negro,--some wretched villages between,--scattered _estancias_ along the banks--with here and there a paltry post of "militarios," dignified by the name of a "fort:" these alone speak the progress of the Portuguese civilisation throughout a period of three centuries!

From all these settlements the wild Indian keeps away. He is never found near them--he is never seen by travellers, not even by the settlers. You may descend the mighty Amazon from its source to its mouth, and not once set your eyes upon the true son of the forest--the "Indio bravo." Coming in contact only with the neophyte of the Spanish missionary, and the skulking _tapuio_ of the Portuguese trader, you might bring away a very erroneous impression of the character of an Amazonian Indian.

Where is he to be seen? where dwells he? what like is his home? what sort of a house does he build? His costume? his arms? his occupation?

his habits? These are the questions you would put. They shall all be answered, but briefly as possible--since our limited s.p.a.ce requires brevity.

The wild Indian, then, is not to be found upon the Amazon itself, though there are long reaches of the river where he is free to roam--hundreds of miles without either town or _estancia_. He hunts, and occasionally fishes by the great water, but does not there make his dwelling--though in days gone by, its sh.o.r.es were his favourite place of residence.

These were before the time when Orellana floated down past the door of his "malocca"--before that dark hour when the Brazilian slave-hunter found his way into the waters of the mighty _Solimoes_. This last event was the cause of his disappearance. It drove him from the sh.o.r.es of his beloved river-sea; forced him to withdraw his dwelling from observation, and rebuild it far up, on those tributaries where he might live a more peaceful life, secure from the trafficker in human flesh. Hence it is that the home of the Amazonian Indian is now to be sought for--not on the Amazon itself, but on its tributary streams--on the "canos" and "igaripes," the ca.n.a.ls and lagoons that, with a labyrinthine ramification, intersect the mighty forest of the Montana. Here dwells he, and here is he to be seen by any one bold enough to visit him in his fastness home.

How is he domiciled? Is there anything peculiar about the style of his house or his village?

Eminently peculiar; for in this respect he differs from all the other savage people of whom we have yet written, or of whom we may have occasion to write.

Let us proceed at once to describe his dwelling. It is not a tent, nor is it a hut, nor a cabin, nor a cottage, nor yet a cave! His dwelling can hardly be termed a house, nor his village a collection of houses-- since both house and village are one and the same, and both are so peculiar, that we have no name for such a structure in civilised lands, unless we should call it a "barrack." But even this appellation would give but an erroneous idea of the Amazonian dwelling; and therefore we shall use that by which it is known in the "Lingoa geral," and call it a _malocca_.

By such name is his house (or village rather) known among the _tapuios_ and traders of the Amazon. Since it is both house and village at the same time, it must needs be a large structure; and so is it, large enough to contain the whole tribe--or at least the section of it that has chosen one particular spot for their residence. It is the property of the whole community, built by the labour of all, and used as their common dwelling--though each family has its own section specially set apart for itself. It will thus be seen that the Amazonian savage is, to some extent, a disciple of the Socialist school.

I have not s.p.a.ce to enter into a minute account of the architecture of the _malocca_. Suffice it to say, that it is an immense temple-like building, raised upon timber uprights, so smooth and straight as to resemble columns. The beams and rafters are also straight and smooth, and are held in their places by "sipos" (tough creeping plants), which are whipped around the joints with a neatness and compactness equal to that used in the rigging of a s.h.i.+p. The roof is a thatch of palm-leaves, laid on with great regularity, and brought very low down at the eaves, so as to give to the whole structure the appearance of a gigantic beehive. The walls are built of split palms or bamboos, placed so closely together as to be impervious to either bullet or arrows.

The plan is a parallelogram, with a semicircle at one end; and the building is large enough to accommodate the whole community, often numbering more than a hundred individuals. On grand festive occasions several neighbouring communities can find room enough in it--even for dancing--and three or four hundred individuals not unfrequently a.s.semble under the roof of a single _malocca_.

Inside the arrangements are curious. There is a wide hall or avenue in the middle--that extends from end to end throughout the whole length of the parallelogram--and on both sides of the hall is a row of part.i.tions, separated from each other by split palms or canes, closely placed. Each of these sections is the abode of a family, and the place of deposit for the hammocks, clay pots, calabash-cups, dishes, baskets, weapons, and ornaments, which are the private property of each. The hall is used for the larger cooking utensils--such as the great clay ovens and pans for baking the ca.s.sava, and boiling the _caxire_ or _chicha_. This is also a neutral ground, where the children play, and where the dancing is done on the occasion of grand "b.a.l.l.s" and other ceremonial festivals.

The common doorway is in the gable end, and is six feet wide by ten in height. It remains open during the day, but is closed at night by a mat of palm fibre suspended from the top. There is another and smaller doorway at the semicircular end; but this is for the private use of the chief, who appropriates the whole section of the semicircle to himself and his family.

Of course the above is only the general outline of a _malocca_. A more particular description would not answer for that of all the tribes of the Amazon. Among different communities, and in different parts of the Montana, the _malocca_ varies in size, shape, and the materials of which it is built; and there are some tribes who live in separate huts. These exceptions, however, are few, and as a general thing, that above described is the style of habitation throughout the whole Montana, from the confines of Peru to the sh.o.r.es of the Atlantic. North and south we encounter this singular house-village, from the headwaters of the Rio Negro to the highlands of Brazil.

Most of the Amazonian tribes follow agriculture, and understood the art of tillage before the coming of the Spaniards. They practise it, however, to a very limited extent. They cultivate a little manioc, and know how to manufacture it into _farinha_ or _ca.s.sava_ bread. They plant the _musaceae_ and yam, and understand the distillation of various drinks, both from the plantain and several kinds of palms. They can make pottery from clay,--shaping it into various forms, neither rude nor inelegant,--and from the trees and parasitical twiners that surround their dwellings, they manufacture an endless variety of neat implements and utensils.

Their canoes are hollow trunks of trees sufficiently well-shaped, and admirably adapted to their mode of travelling--which is almost exclusively by water, by the numerous _canos_ and _igaripes_, which are the roads and paths of their country--often as narrow and intricate as paths by land.

The Indians of the tropic forest dress in the very lightest costume. Of course each tribe has its own fas.h.i.+on; but a mere belt of cotton cloth, or the inner bark of a tree, pa.s.sed round the waist and between the limbs, is all the covering they care for. It is the _guayuco_. Some wear a skirt of tree bark, and, on grand occasions, feather tunics are seen, and also plume head-dresses, made of the brilliant wing and tail feathers of parrots and macaws. Circlets of these also adorn the arms and limbs. All the tribes paint, using the _anotto, caruto_, and several other dyes which they obtain from various kinds of trees, elsewhere more particularly described.

There are one or two tribes who _tattoo_ their skins; but this strange practice is far less common among the American Indians than with the natives of the Pacific isles.

In the manufacture of their various household utensils and implements, as well as their weapons for war and the chase, many tribes of Amazonian Indians display an ingenuity that would do credit to the most accomplished artisans. The hammocks made by them have been admired everywhere; and it is from the valley of the Amazon that most of these are obtained, so much prized in the cities of Spanish and Portuguese America. They are the special manufacture of the women, the men only employing their mechanical skill on their weapons:

The hammock, "rede," or "maqueira," is manufactured out of strings obtained from the young leaves of several species of palms. The _astrocaryum_, or "tuc.u.m" palm furnishes this cordage, but a still better quality is obtained from the "miriti" (_Mauritia flexuosa_). The unopened leaf, which forms a thick-pointed column growing up out of the crown of the tree, is cut off at the base, and this being pulled apart, is shaken dexterously until the tender leaflets fall out. These being stripped of their outer covering, leave behind a thin tissue of a pale-yellowish colour, which is the fibre for making the cordage. After being tied in bundles this fibre is left awhile to dry, and is then twisted by being rolled between the hand and the hip or thigh. The women perform this process with great dexterity. Taking two strands of fibre between the forefinger and thumb of the left hand, they lay them separated a little along the thigh; a roll downward gives them a twist, and then being adroitly brought together, a roll upwards completes the making of the cord. Fifty fathoms in a day is considered a good day's spinning. The cords are afterwards dyed of various colours, to render them more ornamental when woven into the maqueira.

The making of this is a simple process. Two horizontal rods are placed at about seven feet apart, over which the cord is pa.s.sed some fifty or sixty times, thus forming the "woof." The warp is then worked in by knotting the cross strings at equal distances apart, until there are enough. Two strong cords are then inserted where the rods pa.s.s through, and these being firmly looped, so as to draw all the parallel strings together, the rod is pulled out, and the hammock is ready to be used.

Of course, with very fine "redes," and those intended to be disposed of to the traders, much pains are taken in the selection of the materials, the dyeing the cord, and the weaving it into the hammock. Sometimes very expensive articles are made ornamented with the brilliant feathers of birds cunningly woven among the meshes and along the borders.

Besides making the hammock, which is the universal couch of the Amazonian Indian, the women also manufacture a variety of beautiful baskets. Many species of palms and _calamus_ supply them with materials for this purpose, one of the best being the "Iu" palm (_Astrocaryum acaule_). They also make many implements and utensils, some for cultivating the plantains, melons, and _manioc root_, and others for manufacturing the last-named vegetable into their favourite "farinha"

(_ca.s.sava_). The Indians understood how to separate the poisonous juice of this valuable root from its wholesome farina before the arrival of white men among them; and the process by which they accomplish this purpose has remained without change up to the present hour, in fact, it is almost the same as that practised by the Spaniards and Portuguese, who simply adopted the Indian method. The work is performed by the women, and thus: the roots are brought home from the manioc "patch" in baskets, and then washed and peeled. The peeling is usually performed by the teeth; after that the roots are grated, the grater being a large wooden slab about three feet long, a foot wide, a little hollowed out, and the hollow part covered all over with sharp pieces of quartz set in regular diamond-shaped patterns. Sometime a cheaper grater is obtained by using the aerial root of the pas.h.i.+uba palm (_Iriartea exhorhiza_), which, being thickly covered over with hard spinous protuberances, serves admirably for the purpose.

The grated pulp is next placed to dry upon a sieve, made of the rind of a water-plant, and is afterwards put into a long elastic cylinder-shaped basket or net, of the bark of the "jacitara" palm (_Desmoncus macroacanthus_). This is the _tipiti_; and at its lower end there is a strong loop, through which a stout pole is pa.s.sed; while the _tipiti_ itself, when filled with pulp, is hung up to the branch of a tree, or to a firm peg in the wall. One end of the pole is then rested against some projecting point, that serves as a fulcrum, while the Indian woman, having seated herself upon the other end, with her infant in her arms, or perhaps some work in her hands, acts as the lever power. Her weight draws the sides of the _tipiti_ together, until it a.s.sumes the form of an inverted cone; and thus the juice is gradually pressed out of the pulp, and drops into a vessel placed underneath to receive it. The mother must be careful that the little imp does not escape from under her eye, and perchance quench its thirst out of the vessel below. If such an accident were to take place, in a very few minutes she would have to grieve for a lost child; since the sap of the manioc root, the variety most cultivated by the Indians, is a deadly poison. This is the "yucca amarga," or bitter manioc; the "yucca dulce," or sweet kind, being quite innoxious, even if eaten in its raw state.

The remainder of the process consists in placing the grated pulp--now sufficiently dry--on a large pan or oven, and submitting it to the action of the fire. It is then thought sufficiently good for Indian use; but much of it is afterwards prepared for commerce, under different names, and sold as _semonilla_ (erroneously called _semolina_), sago, and even as arrowroot.

At the bottom of that, poisonous tub, a sediment has all the while been forming. That is the _starch_ of the manioc root--the _tapioca_ of commerce: of course that is not thrown away.

The men of the tropic forest spend their lives in doing very little.

They are idle and not much disposed to work--only when war or the chase calls them forth do they throw aside for awhile their indolent habit, and exhibit a little activity.

They hunt with the bow and arrow, and fish with a harpoon spear, nets, and sometimes by poisoning water with the juice of a vine called barbasco. The "peixe boy," "vaca marina," or "manatee,"--all three names being synonymes--is one of the chief animals of their pursuit.

All the waters of the Amazon valley abound with manatees, probably of several species, and these large creatures are captured by the harpoon, just as seals or walrus are taken. Porpoises also frequent the South-American rivers; and large fresh-water fish of numerous species.

The game hunted by the Amazonian Indians can scarcely be termed n.o.ble.

We have seen that the large _mammalia_ are few, and thinly distributed in the tropical forest. With the exception of the jaguar and peccary, the chase is limited to small quadrupeds--as the capibara, the paca, agouti--to many kinds of monkeys, and an immense variety of birds. The monkey is the most common game, and is not only eaten by all the Amazonian Indians, but by most of them considered as the choicest of food.

In procuring their game the hunters sometimes use the common bow and arrow, but most of the tribes are in possession of a weapon which they prefer to all others for this particular purpose. It is an implement of death so original in its character and so singular in its construction as to deserve a special and minute description.

The weapon I allude to is the "blow-gun," called "pucuna" by the Indians themselves, "gravitana" by the Spaniards, and "cerbatana" by the Portuguese of Brazil.

When the Amazonian Indian wishes to manufacture for himself a _pucuna_ he goes out into the forest and searches for two tall, straight stems of the "pas.h.i.+uba miri" palm (_Iriartea setigera_). These he requires of such thickness that one can be contained within the other. Having found what he wants, he cuts both down and carries them home to his molocca.

Neither of them is of such dimensions as to render this either impossible or difficult.

He now takes a long slender rod--already prepared for the purpose--and with this pushes out the pith from both stems, just as boys do when preparing their pop-guns from the stems of the elder-tree. The rod thus used is obtained from another species of _Iriartea_ palm, of which the wood is very hard and tough. A little tuft of fern-root, fixed upon the end of the rod, is then drawn backward and forward through the tubes, until both are cleared of any pith which may have adhered to the interior; and both are polished by this process to the smoothness of ivory. The palm of smaller diameter, being sc.r.a.ped to a proper size, is now inserted into the tube of the larger, the object being to correct any crookedness in either, should there be such; and if this does not succeed, both are whipped to some straight beam or post, and thus left till they become straight. One end of the bore, from the nature of the tree, is always smaller than the other; and to this end is fitted a mouthpiece of two peccary tusks to concentrate the breath of the hunter when blowing into the tube. The other end is the muzzle; and near this, on the top, a sight is placed, usually a tooth of the "paca" or some other rodent animal. This sight is glued on with a gum which another tropic tree furnishes. Over the outside, when desirous of giving the weapon an ornamental finish, the maker winds spirally a s.h.i.+ning creeper, and then the _pucuna_ is ready for action.

Sometimes only a single shank of palm is used, and instead of the pith being pushed out, the stem is split into two equal parts throughout its whole extent. The heart substance being then removed, the two pieces are brought together, like the two divisions of a cedarwood pencil, and tightly bound with a sipo.

The _pucuna_ is usually about an inch and a half in diameter at the thickest end, and the bore about equal to that of a pistol of ordinary calibre. In length, however, the weapon varies from eight to twelve feet.

This singular instrument is designed, not for propelling a bullet, but an arrow; but as this arrow differs altogether from the common kind it also needs to be described.