In The Centre Of The Ring Was A
Woman With A Lighted Pipe In Her Hand.
She passed this from one to
another and pushed it into the mouth of each one, who had "a draw."
My turn came, and lo!
The pipe was thrust between my teeth, and the
din went on: Ha ha! u u! o o! au au! This feast lasted three nights
and two days, but the music was not varied, and neither man nor woman
seemed to sleep or rest. Food was cooking at the different fires,
attended by the women, but my share was only a roasted fox's head!
The animal was laid on the wood, with skin, head and legs still
attached, and the whole was burnt black. I was very hungry, and ate
my portion thankfully. Christopher North said: "There's a deal of
fine confused feeding about a sheep's head," and so I found with the
fox's. Truly, as the Indian says, "hunger is a very big man."
At these feasts a drum, made by stretching a serpent's skin over one
of their clay pots, is loudly beaten, and the thigh-bone of an
ostrich, with key-holes burned in, is a common musical instrument.
From the algarroba bean an intoxicating drink is made, called ang-
min, and then yells, hellish sounds and murderous blows inspire
terror in the paleface guest. "It is impossible to conceive anything
more wild and savage than the scene of their bivouac. Some drink till
they are intoxicated, others swallow the steaming blood of
slaughtered animals for their supper, and then, sick from
drunkenness, they cast it up again, and are besmeared with gore and
filth."
After the feast was over I held a service, and told how sin was
injected into us by the evil spirit, but that all are invited to
the heavenly feast. My address was listened to in perfect silence,
and the nodding heads showed that some, at least, understood it. When
I finished speaking, a poor woman, thinking she must offer something,
gave me her baby - a naked little creature that had never been washed
in its life. I took it up and kissed it, and the poor woman smiled.
Yes, a savage woman can smile.
As already stated, many different tribes of Indians dwell in the
Chaco, and each have their different customs. In the Suhin tribe the
rite of burial may be thus described. "The digger of the grave and
the performer of the ceremony was the chief, who is also a witch-
doctor, and I was told that he was about to destroy the witch-doctor
who had caused the man's death. A fire was lit, and whilst the
digging was in progress a stone and two pieces of iron were being
heated. Two bones of a horse, a large bird's nest built of sticks,
and various twigs were collected. The skin of a jaguar's head, a
tooth, and the pads of the same animal were laid out. A piece of wax
and a stone were also heated; and in a heap lay a hide, some skins
for bedding, and a quantity of sheep's wool. The grave being
finished, the ceremony began by a wooden arrow being notched in the
middle and waxed, then plunged into the right breast of the corpse,
when it was snapped in two at the notch, and the remaining half was
flung into the air, accompanied with a vengeful cry, in the direction
of the Toothli tribe, one of whose doctors, it was supposed, had
caused the man's death. Short pointed sticks, apparently to represent
arrows, were also daubed with wax, two being plunged into the throat
and one into the left breast, the cry again accompanying each
insertion. One of the jaguar's pads was next taken, and the head of
the corpse torn by the claws, the growl of the animal being imitated
during the process. An incision was next made in the cheek, and the
tooth inserted; then the head and face were daubed with the heated
wax. The use of the wax is evidently to signify the desire that both
arrows and animal may stick to the man if he be attacked by either.
The arrows were plunged, one into the right breast downwards, and
another below the ribs, on the same side, but in an upward direction,
a third being driven into the right thigh. They also spoke about
breaking one of the arms, but did not do so. An incision being made
in the abdomen, the heated stone was then placed within the body.
They place most reliance upon the work of the stone. The ceremony is
known by the name of 'Mataimang' stone, and all the other things are
said to assist it. Meteorites, when seen to pass along the sky, are
regarded with awe; they are believed to be these stones in passage.
The body was placed in the grave with the head to the west, the
jaguar's head and pads being first placed under it. A bunch of grass,
tied together, was placed upon the body; then the bird's nest was
burned upon it. The bones were next thrown in, and over all the
various articles before mentioned were placed. These were to
accompany the soul in its passage to the west. In this act the idea
of a future state is more distinctly seen than ever it has been seen
amongst the Lenguas, who burn all a man's possessions at his death.
The ceremony finished, the grave was covered in, logs and twigs being
carelessly thrown on the top, apparently simply to indicate the
existence of a grave. The thing which struck me most was the intense
spirit of vengeance shown."
Notwithstanding such terrible savagery, however, the Indian has ideas
of right and wrong that put Christian civilization to shame. The
people are perfectly honest and truthful. I believe they cannot
lie, and stealing is entirely unknown among them.
Many are the experiences I have had in the Chaco.
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