“The curtain rises. The sorcerer gave the pipe to his companion, whose duty consisted in lighting it, and, taking it again, inhaled several puffs which he blew noisily into the calabash through the orifice bored in it; then, without removing it from his lips, he began shouting, sometimes slowly and sometimes rapidly, uttering alternately the syllables ‘ta, ta’, and ‘to, to, to’, with extraordinary, inexpressible, reiterations of voice and piercing yells. He gave way at the same time to violent contortions, and executed a measured series of leaps, now on one foot, and now on both joined together. This performance did not last any length of time, and on a pretext of fatigue he was not long without coming to a stand-still. A bumper was indispensable in order to set him on his legs again, and the monotonous chant immediately recommenced.
“My drawings being finished, I at last broke up the sitting to the general satisfaction of my guests, and dismissed them, having first purchased his pipe and whistle from the paye. The former article was made of hard and heavy wood and covered with regular tracings engraved on the surface with a good deal of skill. It was about a foot and a half long, ornamented with gilt nails, and pierced by a tube which was widened at one end and terminated at the other by a mouth-piece. This pipe is also to be found among other neighbouring nations, as well as among the Tobas and Matacos on the banks of the Pilcomayo. It gives an idea of those enormous cigars made from a roll of palm or tobacco leaves, which played so important a part in Brazil, in the ceremonies of the Tupinambas, and among the Caraibs of the Antilles, on all occasions when the question of peace or war had to be decided, when the shades of ancestors were to be conjured up, etc., and which the first navigators mistook for torches.”
196. – NATIVE OF MANAOS, BRAZIL.
The Western Guaranis include the tribes known by the names of Guarayis, Chiriguanos, and Cirionos, the first of which have been converted by the Jesuits. Between the province of the Chiquitos and that of the Moxos there are still some hordes of wild Guarayis. The uncivilized Chiriguanos are barbarians, very formidable to their neighbours. The natives of a hundred and sixty villages of the Andes, comprised between the great Chaco river and that of Mapayo, in the province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, speak the Guarany language in all its purity. The barbarous Cirionos, among whom a dialect of that tongue is in use, dwell to the north of Santa Cruz.
The Eastern Guaranis of Brazil include the Brazilian aborigines. The general language of the country does not seem to differ more from Guarany, than Portuguese does from Spanish. The Caryis, Tameyi, Tapinaquis, Timmimnes, Tabayaris, Tupinambis, Apontis, Tapigoas, and several other tribes occupy the maritime districts situated to the south of the mouth of the Amazon, speaking the Tupi tongue with little or no alteration.
During their voyage to Brazil, of which an account was published in the “Tour du Monde,” in 1868, M. and Madame Agassiz visited many Indian tribes, and examined their habitations in the midst of the woods. We extract a few pages from their description.
“We arrive at the sitio,” writes Madame Agassiz, “and disembark. These dwellings are usually located on the banks of a lake or river, within a stone’s throw of the shore in order that fishing and bathing may be better within reach. But this one was more retired, being placed at the extremity of a pretty by-path winding beneath the trees, and on the summit of a little hill, the slopes of which at the other side plunged into a broad and deep ravine through which flowed a rivulet. The ground beyond rose undulating in uneven lines, on which an eye accustomed to the uniformly flat country of the upper Amazon cannot rest without pleasure. Wait for the time of the rains, and the brook, swollen by the increase of the river, will almost bathe the foot of the house, which, from the top of the little eminence, at present commands the valley and the embanked bed of the tiny stream. Great, consequently, is the difference between the appearance of the same places in the dry and the wet seasons. The residence consists of several buildings, the most remarkable of which is a long open hall in which the brancas (whites) of Manaos and of the neighbourhood dance when they come, as is not infrequent, to spend the night at the sitio, in high festivity.
197. – BRAZILIAN NEGRESSES.
“I learned these particulars from the old Indian lady who did me the honours of the house. A low wall, from three to four feet in height, skirted this shed. At its sides and along the whole length were placed raised wooden seats, and both ends were closed from floor to roof by thick blinds made of glittering palm-leaves, as fine as they were handsome, and of a pretty straw colour. In a corner we found an immense embroidery loom (Penelope’s was doubtless like it), which was occupied at the moment by a hammock of palm fibre, an unfinished work of the ‘senhora dona’, or mistress of the house, who allowed me to see the way in which she used the machine. She squatted herself on a little low bench, in front of the frame, and showed me that the two rows of cross threads were separated by a thick piece of polished wood in the shape of a flat rule. The shuttle is thrown between these two threads and the woof is drawn close by a sharp blow of the thick rule. I was then led to admire some hammocks of various colours and textures which were being arranged for the accommodation of the visitors, and whilst the men set off to bathe in the brook, I went through the rest of the lodge with our hostess and her daughter, a very pretty Indian. The direction of everything devolves on the elder of the two ladies; the master is absent, as he holds a captain’s commission in the army operating against Paraguay.
198. – BRAZILIAN DWELLING.
“On the same carefully-kept piece of ground where the hall I have described is situated, there are several casinhas or small buildings, more or less close to each other, which are covered with thatch, and merely consist of a single apartment (fig. 198). Then comes a larger cottage, with earthen walls and bare floor, containing two or three rooms, and with a wooden verandah in front. This is the private abode of the senhora. A little lower down the hill is the manioc sifting-house, with all its apparatus. No place could be better kept than the courtyard of this sitio, where two or three negresses have just been set to work with brooms of thin branches in their hands.
199. – NEGROS OF BAHIA.
“The manioc and cocoa plantation surrounds these buildings, with a few coffee trees peeping out here and there. There is a difficulty in judging of the extent of these farms, as they are irregular, and comprise a certain variety of plants; manioc, cocoa, coffee, and even cotton being cultivated together in confusion. But this part of the estate, like all the rest of the establishment, seemed larger and better cared for than those usually seen. As we were departing, our Indian hostess brought me a nice basket filled with eggs and abacatys, or alligator’s pears, according to the local name. We returned home just in time for the ten o’clock meal, which draws everyone together, both idlers and workers. The sportsmen had returned from the forest, laden with tucanas, parrots, paroquets, and a great variety of other birds, while the fishermen brought fresh treasures for M. Agassiz.
“We left the dinner-table, and while taking coffee under the trees, the president proposed an excursion on the lake at sunset… The little craft glided between the glowing sunset and the glitter of the deep sheet of water, seeming to borrow its hues from each. It rapidly drew near, and was soon quite close, when a burst of joyous shouts broke forth, and was merrily responded to by us. Then side by side the two boats descended the stream together, the guitar passing from one to the other, as Brazilian songs alternated with Indian airs. Nothing could possibly be imagined bearing the national impress more strongly marked, more deeply imbued with tropical tints, more characteristic, in fine, than this scene on the lake. When we arrived at the landing-place the rosy and gold-tinged mists had become transformed into a mass of white or ashen-grey vapour, the last rays of the sun were fled, and the moon was shining at its full. In ascending the gentle slope of the hill, someone suggested a dance on the grass, and the young Indian girls formed a quadrille. Although civilization had mingled its usages with their native customs, there were yet many original traits in their movements, and this conventional dance was deprived of much of its artificial character. At length we returned to the house, where dancing and singing recommenced, whilst groups seated on the ground here and there laughed and chatted, all, men and women, smoking with the same gusto. The use of tobacco, almost universal among females of the lower class, is not altogether confined to them. More than one senhora delights to puff her cigarette as she rocks in her hammock during the warm hours of the day.” Fig. 200 represents some natives of French Guyana, who closely resemble the Brazilian negroes we have just mentioned.
200. – NATIVES OF FRENCH GUYANA.
The Ouragas are affiliated to the Brazilio-Guarany race, with a few other tribes very closely allied to them. They form one of the nations most widely spread over the northern parts of South America. They were formerly in possession of the banks and islands of the Amazon river for a distance of five hundred miles from the mouth of the Rio Nabo.
The Caribbee race has a close affinity to the Guarany. The Indians who have given their name to this group, one of the most numerous and extensively scattered of the southern continent, are those celebrated Caribs who in the sixteenth century occupied all the islands from Porto Rico to Trinidad, and the whole of the Atlantic coast comprised between the mouth of the Orinoco and that of the Amazon, that is to say, as far as the Brazilian frontier.
The Tamanacs belong to the same family, and live on the right bank of the Orinoco, but their numbers are at the present day greatly reduced. The same remark applies to the Arawacs or Araocas, to the Guaranns, who are said to build their houses upon trees, to the Guayquerias, Cumanogots, Phariagots, Chaymas, &c. Humboldt has written of the latter: —
“The expression of countenance of the Chaymas, without being harsh and fierce, has in it something sedate and gloomy. The forehead is small and but little prominent; the eyes are black, sunken, and lengthy, being neither so obliquely set nor so small as those of the Mongolian race. Yet the corners perceptibly slant upwards towards the temples; the eyebrows are black or dark brown, thin, and not much arched; the lids fringed with very long eyelashes; and their habit of drooping them, as if heavy with languor, softens the women’s look and makes the eye thus veiled appear smaller than it really is.”
The Botocudos (fig. 201) who dwell round the Rio Doce, in Brazil, have been cannibals, and are still to the present day the most savage of all Americans. They wear collars of human teeth as ornaments. Perpetually wandering and completely naked, they take a pleasure in adding to their natural ugliness, and impart a more repulsive appearance to their countenances by a habit they have of slitting their under lip and ears, in order to introduce “barbotes” into the openings thus made.
201. – BOTOCUDOS.
In his “Travels in Brazil,” M. Biard saw some Botocudos. One, who seemed to him to be the chief, carried, like his companions, in an opening in the lower lip, a “barbote” consisting of a bit of wood somewhat larger than a five-shilling piece. He made use of this projection as a little table, cutting up on it, with the traveller’s knife, a morsel of smoked meat which had then only to be slipped into his mouth. This method of utilizing the lip as a table struck M. Biard as thoroughly original. The comrades of this Botocudos had also large pieces of wood in the lobes of their ears.
CHAPTER II.
NORTHERN BRANCH
The members of the North American Branch present more decided differences among themselves than those in the southern division, so far as race is concerned, but their characteristics are merged one in the other. Nevertheless, the populations inhabiting respectively the south, the north-east, and the north-west can be considered as forming so many distinct families, which we shall pass in review in succession.
Southern Family
The southern family of the Northern Branch still preserves much resemblance to the families of the southern branch which we have just been considering. The complexion of its members is rather fair, the forehead depressed, and the figure tolerably well proportioned.
This group embraces a great number of tribes speaking different languages, peculiar to the central part of the northern continent. The principal among these nations are the Aztecs, or primitive Mexicans, and the Moya and Lenca Indians.
Aztecs.– When the Spaniards landed in Mexico, they found there a people whose customs were far removed from those of savage life. They were very expert in the practice of different useful and ornamental arts, and their knowledge was rather extensive, but thorough cruelty could always be laid to their charge.
The Aztecs were intelligent and hard-working cultivators. They knew how to work mines, prepare metals, and set precious stones as ornaments. Superb monuments had been erected by them, and they possessed a written language which preserved the memorials of their history. Those who dwelt in the region of the present Mexico were advanced in the sciences; they were profoundly imbued with the sentiment of religion; and their sacred ceremonies were full of pomp, but accompanied by expiatory sacrifices revolting in their barbarism. They carried their annals back to very remote antiquity. These annals were traced in historical paintings, the traditional explanation of which was imparted by the natives to some of their conquerors, as well as to a few Spanish and Italian ecclesiastics.
202. – INDIAN OF THE MEXICAN COAST.
The principal events recorded in these archives relate to the migrations of three different nations, who, leaving the distant regions of the north-west, arrived successively in Anahuac. They were the Toltecs, Chichimecas, and Nahuatlacas, divided into seven distinct tribes, one of which was that of the Aztecs, or Mexicans. The country whence the first of these people came was called Huehuetlapallan, and they commenced their exodus in the year 544 of our era. Pestilence decimated them in 1051, and they then wandered southwards, but a few remained at Tula. The Chichimecas, a barbarous race, arrived in Mexico in the year 1070, and the incursion of the Nahuatlacas, who spoke the same language as the Toltecs, took place very soon afterwards. The Aztecs, or Mexicans, separated themselves from the other nations, and in 1325 they founded Mexico. In a word, the former inhabitants of Mexico were immigrants from a country situated towards the north, on the central plateau of Anahuac, and their successive migrations had continued during several centuries long prior to the discovery of America by the Europeans.
203, 204. – INDIANS OF THE MEXICAN COAST.
The ancient portraits of the Aztecs and the faces of some of their divinities are remarkable for the depression of the forehead, from which results the smallness of the facial angle – a peculiarity which appears to have belonged to the handsome type of the race.
The aboriginal Mexicans of our own time are of good stature and well proportioned in all their limbs. They have narrow foreheads, black eyes, white, well-set, regular teeth, thick, coarse, and glossy black hair, thin beards, and are in general without any hairs on their legs, thighs, or arms. Their skin is olive coloured, and many fine young women may be seen among them with extremely light complexions. Their senses are very acute, more especially that of sight, which they enjoy unimpaired to the most advanced age.
The native Indians forming part of the Mexican population are characterized by a broad face and flat nose, recalling somewhat the lineaments of the Mongolian cast of countenance. They may be judged of from Figs. 202, 203, 204, and 205, which represent aborigines of the interior and coast of Mexico.
M. Roudé, who has published the narrative of his travels in the state of Chihuahua, brought back accurate drawings illustrative of the usages and customs of the population of the Mexican capital.
The ladies envelope themselves very gracefully in their rebosso, with which they cover the head, partly hiding the face, and only allowing their eyes to be seen. Among the wealthy this rebosso is generally of black or white silk, embroidered with designs in bright and gaudy colours. Women of the lower classes wear a rebosso of blue wool dotted with little white squares. Their petticoat is short, and its lower part embroidered with worsted work. The favourite colour for this latter garment among common people is glaring red.
205. – MEXICAN INDIAN WOMAN.
The men’s costume (fig. 206) is richer and more varied than that of the women. On Sundays it is laced with silver; white trowsers are indispensable, and they are covered by another pair made of leather, open along the sides from the waist downwards, and ornamented with a row of silver buttons. A China crape sash is wound round the waist, and the vest is of deerskin or velvet with silver embroidery. The sombrero has a very broad brim, is made of straw or felt, and decorated with a thick twisted band of black velvet or of silver gilt lace. The sarapé is spangled with striking colours and with varied patterns, and the men possess a special talent for draping themselves gracefully in it.
206. – MEXICAN PICADOR.
The place above all others where the popular life of the inhabitants of Mexico should be studied is in the markets (fig. 207). There may you see Indians, creoles, and foreigners, beggars in rags and rich citizens, black frock coats, embroidered deerskin jackets, threadbare uniforms, soldiers, muleteers, porters, monks of all shades, shod and shoeless Carmelites, all elbowing each other fraternally. There Basil throws the lengthening shadow of his fantastic head-gear on the wall of the neighbouring church; there dealers in hats, poultry, or wooden trays offer their wares to buyers; there pretty fruit and flower girls, tidy servant maids of some decent house, or winsome Chinas with sparkling eyes, pass to and fro draped in their rebossos. They bear on the upturned palms of the left hand, on a level with the shoulder, and in the most artistic manner, a basket full of green plants, or the graceful red earthenware cantaro painted and glazed, and filled with water.
Through this noisy crowd the water-carrier (aguador), clothed in leather, treads his way with short steps, bearing on his back an enormous red earthen jar, fastened by means of two handles and a broad strap to his forehead, which is protected by a little cap of leather; another band passing across the top of the crown supports a second and much smaller pitcher, hanging before him at his knees.
207. – THE ROLDAU BRIDGE MARKET, MEXICO.
If a person wishes to become acquainted with Mexico, it is among the lower orders that he must study the country. The people are good; eager for knowledge, notwithstanding the want of instruction, and full of energy in spite of their long bondage. He need be on his guard against the higher classes only, a small minority spoiled by the priests, whose influence is all-powerful. The ignorance of the monks, who swarm in this land, is doubled by an intolerable vanity that inspires them with antipathy to all progress.
208. – MEXICAN HATTER.
The people of Mexico are very simple in their habits. Broth (pilchero) and the national dish, frijoles (beans), form the ordinary fare of the middle class, to which a stew of spiced duck is sometimes added. They allay their thirst with pure water, contained in an immense glass, which holds from one to two quarts. This flagon is placed in the centre of the table, and is the only one that appears on the board, from which decanters and bottles, and very often even knives and forks, are banished. Each in turn steeps his lips in this cup, returning it to its place or passing it to his neighbour. Besides, Mexicans in general do not drink except at the end of the meal. In the evening the circle is swelled by a few friends; guitars are taken down from the wall, and some simple ballads are sung to mournful airs, or they dance to the same measure.
209. – MEXICAN HAWKER.
The Aztecs, or primitive Mexicans, like their predecessors, the Toltecs, were, as we have said, strangers in Anahuac. Before their arrival this plateau had been inhabited by different races, some of which had acquired a certain degree of civilization, whilst others were utterly barbarous. The Aztecs spread themselves extensively in Central America.
The Olmecas are mentioned among the most ancient tribes, and they are supposed to have peopled the West India Islands and South America. This nation shared the soil of Mexico with the Xicalaucas, Coras, Tepanecas, Tarascas, Mixtecas, Tzapotecas, and the Othomis. The last named and the Totonacs were two barbarous races occupying the country near Lake Tezcuco, previously to the coming of the Chichimecas. Whilst all the other known languages of America are polysyllabic, that of the Othomis is monosyllabic.
Farther to the north, and beyond the northern frontiers of the Mexican empire, dwelt the Huaxtecas. The Tarascas inhabited the wide and fertile regions of Mechoacan, to the north of Mexico, and were always independent of that kingdom. Their sonorous and harmonious tongue differed from all the others. In civilization and the arts they advanced side by side with the Mexicans, who were never able to subdue them; but their king submitted without resistance to the rule of the Spaniards.
Moyas and Lencas. – These are tribes which still live in a wild state in the forests situated between the Isthmus of Panama and that of Thuantépec, but an inquiry into their manners and customs would offer no features of interest. The life of savage nations exhibits an uniformity which greatly abridges our task.
North-eastern Family
In the fifteenth century the North-eastern family occupied that immense expanse of North America which is comprised between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, but all its nations are now reduced to a few far from numerous tribes, confined to the west of the Mississippi.
The distinguishing qualities of the red race are strongly marked among these groups. A complexion of a light cinnamon-colour, a lengthened head, a long and aquiline nose, horizontal eyes, a depressed forehead, a robust constitution, and a tall stature constitute their principal physical characteristics, to which must be added senses sharpened to an extraordinary degree. They have a habit of painting their bodies, and especially their faces, red. Their disposition is proud and independent, and they support pain with stoical courage.
Almost all these Indian tribes have already disappeared in consequence of the furious war waged upon them by the Europeans. Those that lived in olden times on the declivities of the mountains facing the Atlantic are very nearly extinct. Among such are the Hurons, Iroquois, Algonquins, and the Natchez, rendered famous by Chateaubriand, and the Mohicans, whom Cooper has immortalized.
We cannot speak detailedly here of these different nations, but in order to give an idea of them we shall open Chateaubriand’s “Voyage en Amérique,” and, having quoted a few lines from it, we will make the reader acquainted with the pith of the observations made in our own day in these same countries by contemporary travellers.
Speaking of the Muscogulges and the Simnioles, Chateaubriand writes in the following terms: —
“The Simnioles and the Muscogulges are rather tall in stature: and, by an extraordinary contrast, their wives are the smallest race of women known in America; they seldom depass a height of four feet two or three inches; their hands and feet resemble those of an European girl nine or ten years old. But nature has compensated them for this kind of injustice: their figure is elegant and graceful; their eyes are black, extremely long, and full of languor and modesty. They lower their eyelids with a sort of voluptuous bashfulness; if a person did not see them when they speak, he would believe himself listening to children uttering only half-formed words.”
The great writer passed along the borders of the lake to which its name has been given by the Iroquois colony of the Onondagas, and visited the “Sachem” of that people: —
“He was,” says Chateaubriand, “an old Iroquois in the strictest sense of the word. His person preserved the memory of the former customs and bygone times of the desert: large, pinked ears, pearl hanging from the nose, face streaked with various colours, little tuft of hair on the top of the head, blue tunic, cloak of skins, leathern belt, with its scalping-knife and tomahawk, tattooed arm, mocassins on his feet, and a porcelain necklace in his hand.”
The following is the sketch of an Iroquois: —
“He was of lofty stature, with broad chest, muscular legs, and sinewy arms. His large round eyes sparkled with independence; his whole mien was that of a hero. Shining on his forehead might be seen high combinations of thought and exalted sentiments of soul. This fearless man was not in the least astonished at firearms when for the first time they were used against him; he stood firm to the whistling of bullets and the roar of cannon as if he had been hearing both all his life, and appeared to heed them no more than he would a storm. As soon as he could procure himself a musket, he used it better than an European. He did not abandon for it his tomahawk, his knife, or his bow and arrows, but added to them the carbine, pistol, poniard, and axe, and seemed never to possess arms sufficient for his valour. Doubly arrayed in the murderous weapons of Europe and America, with his head decked with bunches of feathers, his ears pinked, his face smeared black, his arms dyed in blood, this noble champion of the New World became as formidable to behold, as he was to contend against, on the shore which he defended foot by foot against the foreigner.”
With this terrible portrait Chateaubriand contrasts the blithe countenance of the Huron, who had nothing in common with the Iroquois but language: —
“The gay, sprightly, and volatile Huron, of rash, dazzling valour, and tall, elegant figure, had the air of being born to be the ally of the French.”
We now come to travellers of our own day. Fig. 210 is a sketch of the costumes of the wild Indians dwelling at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Missouri, and who bear the name of Creeks.
210. – CREEK INDIANS.
In his travels through the United States and Canada, M. H. Deville had an opportunity of visiting an establishment of Iroquois. These savages were remarkable for their reddish colour and coarse features. They wore round hats with broad brims, and robed themselves in Spanish fashion in a piece of dark cloth.
The manufacture of the native coverings for the legs and feet forms the principal occupation of the women, and under the pretext of purchasing some of their handiwork M. Deville entered several Iroquois dwellings.
Divested of the thick mantle worn by them out of doors, the women had assumed a long, coloured smock-frock with tight-fitting pantaloons that reached to the ankles, and their varnished shoes allowed coarse worsted stockings to be seen. Earrings and a gold necklace constituted their chief ornament. Their hair is drawn up to the top of the head and tied there in a knot. To say that their features are agreeable would be untrue, but in early youth their figures are rather handsome. Work, order, and cleanliness reign in their household. Their brothers and husbands are wood-cutters, steersmen, or conductors of rafts.
The same traveller met with some Chippeway Indians on the heights of Lake Pepin. Their stature was tall, but they had coarse features, and a skin of a very dark reddish colour. Half their face was covered by a thick layer of vermilion extending as far as their hair, which was plaited over the crown. They wore long leather gaiters, tied at the sides by innumerable thongs, and over a sort of tattered blouse was thrown a large woollen blanket, which completely covered them. One individual, armed with a long steel blade shaped like a dagger, had stuck his pipe in his hair.
In his “Voyage dans les Mauvaises Terres du Nebraska,” M. de Girardin (of Maine-et-Loire) describes his journey across part of the Missouri basin occupied by some free and wild Indians.
He brought back with him sketches and illustrations of those tribes, the principal among which are the Blackfeet, and the Dacotas, or Sioux, and was present at a grand council of the latter nation, The chiefs of the various clans, clad in their most brilliant costumes, harangued the warriors, whilst a score of young braves, without any other covering than a thick coat of vermilion or ochre, made their steeds curvet and executed numberless fanciful manœuvres. The horses were painted yellow, red, and white, and had their long tails decked with bright-coloured feathers.
211. – ENCAMPMENT OF SIOUX INDIANS.
An immense tent, composed of five or six lodges of bison-skins, was erected in the centre of the camp. The chiefs and principal warriors formed a circle, in the midst of which the agent, the governor of Fort St. Pierre, and his interpreters were stationed. According to Indian custom, the grand chief lit the calumet of peace, a magnificent pipe of red stone, the stem of which was a yard long and adorned with feathers of every hue. After some impassioned orations the council refused the travellers permission to pass over their territory in order to reach that of the Blackfeet.