n
Child of the Macoa i rioe.
H ^ Ai LuriAiiOivis miu muiei iu
SLi unknowm forests of Venezuela
M J by Theodore De Booy of the
American Geographical society
and the Museum of the University of
Pennsylvania have brought to the
knowledge of ethnologists a race of
dwarf Indians that live in an eternal
fog, far more impenetrable than that
of London, and whose members get
drunk regularly once a month. Mr.
De Booy also has located a treasure
cave that will be of equal interest to
the archaeologist and to the seeker
of gold, deep in a wilderness that not
even the Indians will penetrate.
In full sight of the mountain at the
base of which the cave is located the
explorer was forced to turn back be
cause his Indian guides and carriers
refused to continue the journey. One
of their reasons was a lack of food,
but the principal objection apparently
was a superstitious fear of the spirits
of warriors buried in the cave after
a great battle told about in their tra
ditions. The mountain is near the
bolder of Venezuela and Colombia.
“It is quite probable, almost certain,
in fact,” says Mr. De Booy in the mu
seum Journal, “that this burial cave
contains archaeological treasures of
the highest value. Our archaeological
researches proved without a doubt
the entire region had at one time been
inhabited by the Arhuaeos, a tribe of
which a small remnant still lives in
the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta.
The Motilones, which includes the
Macoas, were evidently comparative
newcomers to the region and had
either driven out the Arhuaeos or had
killed them off, probably only a short
while before the Conquest. Research
es by other archaeologists have proven
that a similar occurrence took place
in the Goajira peninsula directly to
the northward, and that the Goajiras
superseded the Arhuaeos in this latter
region.
Treasures of Gold Workers.
“The burial cave, therefore, prob
ably contains Arhuacan specimens,
and as the Arhuaeans were excellent
workers in gold and had quantities
of gold ornaments it will be seen that
the chances of this cave containing
gold ornaments as well as burial ob
jects of other kinds are very good.
Two days before coming within sight
of the peak in which the cave was
to be found, the Indians had shown
me certain regions where evidence
could still be seen of former clear
ings. These clearings were of consid
erable age and were only distinguish
ed from the surrounding woods by
the fact that the trees were not quite
as large and the undergrowth of
lesser density.”
Mr. De Booy landed at Maracaibo
and spent two days on horseback
crossing the plain to La Horqueta,
one of the last outposts of civilization
in Venezuela. He had to pass part of
this time over a narrow and gloomy
trail through a wilderness abounding
with tigers, jaguars, wildcats, mon
keys and deer. Beyond this forest is
a great plain and back of that the
mountains with their heads lost in
the fog. “While the altitude of these
mountains is not sufficiently high to
make them snow covered,” says, the
explorer, “the fog and mists at times
would almost make one think that the
summits were covered with snow.”
In the days of the Conquistadores La
Villa, a little town along the route to
La Horqueta, was the starting point
for raiding expeditions into the In
dian territory to the south of the Rio
Negro. The town is filled with ruined
foundations of houses and a quaint
old church still stands. It is said
to be the oldest in that part of the
country.
Nine hours’ travel through the
jungle from La Horqueta De Rooy
came to the settlement of Machiques,
outside of which be found members
of the Tucucus Indians, who come
down to the mountains to work occa
sionally In exchange for hoop iron.
cuuasses, Deans, iron coosing^pots and
axes. “The Tucucus are a very shy
race,” the explorer observes, “and
only came when they were in need
of ironmongery.”
Dwarfs Who Dwell in Fog.
Tueucu runners were sent out to re
quest for De Booy the privilege of
visiting the Macoas. Most of the
Tucucus thought he was crazy and
predicted that he would never return,
but finally the permission was obtain
ed. At the end of the first day of
travel he ran into the fog country.
“Practically every day the mists roll
down the mountains at about mid
day,” he says, “and one spends the
balance of the day in an enveloping
fog which makes one forget that the
equator is but ten degrees distant.”
Weather w'as so cold that at night the
explorer was forced to use two blank
ets. Describing the settlements of
the Macoas, he says:
“No two huts are found in close
proxmity. In fact, these Indians ap
pear to take pleasure in living as far
removed from each other as possible,
which may be due to the eternal
fights they wage among themselves.
Each hut is on a separate hilltop, so
that while the, entire village is with
in hailing distance, it often takes as
much as half an hour to go from one
abode to another, by first descending
one slope and then ascending the oth
er. Their clearings and plantations,
on which they grow yucca, sweet po
tatoes, corn, bananas, plantains and
yams, are also far removed from their
huts, so that it frequently takes a
man the half of a day almost to walk
to his farm. Why this is so, when
the hill slopes directly underneath
the Indian’s abode are just as well
adapted to agricultural purposes, I
cannot state, and inquiries failed to
give a logical explanation.”
The Macoas really are a race of
dwarfs, the average height of the
men being five feet one inch, and that
of the women four feet eight inches.
The first thing they did for De Booy,
who is more than six feet tall, was to
build him a hut about four times as
large as their own.
De Booy found the Indians so cu
rious and so persistent that he had
to ask the chief to build a stockade
to “keep out the children.” In this
he did his photographic work. The
natives had never before seen a white
man of light complexion and De Booy
was a constant source of wmnder to
them.
LAMAS “CURSE OF MONGOLIA”
They Live and Thrive on the Credul
ity of Their Neighbors, Care
fully Cultivated.
Mongolia is one of the most primi
tive and most interesting countries
in the world today, the inhabitants in
many ways resembling the North
American Indians. The Mongols are
very fanatical and blindly devoted to
the Buddhist religion, observes an ex
change. Every third man is a lama,
a Buddhist monk. The lamas are the
curse of Mongolia, being parasites who
live on the religious credulity of their
lay brethren.
The Chinese tael (an ounce of sil
ver) is the medium of exchange. Small
squares or cubes of pressed silk are
also used, but brick tea will pass cur
rent for barter in any part of Mon
golia. Tobacco is also used for trade
exchange purposes. Trade is in the
hands of the Chinese, with the excep
tion of the Russian traders at Urga,
which was formerly the residence of
the Chinese lieutenant-governor or
“Lamban,” as he was called.
Mongols throw the bodies of their
dead outside the town, where the dogs
soon make short work of them. The
natives believe that the sooner the
bodies are disposed of the better
chance the spirit of the departed has
in reaching paradise
^MaimmiiniiiiiiitiiiiiriiiiniiffliiiiiiiiiiiiiniifiiilNniiiiM^^ ..... iiEiiiiiiJiia^ifMiimimiim^iimyNiLil
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