The man-eaters and other odd people

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So far from the Feegeean cannibals being _savages_, according to the ordinary acceptation of the term, they are in reality the very reverse. If we adhere to the usual meaning of...

It is not to be supposed that he has it all to himself; no, nor half of it either; nor yet the fifth part of it. At least four fifths of his sweat has to be expended in tax or t...

The pods of the _Acacia niopo_—a small tree, with very delicate pinnate leaves—are plucked when ripe. They are then cut into small pieces and flung into a vessel of water. In th...

The Mundrucu religion resembles that of many other tribes both in North and South America. It consists in absurd ceremonies, and appeals to the good and evil spirits of the othe...

Fortunately no such fate is likely to befall the Indian of the Chaco. The food upon which he subsists is derived from many varied sources, a few of which only are to be found in...

The Bushman is the smallest man with whom we are acquainted; and if the terms “dwarf” and “pigmy” may be applied to any race of human beings, the South-African Bushmen presents...

The Bushman’s ingenuity does not end here. Besides the construction of the trap, it is necessary the game should be guided into it. Were this not done, the pit might remain a lo...

The whole _valley_ of the Amazon—in other words, the tract watered by this great river and its tributaries—may be described as one unbroken forest. We now know the borders of th...

The Indians of the tropic forest dress in the very lightest costume. Of course each tribe has its own fashion; but a mere belt of cotton cloth, or the inner bark of a tree, pass...

Of all the ideas suggested by the mention of Lake Maracaibo, perhaps none are so interesting as those that relate to its native inhabitants, whose peculiar habits and modes of l...

The Maracaibo Indian is not a stranger to commerce. He has been “Christianized,”—to use the phraseology of his priestly proselytizer,—and this has introduced him to new wants an...

“The boots reach to the bottom of the breeches, which hang loosely over them. In these, as in other parts of the dress, are many varieties of color, material, and pattern, yet i...

The fresh-water fish are struck with spears out of the kayaks, or, when there is ice on the water strong enough to bear the weight of a man, the fish are captured in a different...

The Tongan archipelago is much less extensive than that of the Feegees,—the islands being of a limited number, and only five or six of them of any considerable size. Tongataboo,...

The principal employment of the men is in the cultivation of their yam and plantain grounds, many of which extend to the size of fields, with fences that would almost appear to...

The “jubba” is a kind of robe generally intended to go over the other garments, and is usually of woollen or camel’s-hair cloth. It is also made like a dressing-gown, with wide...

These field fortresses of Korassan are altogether so curious, both as to construction and purpose, that we cannot pass them without a word of description. They are usually place...

The mode of capturing the manati is very similar to that employed by the Esquimaux in taking the seal, and which has been elsewhere described. There is not much danger in the fi...

In “Prairie-land” every tribe of Indians is in possession of the horse. On the north the Crees, Crows, and Blackfeet, the Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes; on the plains of the P...

But there came a time when they grew tired of the exchange, and longed for their old life of roving freedom. Their brethren had obtained the horse; and this was an additional at...

But it must be admitted, that the Araucanians have had far more than their just meed of praise. The romantic stories, in that endless epic of the rhymer Ercilla, have crept into...

The limits assigned to the Great Basin are tolerably well defined. Its western rim is the _Sierra Nevada_, or “snowy range” of California; while the Rocky and Wahsatch mountains...

Not being agriculturists, you will naturally conclude that they are either a pastoral people, or else a nation of hunters. But in truth they are neither one nor the other. They...

Not by one mouth, however. On the contrary, long before the Orinoco approaches the sea, its channel separates into a great many branches (or “caños,” as they are called in the l...

But he may indulge in a less dangerous, and more delicate drink, also furnished by his favorite itá. This he obtains by flinging a few of the nuts into a vessel of water, and le...

In this belt is stuck the pointed knife, and a pouch or two, for pipe, tobacco, and spoon, are also suspended from it. Breeches of reindeer-skin—the hide of the young fawns—reac...

In the best class of “pulk”—that used by the Russ and Swedish traders and travellers—the forward part is covered with a sort of half-deck of skins or leather; but the Laplander...

Perhaps no other two thousand people on earth—for that is about the number of Andaman islanders—have been honored with a greater amount of speculation in regard to their origin....

It may be generally described as occupying the whole southern part of South America,—from the frontier of the Spanish settlements to the Straits of Magellan,—and bounded east an...

The other ends of the thongs are knotted to each other; and when the strings are at full stretch, the balls will then be about eight feet apart,—in other words, each thong shoul...

All this is directly the reverse with the Fuegian. The beach is the situation _he_ chooses for his dwelling-place, and the sea or its shore is his proper element. He is more tha...

Their whole system of life is abject in the extreme. Although provided with fires, their food is eaten raw; and a fish taken from the water will be swallowed upon the instant,—a...