THE NORTH-WEST AMAZONS [Illustration: BORO MEDICINE MAN, WITH MY RIFLE] THE NORTH-WEST AMAZONS NOTES OF SOME MONTHS SPENT AMONG CANNIBAL TRIBES BY THOMAS WHIFFEN F.R.G.S., F.R.A.I. CAPTAIN H.P. (14TH HUSSARS) NEW YORK DUFFIELD AND COMPANY 1915 _Printed in Great Britain_ TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE DR. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, O.M. THESE NOTES ARE DEDICATED PREFACE In presenting to the public the results of my journey through the lands about the upper waters of the Amazon, I make no pretence of challenging conclusions drawn by such experienced scientists as Charles Waterton, Alfred Russel Wallace, Richard Spruce, and Henry Walter Bates, nor to compete with the indefatigable industry of those recent explorers Dr. Koch-Grünberg and Dr. Hamilton Rice. Some months of the years 1908 and 1909 were passed by me travelling in regions between the River Issa and the River Apaporis where white men had scarcely penetrated previously. In the remoter parts of these districts the tribes of nomad Indians are frankly cannibal on occasion, and provide us with evidence of a condition of savagery that can hardly be found elsewhere in the world of the twentieth century. It will be noted that this area includes the Putumayo District. With regard to the references in footnotes and appendices, I have inserted them to suggest where similarities of culture or variations of a given custom are to be found. These notes may be of some use to the student of such problems as the question of cultural contact with Pacific peoples, and at the least they represent the evidence on which I have based my own conclusions. THOMAS WHIFFEN. LONDON, 1914. CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I Introductory 1 CHAPTER II Topography--Rivers--Floods and rainfall--Climate--Soil--Animal and vegetable life--Birds--Flowers--Forest scenery--Tracks--Bridges--Insect pests--Reptiles--Silence in the forest--Travelling in the bush--Depressing effects of the forest--Lost in the forest--Starvation the crowning horror 17 CHAPTER III The Indian homestead--Building--Site and plan of _maloka_--Furniture--Inhabitants of the house--Fire--Daily life--Insect inhabitants--Pets 40 CHAPTER IV