Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South AmericaRay, George Whitfield
Religion
Through Five Republics on Horseback, Being an Account of Many Wanderings in South America
Ray, George Whitfield
Ray, George Whitfield, 1868- -- Travel -- South America; South America -- Description and travel
That day we rode on through the endless forest of palms, and waded
through a quagmire at least eight miles in extent, where the green
slime reached up to the saddle-flaps. On that day we came to a sluggish
stream, bearing the name of "Aptikpangmakthlaingwainkyapaimpangkya"
(The Place Where the Pots Were Struck When They Were About to Feast).
There a punt was moored, into which we placed our saddles, etc., and
paddled across, while the horses swam the almost stagnant water.
Saddling up on the other side, we had a journey of thirty miles to make
before arriving at a waterhole, where we camped for the second night. I
don't know what real nectar is, but that water was nectar to me,
although the horses sniffed and at first refused to drink it.
At sunset on the third day we emerged from the palm forest and endless
marshes, and by the evening of the fourth day the church, built of palm
logs, loomed up on the horizon. Many of the Indians came out to meet
us, and my arrival was the talk of the village. The people seemed
happy, and the missionaries made me at home in their roughly-built log
shanties. Next morning I found a gift had been brought me by the
Indians. It was a beautiful feather headdress, but it had just been
left on the step, the usual way they have of making presents. The
Indian expects no thanks, and he gives none. The women received any
present I handed them courteously but silently. The men would accept a
looking-glass from me and immediately commence to search their face for
any trace of "dirty hairs," probably brought to their mind by the sight
of mine, but not even a grunt of satisfaction would be given. No Chaco
language has a word for "thanks."
[Illustration: TAMASWA (THE LOCUST EATER) PROCURING FOOD. This young
man could put the point of his arrow into a deer's eye a hundred yards
distant]
[Illustration: FASHIONS OF THE CHACO.]
There is, among the Lenguas, an old tradition to the effect that for
generations they have been expecting the arrival of some strangers who
would live among them and teach them about the spirit-world. These
long-looked-for teachers were called _The Imlah_. The tradition says
that when the Imlah arrive, all the Indians must obey their teaching,
and take care that the said Imlah do not again leave their country, for
if so they, the Indians, would disappear from the land. When Mr. Grubb
and his helpers first landed, they were immediately asked, "Are you the
Imlah?" and to this question they, of course, answered yes. Was it not
because of this tradition that the Indian who later shot Mr. Grubb with
a poisoned arrow was himself put to death by the tribe?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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