Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

Social meetings among these races are of rare occurrence. Gloomy, reserved, and distrustful, the Indian is only at ease in the circle he has himself formed. When, however, the general interest of the race is in question, then he comes boldly forward in support of the whole. The usual assemblages are for the arrangement of long hunting excursions, and warlike expeditions. The departures and the returns are celebrated by tumultuous feasts, in which intoxicating drinks flow freely. Most of the liquors are prepared from Yucca, or the fruits of the Chunta, called the Mazato, or other species of palms. In the most remote forests, and among the most insulated tribes, the preparation of intoxicating liquors is known; and there certainly is not in all South America an Indian race which is not familiar with it. Wild dances form part of the entertainments, and the banquet usually ends with a sanguinary battle.

Marriage in most races is celebrated socially, but not among those in which polygamy prevails. The formula observed on the occasion differs in different tribes; in some the union is effected under painful ceremonies to the bride, in others with fasting and penitential torments to the bridegroom. In general the Indian selects a wife for himself. In the greater number of tribes a maiden is set up as a prize, and the young men commence a life or death contest for her. The oldest warriors are arbitrators, and from their hands the conqueror receives the prize. This is the practice among the inhabitants of the Rio de Santa Catalina. With them, as well as with most of the tribes of Western Ucayali, the birth of a child is festively celebrated. The oldest individuals of the race assemble to receive the child, which is repeatedly blown on to drive demons and sickness away from it; the name of an animal is then given to it, and, according to Don Pedro Beltran, the witnesses of the ceremony mark with a wooden pencil some hieroglyphic characters on two leaves, which are carefully preserved, and on the death of the Indian, deposited in the grave with him.

The dead are buried in the huts. The survivors having testified their sorrow by a melancholy howl three times repeated, leave the place and build a new residence for themselves in a distant district. They break in pieces all the household furniture of the deceased, but they bury with him his warlike weapons and his agricultural implements, under the conviction that he will use them in the place to which he is going. A peculiar custom among several races is this: the oldest son cuts a piece from the heel of his deceased father, which he hangs round his neck, and wears as a sacred relic. Some of the tribes on the Perene and Capanegua do not, like most wild nations, respect the remains of the dead, but throw the bodies into the forest unburied, to be devoured by beasts of prey.

Very little is correctly known of the religion of the Peruvian Indios Bravos. All believe in the existence of superior beings, and distinguish them as good and evil; and they are accordingly venerated from gratitude, or from fear. The former they regard as beneficent; but the latter as having the power of bringing into exercise all the destroying forces of nature. These people, therefore, find in the sky, in the air, and on the earth, objects for their adoration. Certain constellations are regarded as favorable phenomena, while others are looked at with a secret horror. The sun is by all gladly worshipped, more particularly by the descendants of those who in early times stood in connexion with the Incas. On the other hand, they pay but a reluctant tribute to the moon, perhaps because by its pale light fearful images are reflected around them in the forests, and because its phases are to them involved in impenetrable mystery. They ascribe thunder and lightning to demoniacal influences, and to the same origin they attribute certain winds which have an injurious influence on their health. But their religious notions are not connected exclusively with the phenomena of nature, which are to them inexplicable. With all their ideas on surrounding nature, two conflicting principles are invariably connected, one of which is believed to be beneficial, the other injurious to them. In the animals of the forest, the plants, the stones, in everything, they trace these beneficent or demoniacal powers. Every idea, every action is with them a consequence of the influence of one of these two powers, and free will is impossible. Though a rude materialism cripples the intelligence of these Indians, yet they seem to be sensible of the connexion between that which is perceptible to their senses, and something higher—something beyond the sphere of corporeal perception. But of the nature of this higher something they have no comprehension, nor do they endeavor to render to themselves any account of it. They are satisfied with an obscure idea of the difference between the visible and the invisible; but still this idea is so contracted that they always give to the spiritual a corporeal form: and they attribute to natural objects with which they come most in contact, the possession of good or evil qualities, thus assigning to them the nature of spiritual beings.

None of these tribes appear, as yet, to have advanced so far as to be impressed with the persuasion that the whole of nature is guided by unchangeable laws over which one will presides. In general, they have no idea of a spiritual unity, and are utter strangers to the knowledge of one God. They all, however, believe in the immortality of the soul. They see the lifeless body, they have certain proof that the earthly integument is no longer the abode of the soul; but, as they can form no notion of anything spiritual entirely self-existent, they imagine that their dead will, in new life, appear under a new bodily form. The several tribes differ greatly in their belief of the nature of the metamorphoses which they expect to take place. Those who look forward to the re-appearance of the deceased in human life, bury with the men hunting and agricultural instruments; but their notions even on this head are not very clear, and when questioned on the subject their answers are very confused. They say that they are going to a very beautiful place, far from their present dwelling; but, according to their conception, it appears that the place, though distant, is still on earth. Those races who believe in metamorphoses into the forms of the lower animals, are persuaded that the dead in their new forms will inhabit the woods around their homes, and avenge the wrongs they have suffered during life. This is the belief of the inhabitants of Upper Ucayali and Pachitea.

In considering the physical formation of the wild Indians, we may class them according to their natural divisions, viz., the inhabitants of the more highly situated lands, or mountains, and those of the low hot flat country. The former dwell on the eastern side of the hill-chain, dividing the river territory of the Huallaga and Ucayali, and spreading to the banks of the Chauchamayo, Perene, and Apurimac. These are the Iscuchanos. They are rather tall and generally slim; their limbs are vigorous; their hands and feet small, and in walking their toes are much turned in. The head is proportionally large, with very strong bones; the forehead is low, the eyes small and animated, the nose large and rather sharp, the cheek-bones a little prominent. The mouth is not large, and the lips are delicately formed, but often disfigured by ornaments. The ears are small, quite the reverse of those of the Indians of the flat lands. The pointed chin is only sparingly covered with beard, which does not appear until advanced age, and on the cheeks there is none. The hair of the head is long, stiff, and of a brilliant black. Many of the tribes dye their hair; the Chunchos dye it red, and the Antis are said to dye it blue; as to the latter color it appears to me improbable, but I mention it on the authority of Friar Leceta. The skin is fine and soft, the color a deep rusty brown. In speaking of the South American Indians, it is usual to describe their skin as copper color, but this term is incorrect, for there certainly is no single tribe to which it might be perfectly applicable. It appears to me that the color of all is much fainter, and tending more to brown or yellow. "Rusty brown," if the expression may be used, appears to me far more descriptive.

The second natural section of the wild Indians inhabits the northern part of the Pampa del Sacramento, the banks of the Ucayali, and of the Marañon. They are smaller than those just described. There is a certain peculiarity in the make of these people; for though they are broad over the shoulders yet their chests are flat, and their shoulder blades lie low. Their limbs are lank, and their hands rather small; the soles of the feet are broad and flat. The face is broad, the eyes long shaped, the pupil deeply set, the nose is flat, with large oblique nostrils, and the cheek-bones are prominent. The mouth is wide, the lips thick, and among some tribes the mouth and nose are very close together. The chin is small and round, the ears large and standing out from the head. The hair and beard of these Indians are the same as in those of the hilly country. The color of the skin varies much; in some it is a light reddish brown; in others, a kind of yellow, very like that of the Mongols. The women of all these tribes are exceedingly ugly, and far from corresponding with the picture a European imagination might form of the daughters of the aboriginal forests. These women soon become old, for they not only fulfil female duties, but execute the greater part of those severer labors which ought to fall to the share of the stronger sex.

To the above outline sketch of the human inhabitants of the aboriginal forests, I will now add some description of the animal world, as it came under my observation in those luxuriant regions.

Unlike the peaceful repose which presides over animal life on the level heights, are the constant aggressions and combats which prevail in the forest regions. There the strong attack the weak, and the cunning inveigle the unwary: strength and intelligence, caution and instinct, are unceasingly in active operation. The variegated forms and colors which meet the eye, and the multifarious cries and tones which resound through the woods, form, altogether, the most singular contrast. The gold-feathered colibri hums lightly through the air, soaring over the heavy, sombre-colored tapir. The sprightly singing-bird pours forth his melodious chants amidst the thick foliage of the aged trees, whilst the fierce ounce, prowling for his prey, growls as he passes over their enormous, spreading roots. Slowly do the eye and the ear learn to distinguish individuals in the vast mass of apparent chaotic confusion, and to recognise quickly fleeting forms, or distant resounding sounds.

The whole of the animal world is here developed to the view, and it would be difficult to assign the predominance to any one class. Yet, perhaps, the variegated feathered tribe is relatively most extensively represented. The number of the mammalia is also important. They are seldom seen by the hunter during the day, but twilight draws them from their hiding-places.