Translation from “La Felpa,” of Iquitos, of
December 29, 1907.
Notice is hereby given to persons who intend going to the rubber possessions of the J. C. Arana and Hermanos Company in the Putumayo, not to do so, for the following reasons:—
Everything is sold there at about four times the prices here. The food consists of beans, without salt or lard, and the contents of one tin of sardines for each twenty persons. Generally only boiled airambo is supplied, especially when they go out on correrias—that is, wholesale slaughter of Indians. The Company does not pay salary balances in full; they steal part of them and sometimes the whole! They do not permit their employees to come here, except when the chiefs please. They beat, put in stocks, club, and even murder employees who do not do everything the chiefs order, and what is even worse they teach them to be assassins, to flog, to burn Indians, to mutilate them—that is, to cut off their fingers, arms, ears, legs, &c. As is evident, it is a horror to go to the Putumayo. I should prefer to go to hell. If any one thinks that I am trying to deceive him, let him come to the printing-office of La Sanción, No. 49, Morona St., and I will give him details and, at the same time, show him authentic documents, proving the truth of my assertions. Do not forget, see me before going to the Putumayo. I do this for the sake of humanity and to save many from crime. The Putumayo is a school of the most refined and barbarous crimes! Honest men! Avoid the Putumayo!
Benjamin Saldaña Rocca.
Translated from “La Felpa,” December 29, 1907.
The Indians of the Putumayo.
All the indigenous inhabitants of those selvas are of mild character, industrious, meek, hospitable, humble, and obedient. This assertion may seem untrue to more than one person, for we have always heard that the natives there are ferocious, indomitable, and even cannibals, but this is false and exaggerated.
The Indians are divided into nations, and each one of these has a chief, whom they denominate the capitán. They are enemies of polygamy, and both men and women are jealous in the extreme. The latter cultivate fields, while the men dedicate themselves to hunting, fishing, and rubber collection.
These poor people, “simple,” not cannibal, lived there happily until Arana and his brigands invaded them. Then began the Tantalus for all of them—men, women, children, and aged folk.
The chiefs of sections, such as the famous bandits, Norman, Agüero, the two Rodríguez brothers, and others, already known and enumerated, all impose upon each Indian the task of delivering to them 5 arrobas[111] of rubber every fabrico.[112] When the time comes to deliver the rubber, these unhappy victims appear with their loads upon their backs, accompanied by their women and children, who help them to carry the rubber. When they reach the section the rubber is weighed. They know by experience what the needle of the balance should mark, and when it indicates that they have delivered the full amount required, they leap about and laugh with pleasure. When it does not, they throw themselves face downwards on the ground and, in this attitude, await the lash, the bullet, or the machete. This is at the option of the chief of section, but they are generally given fifty lashes with scourges, until the flesh drops from their bodies in strips, or else are cut to pieces with machetes. This barbarous spectacle takes place before all the rest, among whom are their women and children.
When they deliver the full amount of rubber required from them, they are given a mouth-organ, worth 30 centavos[113], a coloured cotton handkerchief, worth 50 centavos, a few beads, or similar trash. This they receive with great pleasure, for, on the contrary, they are flogged or shot to death.