Odd People Part 13

The lungs of this animal present a peculiarity worthy of being noted.

They are very voluminous,--being sometimes three feet in length, and of such a porous and elastic nature as to be capable of immense extension.

When blown out, they present the appearance of great swimming bladders; and it is by means of this capacity for containing air that the manati is enabled to remain so long under water,--though, like the true _cetaceae_, it requires to come at intervals to the surface to obtain breath.

The flesh of the manati is eaten by all the tribes of Indians who can procure it,--though by some it is more highly esteemed than by others.

It was once much relished in the colonial settlements of Guiana and the West Indies, and formed a considerable article of commerce; but in these quarters manatis have grown scarce,--from the incessant persecution of the fishermen. The flesh has been deemed unwholesome by some, and apt to produce fevers; but this is not the general opinion. It has a greater resemblance to pork than beef,--though it be the flesh of a cow,--and is very savoury when fresh, though neither is it bad eating when salted or dried in the sun. In this way it will keep for several months; and it has always been a stock article with the monks of the South-American missions,--who, in spite of its mammiferous character, find it convenient, during the days of Lent, to regard it as a fis.h.!.+

The skin of the manati is of exceeding thickness,--on the back an inch and a half at least, though it becomes thinner as it approaches the under-parts of the body. It is cut into slips which serve various purposes, as for s.h.i.+elds, cordage, and whips. "These whips of manati leather," Bays Humboldt, "are a cruel instrument of punishment for the unhappy slaves, and even for the Indians of the missions, though, according to the laws, the latter ought to be treated as freemen."

Another valuable commodity obtained from this animal is oil, known in the missions as manati-b.u.t.ter (_manteca de manati_). This is produced by the layer of pure fat, of an inch and a half in thickness, which, lying immediately under the skin, envelops the whole body of the animal.

The oil is used for lamps in the mission churches; but among the Indians themselves it is also employed in the _cuisine_,--as it has not that fetid smell peculiar to the oil of whales and salt-water cetaceae.

The food of the manati is gra.s.s exclusively, which it finds on the banks of the lakes and rivers it frequents. Of this it will eat an enormous quant.i.ty; and its usual time of browsing is at night,--though this habit may have arisen from its observance of the fact, that night is the safest time to approach the sh.o.r.e. In those places, where is has been left undisturbed, it may be often seen browsing by day.

I have been thus particular in my account of this animal, because it is more nearly connected with the history of Ottomac habits than perhaps that of any other tribe of South-American Indians,--the Guamos alone excepted, who may themselves be regarded as merely a branch of the Ottomac family. Though, as already remarked, all the tribes who dwell upon manati rivers pursue this creature and feed upon its flesh, yet in no other part of South America is this species of fishery so extensively or so dexterously carried on as among the Ottomacs and Guamos,--the reason being, that, amidst the great gra.s.sy savannas which characterise the Ottomac country, there are numerous streams and lagoons that are the favourite haunts of this herbivorous animal. In one river in particular, so great a number are found that it has been distinguished by the appellation of the _Rio de Manatis_ (river of manatis). The manati, when undisturbed, is gregarious in its habits, going in troops (or "herds," if we preserve the a.n.a.logy) of greater or less numbers, and keeping the young "calves" in the centre, which the mothers guard with the tenderest affection. So attached are the parents to their young, that if the calf be taken, the mother can be easily approached; and the devotion is reciprocated on the filial side; since in cases where the mother has been captured and dragged ash.o.r.e, the young one has often been known to follow the lifeless body up to the very bank!

As the manati plays such an important part in the domestic economy of the Ottomacs, of course the capturing of this animal is carried on upon the grandest scale among these people, and, like the "harvest of turtle-eggs," hereafter to be described, the manati fishery has its particular _season_. Some writers have erroneously stated this season as being the period of inundation, and when the water is at its maximum height. This is quite contrary to the truth; since that period, both on the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, is just the time when all kinds of fis.h.i.+ng is difficult and precarious. Then is the true winter,--the "blue months" of the South-American river Indians; and it is then, as will presently be seen, that the Ottomac comes nearest the point of starvation,--which he approaches every year of his life.

There are manati and other kinds of fish taken at all times of the year; but the true season of the manati-fis.h.i.+ng is when the waters of the great flood have considerably subsided, and are still continuing to diminish rapidly. When the inundation is at its height, the manati pa.s.ses out of the channel current of the great river, and in search of gra.s.s it finds its way into the lakes and surrounding marshes, remaining there to browse along their banks. When the flood is rapidly pa.s.sing away from it, it begins to find itself a "little out of its element,"

and just then is the time when it is most easily captured.

Sometimes the Indians a.s.semble in a body with their canoes, forming a large fleet; and, proceeding to the best haunts of the "cow-fish," carry on the fishery in a wholesale manner. The monks of the missions also head the _tame_ tribes on these expeditions,--as they do when collecting the eggs of the turtle,--and a regular systematic course is carried on under the eye of discipline and authority. A camp is formed at some convenient place on the sh.o.r.e. Scaffolds are erected for sun-drying the flesh and skins; and vessels and other utensils brought upon the ground to render the fat into oil. The manatis that have been captured are all brought in the canoes to this central point, and delivered up to be "_flensed_," cured, and cooked. There is the usual a.s.semblage of small traders from Angostura and other ports on the lower Orinoco, who come to barter their Indian trinkets for the _manteca de manati_ in the same manner as it will presently be seen they trade for the _manteca de tortugas_. I need not add that this is a season of joy and festivity, like the wine-gatherings and harvest-homes of the European peasantry.

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 fishery, for no creature could be more harmless and inoffensive than this. It makes not the slightest attempt either at defence or retaliation,--though the accident sometimes occurs of a canoe being swamped or drawn under water,--but this is nothing to the Ottomac Indian, who is almost as amphibious as the manati itself.

At the proper hour the fisherman starts off in search of the manati.

His fis.h.i.+ng-boat is a canoe hollowed from a single trunk, of that kind usually styled a "dugout." On perceiving the cow-fish resting upon the surface of the water, the Ottomac paddles towards it, observing the greatest caution; for although the organs of sight and hearing in this animal are, externally, but very little developed, it both hears and sees well; and the slightest suspicious noise would be a signal for it to dive under, and of course escape.

When near enough to insure a good aim, the Ottomac hurls his harpoon into the animal's body; which, after piercing the thick hide, sticks fast. To this harpoon a cord is attached, with a float, and the float remaining above water indicates the direction in which the wounded animal now endeavours to get off. When it is tired of struggling, the Indian regains the cord; and taking it in, hand over hand, draws up his canoe to the side of the fish. If it be still too lively, he repeatedly strikes it with a spear; but he does not aim to kill it outright until he has got it "aboard." Once there, he ends the creature's existence by driving a wooden plug into its nostrils, which in a moment deprives it of life.

The Ottomac now prepares himself to transport the carca.s.s to his home; or, if fis.h.i.+ng in company, to the common rendezvous. Perhaps he has some distance to take it, and against a current; and he finds it inconvenient to tow such a heavy and c.u.mbrous article. To remedy this inconvenience, he adopts the expedient already mentioned, of placing the carca.s.s in his canoe. But how does he get it there? How can a single Indian of ordinary strength raise a weight of a thousand pounds out of the water, and lift it over the gunwale of his unsteady craft? It is in this that he exhibits great cunning and address: for instead of raising the carca.s.s above the canoe, he sinks the canoe below the carca.s.s, by first filling the vessel nearly full of water; and then, after he has got his freight aboard, he bales out the water with his gourd-sh.e.l.l. He at length succeeds in adjusting his load, and then paddles homeward with his prize.

On arriving at his village,--if it be to the village he takes it,--he is a.s.sisted in transporting the load by others of his tribe; but he does not carry it to his own house,--for the Ottomacs are true socialists, and the produce both of the chase and the fishery is the common property of all. The chief of the village, seated in front of his hut, receives all that is brought home, and distributes it out to the various heads of families,--giving to each in proportion to the number of mouths that are to be fed.

The manati is flayed,--its thick hide, as already observed, serving for many useful purposes; the strata of fat, or "blubber," which lies beneath is removed, to be converted into oil; and finally, the flesh, which is esteemed equal to pork, both in delicacy and flavour, is cut into thin slices, either to be broiled and eaten at the time, or to be preserved for a future occasion, not by salt, of which the Ottomac is entirely ignorant, but by drying in the sun and smoking over a slow fire. Fish and the flesh of the alligator are similarly "cured;" and when the process is carefully done, both will keep for months.

The alligator is captured in various ways: sometimes by a baited hook with a strong cord attached,--sometimes he is killed by a stab of the harpoon spear, and not unfrequently is he taken by a noose slipped over his paw, the Ottomac diving fearlessly under him and adjusting the snare.

Some of the Indian tribes will not eat the musky flesh of the alligator; but the Ottomacs are not thus particular. Indeed, these people refuse scarce any article of food, however nasty or disagreeable; and it is a saying among their neighbours--the Indians of other tribes--that "nothing is too loathsome for the stomach of an Ottomac."

Perhaps the saying will be considered as perfectly true when we come to describe a species of food which these people eat, and which, for a long time, has rendered them famous--or rather infamous--under the appellation of "dirt-eaters." Of them it may literally be said that they "eat dirt," for such, in reality, is one of their customs.

This singular practice is chiefly resorted to during those months in the year when the rivers swell to their greatest height, and continue full.

At this time all fis.h.i.+ng ceases, and the Ottomac finds it difficult to obtain a sufficiency of food. To make up for the deficiency, he fills his stomach with a kind of unctuous clay, which he has already stored up for the emergency, and of which he eats about a pound per diem! It does not const.i.tute his sole diet, but often for several days together it is the only food which pa.s.ses his lips! There is nothing nouris.h.i.+ng in it,--that has been proved by a.n.a.lysis. It merely _fills_ the belly,-- producing a satiety, or, at least, giving some sort of relief from the pangs of hunger. Nor has it been observed that the Ottomac grows thin or unhealthy on this unnatural viand: on the contrary, he is one of the most robust and healthy of American Indians.

The earth which the Ottomac eats goes by the name of _poya_. He does not eat clay of every kind: only a peculiar sort which he finds upon the banks of streams. It is soft and smooth to the touch, and unctuous, like putty. In its natural state it is of a yellowish-grey colour; but, when hardened before the fire, it a.s.sumes a tinge of red, owing to the oxide of iron which is in it.

It was for a long time believed that the Ottomac mixed this clay with ca.s.sava and turtle-oil, or some other sort of nutritive substance. Even Father Gumilla--who was credulous enough to believe almost anything-- could not "swallow" the story of the clay in its natural state, but believed that it was prepared with some combination of farinha or fat.

This, however, is not the case. It is a pure earth, containing (according to the a.n.a.lysis of Vauquelin) silex and alumina, with three or four per cent of lime!

This clay the Ottomac stores up, forming it into b.a.l.l.s of several inches in diameter; which; being slightly hardened before the fire, he builds into little pyramids, just as cannon-b.a.l.l.s are piled in an a.r.s.enal or fortress. When the Ottomac wishes to eat of the _poya_, he softens one of the b.a.l.l.s by wetting it; and then, sc.r.a.ping off as much as he may require for his meal, returns the _poya_ to its place on the pyramid.

The dirt-eating does not entirely end with the falling of the waters.

The practice has begot a craving for it; and the Ottomac is not contented without a little _poya_, even when more nutritious food may be obtained in abundance.

This habit of eating earth is not exclusively Ottomac. Other kindred tribes indulge in it, though not to so great an extent; and we find the same unnatural practice among the savages of New Caledonia and the Indian archipelago. It is also common on the west coast of Africa.

Humboldt believed it to be exclusively a tropical habit. In this the great philosopher was in error, since it is known to be practised by some tribes of northern Indians on the frigid banks of the Mackenzie River.

When the floods subside, as already stated, the Ottomac lives better.

Then he can obtain both fish and turtles in abundance. The former he captures, both with hooks and nets, or shoots with his arrows, when they rise near the surface.

The turtles of the Ottomac rivers are of two kinds the _arau_ and _terecay_. The former is the one most sought after, as being by far the largest. It is nearly a yard across the back, and weighs from fifty to a hundred pounds. It is a shy creature, and would be difficult to capture, were it not for a habit it has of raising its head above the surface of the water, and thus exposing the soft part of its throat to the Indian's arrow. Even then an arrow might fail to kill it; but the Ottomac takes care to have the point well coated with _curare_ poison, which in a few seconds does its work, and secures the death of the victim.

The _terecay_ is taken in a different and still more ingenious manner.

This species, floating along the surface, or even when lying still, presents no mark at which a shaft can be aimed with the slightest chance of success. The sharpest arrow would glance off its flat sh.e.l.ly back as from a surface of steel. In order, therefore, to reach the vitals of his victim, the Indian adopts an expedient, in which he exhibits a dexterity and skill that are truly remarkable.

He aims his shaft, not at the turtle, but up into the air, describing by its course a parabolic curve, and so calculating its velocity and direction that it will drop perpendicularly, point foremost, upon the back of the unsuspecting swimmer, and pierce through the sh.e.l.l right into the vital veins of its body!

It is rare that an Indian will fail in hitting such a mark; and, both on the Orinoco and Amazon, thousands of turtles are obtained in this manner.

The great season of Ottomac festivity and rejoicing, however, is that of the _cosecha de tortugas_, or "turtle-crop." As has been already observed, in relation to the manati fishery, it is to him what the harvest-home is to the nations of northern Europe, or the wine-gathering to those of the south; for this is more truly the character of the _cosecha_. It is then that he is enabled, not only to procure a supply of turtle-oil with which to lubricate his hair and skin, but he obtains enough of this delicious grease wherewith to fry his dried slices of manati and a surplus for sale to the turtle-traders from the Lower Orinoco. In this petty commerce no coin is required; harpoon spears, and arrow-heads of iron, rude knives, and hatchets; but, above all, a few cakes of _annotto_, _chica_, and _caruto_, are bartered in exchange for the turtle-oil. The thick hide of the manati,--for making slave-whips,--the spotted skin of the jaguar, and some other pelts which the chase produces, are also items of his export trade.

The pigments above mentioned have already been procured by the trader, as the _export_ articles of commerce of some other tribe.

The turtle-oil is the product of the eggs of the larger species,--the _arau_,--known simply by the name _tortuga_, or turtle. The eggs of the _terecay_ would serve equally as well; but, from a difference in the habit of this animal, its eggs cannot be obtained in sufficient quant.i.ty for oil-making. There is no such thing as a grand "cosecha," or crop of them--for the creature is not gregarious, like its congener, but each female makes her nest apart from the others, in some solitary place, and there brings forth her young brood. Not but that the nests of the _terecay_ are also found and despoiled of their eggs,--but this only occurs at intervals; and as the contents of a single nest would not be sufficient for a "churning," no "b.u.t.ter" can be made of them. They are, therefore, gathered to be used only as _eggs_, and not as _b.u.t.ter_.

The _arau_, on the other hand, although not gregarious under ordinary circ.u.mstances, becomes pre-eminently so during the "laying season."

Then all the turtles in the Orinoco and its tributaries collect into three or four vast gangs--numbering in all over a million of individuals--and proceed to certain points of rendezvous which they have been in the habit of visiting from time immemorial. These common breeding-places are situated between the cataracts of the river and the great bend, where it meets the Apure; and are simply broad beaches of sand, rising with a gentle slope from the edge of the water, and extending for miles along the bank. There are some small rookeries on tributary streams, but the three most noted are upon the sh.o.r.es of the main river, between the points already indicated. That frequented by the Ottomacs is upon an island, at the mouth of the Uruana River, upon which these people princ.i.p.ally dwell.

The laying season of the _arau_ turtle varies in the different rivers of tropical America,--occurring in the Amazon and its tributaries at a different period from that of the Orinoco. It is regulated by the rise, or rather the fall of the inundations; and takes place when the waters, at their lowest stage, have laid bare the low sand-banks upon the sh.o.r.es. This occurs (in the Orinoco) in March, and early in this month the great a.s.semblages are complete. For weeks before, the turtles are seen, in all parts of the river near the intended breeding-places, swimming about on the surface, or basking along the banks. As the sun grows stronger, the desire of depositing their eggs increases,--as though the heat had something to do with their fecundation. For some time before the final action, the creatures may be seen ranged in a long line in front of the breeding-place, with their heads and necks held high above the water; as if contemplating their intended nursery, and calculating the dangers to which they may be exposed. It is not without reason that they may dwell upon these. Along the beach stalks the lordly jaguar, waiting to make a meal of the first that may set his foot on terra firma, or to fill his stomach with the delicious "new-laid"

eggs. The ugly alligator, too, is equally _friand_ of a gigantic omelette; and not less so the "garzas" (white cranes), and the "zamuros"

(black vultures), who hover in hundreds in the air. Here and there, too, may be observed an Indian sentinel, keeping as much as possible out of sight of the turtles themselves, but endeavouring to drive off all other enemies whose presence may give them fear. Should a canoe or boat appear upon the river, it is warned by these sentinels to keep well off from the phalanx of the turtles,--lest these should be disturbed or alarmed,--for the Indian well knows that if anything should occur to produce a panic among the araus, his _cosecha_ would be very much shortened thereby.

When at length the turtles have had sun enough to warm them to the work, they crawl out upon the dry sand-beach, and the laying commences. It is at night that the operation is carried on: for then their numerous enemies--especially the vultures--are less active. Each turtle scoops out a hole, of nearly a yard in diameter and depth; and having therein deposited from fifty to one hundred eggs, it covers them up with the sand, smoothing the surface, and treading it firmly down. Sometimes the individuals are so crowded as to lay in one another's nests, breaking many of the eggs, and causing an inextricable confusion; while the creaking noise of their sh.e.l.ls rubbing against each other may be heard afar off, like the rus.h.i.+ng of a cataract. Sometimes a number that have arrived late, or have been slow at their work, continue engaged in it till after daybreak, and even after the Indians have come upon the ground--whose presence they no longer regard. Impelled by the instinct of philo-progenitiveness, these "mad turtles," as the Indians call them, appear utterly regardless of danger, and make no effort to escape from it; but are turned over on their backs, or killed upon the spot without difficulty.

The beach being now deserted by the turtles, the egg-gatherers proceed to their work. As there are usually several tribes, who claim a share in the _cosecha_, the ground is measured out, and part.i.tioned among them. The regularity with which the nests are placed, and the number of eggs in each being pretty nearly the same, an average estimate of the quant.i.ty under a given surface is easily made. By means of a pointed stick thrust into the sand, the outline of the deposit is ascertained-- usually running along the beach in a strip of about thirty yards in breadth.

When the allotments are determined, the work of oil-making begins,--each tribe working by itself, and upon the social system. The covering of sand is removed, and the eggs placed in baskets, which are then emptied into large wooden troughs, as a common receptacle. The canoes, drawn up on the sand, are frequently made to do duty as troughs. When a sufficient number of eggs have been thrown in, they are broken and pounded together, and whipped about, as if intended for a gigantic omelette. Water is added; and then the mixture is put into large caldrons, and boiled until the oil comes to the top; after which it is carefully skimmed off and poured into earthen jars ("botigas,") provided by the traders.

It takes about two weeks to complete the operations, during which time many curious scenes occur. The sand swarms with young turtles about as big as a dollar, which have been prematurely hatched; and have contrived to crawl out of the sh.e.l.l. These are chased in all directions, and captured by the little naked Ottomacs, who devour them "body, bones, and all," with as much gusto as if they were gooseberries. The cranes and vultures, and young alligators too, take a part in this by-play--for the offspring of the poor arau has no end of enemies.

When the oil is all boiled and bottled, the trader displays his tempting wares, and makes the best market he can; and the savage returns to his palm-hut village,--taking with him the articles of exchange and a few baskets of eggs, which he has reserved for his own eating; and so ends the _cosecha de tortugas_.

It is in this season that the Ottomac indulges most in good living, and eats the smallest quant.i.ty of dirt. The waters afford him abundance of fish and turtle-flesh, beef from the sea-cow, and steaks from the tail of the alligator. He has his turtle and manati-b.u.t.ter, in which to fry all these dainties, and also to lubricate his hair and skin.

He can dress, too, "within an inch of his life," having obtained for his oil a fresh supply of the precious pigments. He indulges, moreover, in fits of intoxication, caused by a beverage made from maize or manioc root; but oftener produced by a species of snuff which he inhales into his nostrils. This is the _niopo_, manufactured from the leaves of a _mimosa_, and mixed with a kind of lime, which last is obtained by burning a sh.e.l.l of the genus _helix_, that is found in the waters of the Orinoco. The effect of the _niopo_ resembles that produced by chewing _betel_, tobacco, opium, or the narcotic _coca_ of Peru. When freely taken, a species of intoxication or rather mania is produced; but this snuff and its effects are more minutely described elsewhere. It is here introduced because, in the case of the Ottomac, the drug often produces most baneful consequences. During the continuance of his intoxication the Ottomac is quarrelsome and disorderly. He picks a hole in the coat of his neighbour; but if there chance to be any "old sore" between him and a rival, the vindictive feeling is sure to exhibit itself on these occasions; and not unfrequently ends in an encounter, causing the death of one or both of the combatants. These duels are not fought either with swords or pistols, knives, clubs, nor any similar weapons. The destruction of the victim is brought about in a very different manner; and is the result of a very slight scratch which he has received during the fight from the _nail_ of his antagonist. That a wound of so trifling a nature should prove mortal would be something _very_ mysterious, did we not know that the nail which inflicted that scratch has been already enfiltrated with _curare_,--one of the deadliest of vegetable poisons, which the Ottomac understands how to prepare in its most potent and virulent form.

Should it ever be your unfortunate fate therefore, to get into a "scrimmage" with an Ottomac Indian, you must remember to keep clear of his "claws!"