246 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



from fishing and the chase in tilling the land and manufacturing diverse useful 

 objects. 



They dwell in large houses where each family has its separate " suite " ; but 

 those addicted to polygamy live apart, some even keeping their women in jealous 

 seclusion, after the Eastern fashion. The warriors practise a kind of telephonic 

 art by means of the tundili (drum), whose rattle reverberates from hill to hill. 

 They show remarkable skill in preserving the skin of the enemy's head, which is 

 shrunk by a drying process without undergoing any modification of form. As 

 men of honour, they allow their hair to grow in long tresses, in order to enable 

 the foe the more easily to seize and strike off the highly-prized trophy of their 

 heads. 



All ailments and accidents are attributed to magic, to the influence of the evil 

 eye, to the charms of some wizard disguised as a snake or jaguar, to the dart of 

 some invisible agency. On the least suspicion, the head of the family throws 

 himself into a state of frenzy by drinking the juice of a narcotic plant, and devotes 

 to death whoever has been revealed in his vision as the author of the evil. Prepara- 

 tions are at once made to compass his destruction ; no rest is known till the fancied 

 injury is avenged, and the vendetta is thus transmitted from family to family, 

 from tribe to tribe. 



Those aborigines of the lower Napo who have preserved their independence, 

 while keeping up peaceful relations with the virwochm (" whites "), belong for 

 the most part to the Zaparo and Pioje nations. The Zaparos, or " Panniers," so 

 called from the waterproof hampers they make of wickered lianas, speak a stock 

 lano-uao-e noted for its harsh, ^uttural sounds. Divided iiito " two hundred " 

 hostile groups, they live in a constant state of inter-tribal feud, kidnapping their 

 neighbours' women and children, pursuing and " bagging " each other like so 

 much game. Bloodshed is their delight, and they are overjoyed at the prospect 

 of a battle. They often kill their sick, either to get rid of useless mouths or 

 through sheer love of cruelty. 



Lower down the Napo dwell the Piojes, akin to the Piojes of the Putumayo 

 basin, a much less warlike people than the Zaparos, and noted for their indus- 

 trious habits. Excellent agriculturists, they devote the day to tillage, and often 

 pass the night weaving and knitting hammocks keeping themselves awake with 

 a decoction of ijoco, a plant rich in caffeine. All these independent groups — 

 Jivaros, Zaparos, Piojes — present in their manly bearing a marked contrast to 

 the servile Napos and Quijos (Cimelos), who live in settlements about the missions 

 of the upper Napo region subject to the whites. 



The mestizoes, who, however, have but a slight strain of Spanish blood, and 

 who constitute the bulk of the inhabitants of Ecuador, appear to have preserved 

 the character, habits and genius of their Quichua ancestry. Accustomed to 

 dread the violence and oppression of their Inca and Spanish rulers, they still 

 crino-e before the white man, mistrusting even those who treat them with kindness. 

 They never decline service, and are always full of promises, and seek by a 

 thousand subterfuges to shirk work and deceive their masters. Their courtesy. 



