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The National Geographic Magazine 



tempted to talk with us dressed in this 

 fashion. Another girl, without the 

 slightest suspicion in her manner of 

 any impropriety in the act, removed the 

 shirt she was wearing in order to ex- 

 change it for one made of cloth offered 

 to her by a member of our party. The 

 Garden of Eden still lingers here. These ■ 

 Amazonian Eves have evidently never 

 heard of The Fall. Like other people, 

 however, they take pride in dress. 

 Jewelry also is worn, made of the teeth 

 of monkeys or of pretty shells. Nose 

 ornaments are worn, which no doubt 

 add some charm for Chuncho eyes, but 

 which are decidedly inconvenient when 

 eating. 



Insects are a great pest, even to these 

 hardy children of the forest, who slip 

 into the water frequently to be free 

 from their stings and to cool them- 

 selves. Men and women, boys and 

 girls, threw themselves into the water, 

 unmindful of our presence, and swam 

 about in unencumbered grace. 



Food is abundant with them — plan- 

 tains and yuccas, as well as game and 

 fish. The weapons of war and those of 

 the chase are much alike, consisting of 

 bows, spears, and arrows, all made of 

 an extremely hard variety of palm. 

 With these they wage war on un- 

 friendly neighboring tribes, and also 

 hunt the tapir, deer, monkeys, wild 

 turkeys, and fish. They roast the flesh 

 of animals and fish, either by placing it 

 directly in the fire or first inclosing it 

 in hollow pieces of cane or bamboo. 

 The heads of monkeys and of the larger 

 kinds of fish seem to be regarded as 

 dainties, and are simply placed in the 

 fire and roasted or burned to the proper 

 point. Monkey meat, when properly 

 cooked, is palatable enough ; but the 

 appearance and manner of a large 

 monkey is so human that when roasted 

 and served whole it gives a cannibal 

 air to the meat somewhat disagreeable 

 to me. No such thought, however, 

 comes to the Chuncho. 



They have a curious combination of 

 rather bright and "taking" ways and 



of low and filthy habits. Their con- 

 tinual bathing renders them free from 

 personal unpleasantness, though it is 

 doubtful if they enter the water with 

 any idea of cleanliness. Their sense of 

 humor is as quick as that of an Irish- 

 man. With no idea of our language, 

 they seemed to catch a joke at once and 

 were frequently laughing. This is in 

 great contrast with the Indians of the 

 Peruvian Plateau, who are slow in 

 thought and movement and seldom 

 laugh, at least in the presence of 

 strangers. Many of the Chunchos 

 whom we met apparently saw white 

 men for the first time. Certainly no 

 one of them had ever seen a bald man. 

 One of our party was decidedly bald, 

 and when he removed his hat a look of 

 surprise and amusement passed over 

 the faces of the whole group, accom- 

 panied by sly, if expressive, remarks. 

 Freedom from the use of hats may ac- 

 count for the absence of baldness 

 among them. It is an interesting fact, 

 however, that among the different 

 groups which we met, no person, man 

 or woman, appeared to me over forty 

 years of age. What became of the aged 

 I could not learn. 



I have never seen a more interesting 

 affair than a luncheon which a party of 

 Chunchos took with us on our way 

 down the Tambopata. Our limited 

 stores of provisions contained marvel- 

 ous novelties for them. Sugar was 

 quite unknown to them. Each took 

 some in the palm of his hand and tasted 

 it slowly and cautiously; then a smile 

 of satisfaction lighted up his face, and 

 the sugar disappeared. Men and wo- 

 men, impelled by curiosity, mingled 

 freely and frankly among us, and al- 

 though among themselves the women 

 are probably accustomed to eat after 

 the men, with us they all came together 

 in apparent equality. For pickles they 

 expressed great disgust. Tea was taken 

 with indifference or contempt, but co- 

 coa with plenty of sugar pleased them 

 extremely. A little confectionery, in 

 the form of rather solid balls, was eaten 



