lender arrow through the panel of a door.]

The Zaparos in physiognomy somewhat resemble the Chinese, having a
middle stature, round face, small eyes set angularly, and a broad, flat
nose. Their language is of simple construction, but nasal and guttural.
They have no words for numbers above three, but show their fingers;
above ten they know nothing. They take to themselves single names, not
double. They reckon time by moons and the ripening of certain fruits.
Their name for God is Piatzo, but we could not learn that it conveyed
any distinct idea. They believe the evil spirit, "Mungia," is a black
spectre dwelling in the woods. They think the souls of the good and
brave enter beautiful birds and feed on delicious fruits, while cowardly
souls become dirty reptiles. Polygamy is common. They bury in the
sitting posture, with the hammock of the deceased wrapped around him.
The very old men are buried with the mouth downward. They make use of a
narcotic drink called _Ayahuasca_, which produces effects similar to
those of opium. The Zaparos are pacific and hospitable, but there is
little social life among them; they never cluster into large villages,
but inhabit isolated ranchos. Nomadic in their habits, they wander along
the banks of the Napo, between the Andes and the Maranon. They
manufacture, from the twisted fibre of the chambiri-palm,[104] most of
the twine and hammocks seen in Eastern Ecuador. Their government is
patriarchal.

[Footnote 104: This thorny palm is called _tucum_ in Brazil. The fibres
of the budding top are used. A woman will twist a hundred yards of twine
a day, and make a living by selling hammocks for twenty-five cents a
piece.]

The Jivaros, or "Red Indians" _par excellence_, are the most numerous
and the most spirited of the oriental tribes. They are brave and
resentful, yet hospitable and industrious. While the Napos and Zaparos
live in rude, often temporary huts of split bamboo, the warlike Jivaros
erect houses of hard wood with strong doors. Blood relations live
together on the communal principle, the women keeping the rear half of
the house, which is divided by a partition. Many Jivaros approach the
Caucasian type, the beard and lighter skin hinting a percentage of
Spanish blood; for this tribe was never conquered by the Incas, nor did
it brook Spanish avarice and cruelty, but in one terrible conflict
(1599) the intruder was swept out of existence. The wives of the El
Dorado adventurers spent th