The Putumayo : the devil's paradise, travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an account of the atrocities committed upon the Indians therein . other, bands of armed men are constantlyorganised for sudden descents upon groups or com-munities of the savages, no matter whether theyarc friendly or hostile, making them prisoners inthe midst of extermination and blood. Urged onby the profit resulting from the sale of boys, robustyouths, and young women (frescas mujeres)^ they,tear children from mothers and wives fromhusbands without pity, and pass them from handto hand as slaves. It were well to t
The Putumayo : the devil's paradise, travels in the Peruvian Amazon Region and an account of the atrocities committed upon the Indians therein . other, bands of armed men are constantlyorganised for sudden descents upon groups or com-munities of the savages, no matter whether theyarc friendly or hostile, making them prisoners inthe midst of extermination and blood. Urged onby the profit resulting from the sale of boys, robustyouths, and young women (frescas mujeres)^ they,tear children from mothers and wives fromhusbands without pity, and pass them from handto hand as slaves. It were well to take the savagesfrom their forests to use their labour and tocultivate their intelligence, but not for businesspurposes to make them victims of the knife andthe lash. Thus the Press of the country itself shows thatthese things are done, not only with the connivanceof the authorities but are *organised by theauthorities themselves. The expected improve-ments mentioned above took place very slowly, andin some cases not at all. To replace one Com-missioner by another is insufficient. All are equally* Name given to the Indians. f Slave o J < 5 N »*< ^ < <i; ^ ^ U < Ui u J< • fc & P O rt « ,^ W 3 d, •a^ XI o w 5 a: A .- H J2 « 0) INTRODUCTION 25 venal or influenced, and King Log does but giveplace to King Stork. Barbarities committed by therubber-merchants upon the Indians of the Ucayaliand Marafion were brought to the knowledge ofthe Peruvian Government in 1903 and 1906 byRoman Catholic missionaries established there andpublished by the Minister of Justice.* After extensive journeys in the interior of Peru,upon returning to the capital, the present writerwrote various articles, which were published in thePress of Lima and Arequipa, drawing attention tothe miserable condition of life of the labouringIndian class. Among these evils is abuse by pettyauthorities and estate-owners, who employ theIndians and fail to pay them their agreed wages orpa}- them
Size: 1362px × 1835px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectrubber, bookyear1913
