01 Amazon Adventure Read Free Page B

these skirts and shorts they are wearing?’ asked Hal.
    ‘They make them. But when they go to war they strip off their clothes and paint their bodies in bright colours.’
    Even in shirts and shorts, some of the men looked a bit wild. ‘They need haircuts,’ remarked Roger. Their hair was black, long and flowing, and decorated with toucan feathers.
    ‘In every Jivaro there are two persons,’ said Terry, ‘one civilized and the other a savage. And you never know which one you are going to meet. That’s what makes them interesting.’
    In the chiefs house, the walls of which were hung with blowguns, spears, bows and arrows, and the skins of magnificent tigres and panthers, they were served a strange lunch.
    ‘I never saw such large eggs,’ said Roger. ‘The chickens here must be giants.’
    ‘The chicken that laid those eggs,’ Terry told him, ‘was ten feet long and had teeth like a sausage grinder. You’re eating alligator’s eggs. How do you like them?’
    Roger made a wry face. ‘I liked them until you told me that.’
    ‘And what’s this steak?’ asked Hal. ‘Surely they don’t have cattle down here.’
    ‘That’s from the tail of an iguana. It’s an enormous lizard, five or six feet long, that is plentiful in these woods. You’ll probably want one of them for your collection. And that other meat that tastes like veal — it’s a slice of mountain lion. But never mind, you’ll eat stranger things than these before you get done with the Amazon.’
    ‘You’re right,’ said John Hunt who knew from former trips to the lower river what experiences the boys were in for. He ate heartily, but the boys were very easily satisfied. It would take them a little time to get used to Amazonian cookery. Their appetites were not improved by a glance at a grim row of heads on a high shelf. One head was perched alone over the door.
    ‘That one seems to have the place of honour,’ said John Hunt.
    The old chief did not understand the English words but he saw that his guest was talking about the head over the door. He spoke to Terry and Terry translated.
    ‘He says that’s his grandfather. You see, this preservation of heads isn’t quite as barbarous as most people suppose. Didn’t the Egyptians use to keep not only the heads but the entire bodies of their kings, mummified so that they would last? This is more or less the same idea. The chief says he was very fond of his grandfather and wants to keep him nearby always. It’s the Jivaro way of showing respect.’
    Hal objected, That’s all right for friends and relatives, but why do they preserve the heads of enemies? Surely that’s not to show respect.’
    ‘Yes it is,’ Terry insisted. ‘They believe that by keeping the head of a strong man they get his strength. They don’t bother to shrink the heads of weaklings — it’s a long, hard job and they don’t consider it worth while.’
    ‘Unless they are making them for sale as curiosities to tourists,’ put in John Hunt.
    ‘Yes. But it they are making them to keep in their own huts, they preserve only the heads of fine warriors.’
    Then we ought to feel honoured if they decide to tan and pickle us,’ said Roger.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ said Hal. They won’t mistake your bean for something wise and powerful.’
    ‘Oh, is that so?’ fumed Roger. ‘I bet they’ll take mine first.’
    ‘Have it that way if you prefer,’ said Hal.
    ‘I wonder if the chief would explain how they shrink these heads,’ John Hunt suggested. ‘It must be quite an art.’
    Terry passed on the question to the chief who nodded gravely and began to explain, Terry translating.
    ‘Everything must be done according to ceremony,’ said the chief, ‘otherwise the virtue of the hero is lost. The medicine man performs certain religious rites. That is to comfort the spirit of the dead man so that it will not be disturbed by
    what follows. We sew the lips together so that the spirit may not escape. Then we make a slit in