Wednesday 1 September 2010

Another Ishi?





I stumbled on this story, written by Monte Reel on Slate.com, a few days ago and I suppose it goes some way to answering the question:


What would happen to Ishi today? 

A few Brazilians first heard of the lone Indian in 1996, when loggers in the western state of Rondônia began spreading a rumor: A wild man was in the forest, and he seemed to be alone.


Government field agents specializing in isolated tribes soon found one of his huts—a tiny shelter of palm thatch, with a mysterious hole dug in the center of the floor. As they continued to search for whoever had built that hut, they discovered that the man was on the run, moving from shelter to shelter, abandoning each hut as soon as loggers—or the agents—got close.


No other tribes in the region were known to live like he did, digging holes inside of huts—more than five feet deep, rectangular, serving no apparent purpose. He didn't seem to be a stray castaway from a documented tribe.


Eventually, the agents found the man. He was unclothed, appeared to be in his mid-30s (he's now in his late 40s, give or take a few years), and always armed with a bow-and-arrow. Their encounters fell into a well-worn pattern: tense standoffs, ending in frustration or tragedy. On one occasion, the Indian delivered a clear message to one agent who pushed the attempts at contact too far: an arrow to the chest.


Peaceful contact proved elusive, but those encounters helped the agents stitch together a profile of a man with a calamitous past. In one jungle clearing they found the bulldozed ruins of several huts, each featuring the exact same kind of hole—14 in all—that the lone Indian customarily dug inside his dwellings. They concluded that it had been the site of his village, and that it had been destroyed by land-hungry settlers in early 1996.

You can read the story: The Most Isolated Man On Earth. Here

I’m not sure what to make of this, in wishing to catch a glimpse of this disappearing world we’d destroy it, in leaving it alone we’d leave it for others to destroy. Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers
SBW

Vintage Firearms - Tactical Ring Pistol



At the Ex Mrs SBW's for the next few days, hanging out with the rugrat's, while they're watching 'Horrible Histories' I took the opportunity to scan the catalogue for Holts next auction of historic and sporting arms. Found this little terror, basically a finger mounted, multi-shot mini-cannon!

A RARE 4mm PINFIRE SIX-SHOT RING PISTOL, MODEL 'LE PETIT PROTECTOR',
circa 1865, comprising of a small hand-rotated blued cylinder attached to a nickel-silver ring, the ring engraved with 'LE PETIT PROTECTOR' around the circumference together with two bands of floral engraving, concealed, manually cocked hammer and trigger, the whole in fine condition retaining nearly all its original finish TOGETHER WITH a flip-top jewellery-style blue leatherette covered box, an inlaid white metal plaque to the top of the lid engraved 'LE PETIT PROTECTOR', the inside lined in off-white satin and maroon velvet, compartmented in the continental style with locations for the pistol, six rounds of ammunition (missing), and a small blued turn-screw. 
Estimate £2,000-3,000 Sale A1045 Lot 727 

More soon
Your pal
SBW