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Alexander von Humboldt: „Account of the Ottomacs, a People who eat Clay“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1807-Ueber_die_erdefressenden-12-neu> [abgerufen am 25.04.2024].
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| Titel | Account of the Ottomacs, a People who eat Clay | ||||
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| Jahr | 1810 | ||||
| Ort | Edinburgh | ||||
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Nachweis in: The Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal 6 (1. Juli 1810), S. 316–319.
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung; Fußnoten mit Asterisken und Kreuzen; Schmuck: Initialen, Kapitälchen. | ||||
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|316|
O
n the coasts of Cumana, of new Barcelona, and of Caraccas,visited by the Franciscan monks of Guayana in returningfrom their missions, there was a tradition prevalent, that tribesinhabiting the banks of the Orinoco eat earth.
On the 6th of June 1800, when, on our return from Rio Negro,we came down the Orinoco, where we had remained thirty-sixdays; we spent a day in a mission inhabited by the Ottomacs, whoeat earth. The village called La Concepcion of Uruana, is situ-ated, in a very picturesque manner, upon the declivity of a rockof granite. Its latitude I determined to be 7° 8′ 3″ north,and its longitude 4° 38′ 38″ west of Paris. The earth whichthe Ottomacs eat is a fat and unctuous clay, a real potter’searth, of a greyish-yellow tint, coloured by a little oxide ofiron. They select it with much care, and gather it on particu-lar banks on the sides of the Orinoco, and of the Meta. Theydistinguish, by the taste, one kind of earth from another, forall kinds of clay are not equally agreeable to their palates. Theyknead this earth into balls, of from four to six inches in diame-ter, and bake it at a slow fire, till its outer surface becomes red-dish. Before they eat these balls, they moisten them anew.These Ottomacs are for the most part a very savage race,and have an aversion to improvement. The nations of theOrinoco, that are farthest from that canton, say proverbially,when they wish to speak of any thing very filthy, “It is dis-gusting enough for an Ottomac to eat it.” When the watersof the Orinoco and Meta are low, the Ottomacs support them-selves on fish and tortoises. When the fish appear at the sur-face of the water, they kill them by means of darts, with a dex-terity which we have often admired. When the rivers experi-ence their periodical overflow, the fishing ceases; for it is asdifficult to fish in rivers become too deep, as in the open sea.
* Tableaux de la Nature, par A. de Humboldt, 2 vol. 12mo. Paris, 1808.vol. i. p. 191.For an account of the practice of eating clay among some tribes of Africans,the reader may consult Mr William Hunter’s Essay on the Diseases incident toIndian seamen, or Lascars, on long voyages, Appendix, No. X. and the severalauthorities referred to by him.|317| During this inundation, which lasts two or three months, theOttomacs swallow prodigious quantities of earth. We havefound in their huts immense stores of it, heaped up in pyramids.Each individual consumes daily three-fourths or four-fifths of apound of earth, according to the account which Fray RamonBueno, a very intelligent monk, a native of Madrid, who haslived twelve years among these Indians, gave us. The Ottomacsthemselves say, that, in the rainy season, this earth is theirprincipal food. In addition, they eat little fishes, lizards, andfern-roots, when they can procure them. They are so fond ofthis earth, that every day they eat a little of it after their repast,to regale themselves, even in the dry seasons, and when theyhave abundance of fish. These people are of a very dark cop-per colour. Their features are as ugly as those of the Tartars.They are fat, but they have not a large belly. The missionarywho resides among them, assured us, that he has remarked nodifference in the health of these savages, during the time thatthey eat this earth. Such is the simple narration of facts. The Indians eat greatquantities of earth, without their health suffering from it. Theyconsider it as a nourishing kind of food; that is to say, theyfind that this food satisfies them for some time. They attributethis satiety to the earth, and not to the other very bad articlesof diet which they are enabled to add to it. If they are askedwhat is their provision in winter, the season, which in the warmparts of South America is called the rainy-season, they pointout the heaps of earth piled up in their huts. But these partialfacts do not decide the following questions. Can earth, in real-ity, be a nutritive substance? Can earth assimilate itself to ournature? Or is it but a load upon the stomach? Does it notserve only to keep its sides distended, and in this manner con-tribute to alleviate hunger? It is very singular, that Father Gu-mila, in other respects so credulous, and whose work is so void ofsound criticism, should absolutely deny that the Indians eat earth.* He pretends that the balls of clay are mixed with the flour ofIndian corn and the fat of the crocodile. But the missionaryFray Ramon Bueno, and brother Fray Juan Gonzales, ourfriend and travelling companion, whom the sea on the coast of Africa swallowed up along with a part of our collections, bothassured us that the Ottomacs do not mix this earth with thefat of the crocodile. At Uruana we never heard a word about
* History of the Orinoco, vol. i. p. 283.|318| the mixture of flour. The earth which we brought home withus, and which Vauquelin analyzed, was pure, and without anymixture. May not Gumila, confounding strange facts, havewished to allude to the bread which is prepared with the longpods of a species of inga? This fruit is buried in the earth,that it may ferment the sooner. But what surprises me more is, that the use of so great aquantity of earth does not occasion any disease among the Otto-macs. Has this colony been habituated to this kind of food formany generations? In all the countries of the torrid zone, menhave an astonishing, and almost irresistible desire of eating earth;not an alkaline or calcareous earth to neutralize the acid juices,but a clay which is very fat, and of which the odour is verystrong. They are often obliged to tie children, to hinder themfrom going out and eating the earth when the rains have ceased.At the village of Banco, on the banks of the river Magdalena,the native women, who make earthen pots, put large pieces ofclay into their mouth, as I have often seen with surprise. * The other tribes of America never fail to become diseased whenthey give themselves up to the singular desire of eating earth.In the mission of San Borgia, we saw a child, who, accordingto what its mother told us, would not eat any thing but earth,which diet had made it as lean as a skeleton. Whence is it,that, in the cold and temperate zones, the desire of eating earthis so rare, and exists only among children and pregnant wo-men? It may be asserted, that, in all the regions of the tor-rid zone, this desire for earth has been observed. In Guinea,the negroes eat a yellowish earth which they call caouac. Theslaves which are brought into America, endeavour to procurea similar gratification; but it is always to the detriment of theirhealth. “Another very general cause of the mal d’estomac,” says amodern traveller, “is, that many of the slaves who come fromGuinea eat earth. This does not arise from a depraved taste;it is a custom contracted in their own country, where they saythat they habitually eat a certain kind of earth, the taste ofwhich pleases them, and which does not hurt them. Theysearch among us for earth most resembling it. That which theyprefer is a reddish yellow tufa, very common in our islands.This they even sell secretly in our public markets, under the
* Gily has made the same remark, Saggio di Storia dell’ America, t. ii. p. 311.In winter, the wolves eat earth, but, above all, clay. In general it would be inte-resting to analyze the feces of man, and all those animals who eat earth.|319| name of caouac. * (M. Thibaut was at Martinique in the year1751.) Those who are accustomed to the use of it are so fondof it, that no chastisement can prevent them from eating it.” In the villages of the isle of Java, between Sourabaya andSamarang, M. La Billardière saw little square reddish cakes ex-posed to sale. The natives call them tanaampo. Upon examin-ing them more narrowly, they were found to be cakes of reddishearth, which they eat. † The inhabitants of New Caledonia,eat, to satisfy their hunger, pieces as large as the fist, of friable lapis ollaris. M. Vauquelin, upon analyzing it, found in it a considerablequantity of copper. ‡ At Popayan, and in many parts of Pe-ru, the inhabitants purchase at the market calcareous earth, withother commodities. In using it, they mix with it the cocca, orthe leaves of the erythroxilon peruvianum. Thus we find, thatthis taste for eating earth, which it would seem that nature oughtto have reserved to the inhabitants of the ungrateful regions ofthe north, extends through all the torrid zone, among the indo-lent races of men, who live in the most beautiful and the mostfertile countries in the world.
Account of the Ottomacs, a People who eat Clay. *
* Tableaux de la Nature, par A. de Humboldt, 2 vol. 12mo. Paris, 1808.vol. i. p. 191.For an account of the practice of eating clay among some tribes of Africans,the reader may consult Mr William Hunter’s Essay on the Diseases incident toIndian seamen, or Lascars, on long voyages, Appendix, No. X. and the severalauthorities referred to by him.|317| During this inundation, which lasts two or three months, theOttomacs swallow prodigious quantities of earth. We havefound in their huts immense stores of it, heaped up in pyramids.Each individual consumes daily three-fourths or four-fifths of apound of earth, according to the account which Fray RamonBueno, a very intelligent monk, a native of Madrid, who haslived twelve years among these Indians, gave us. The Ottomacsthemselves say, that, in the rainy season, this earth is theirprincipal food. In addition, they eat little fishes, lizards, andfern-roots, when they can procure them. They are so fond ofthis earth, that every day they eat a little of it after their repast,to regale themselves, even in the dry seasons, and when theyhave abundance of fish. These people are of a very dark cop-per colour. Their features are as ugly as those of the Tartars.They are fat, but they have not a large belly. The missionarywho resides among them, assured us, that he has remarked nodifference in the health of these savages, during the time thatthey eat this earth. Such is the simple narration of facts. The Indians eat greatquantities of earth, without their health suffering from it. Theyconsider it as a nourishing kind of food; that is to say, theyfind that this food satisfies them for some time. They attributethis satiety to the earth, and not to the other very bad articlesof diet which they are enabled to add to it. If they are askedwhat is their provision in winter, the season, which in the warmparts of South America is called the rainy-season, they pointout the heaps of earth piled up in their huts. But these partialfacts do not decide the following questions. Can earth, in real-ity, be a nutritive substance? Can earth assimilate itself to ournature? Or is it but a load upon the stomach? Does it notserve only to keep its sides distended, and in this manner con-tribute to alleviate hunger? It is very singular, that Father Gu-mila, in other respects so credulous, and whose work is so void ofsound criticism, should absolutely deny that the Indians eat earth.* He pretends that the balls of clay are mixed with the flour ofIndian corn and the fat of the crocodile. But the missionaryFray Ramon Bueno, and brother Fray Juan Gonzales, ourfriend and travelling companion, whom the sea on the coast of Africa swallowed up along with a part of our collections, bothassured us that the Ottomacs do not mix this earth with thefat of the crocodile. At Uruana we never heard a word about
* History of the Orinoco, vol. i. p. 283.|318| the mixture of flour. The earth which we brought home withus, and which Vauquelin analyzed, was pure, and without anymixture. May not Gumila, confounding strange facts, havewished to allude to the bread which is prepared with the longpods of a species of inga? This fruit is buried in the earth,that it may ferment the sooner. But what surprises me more is, that the use of so great aquantity of earth does not occasion any disease among the Otto-macs. Has this colony been habituated to this kind of food formany generations? In all the countries of the torrid zone, menhave an astonishing, and almost irresistible desire of eating earth;not an alkaline or calcareous earth to neutralize the acid juices,but a clay which is very fat, and of which the odour is verystrong. They are often obliged to tie children, to hinder themfrom going out and eating the earth when the rains have ceased.At the village of Banco, on the banks of the river Magdalena,the native women, who make earthen pots, put large pieces ofclay into their mouth, as I have often seen with surprise. * The other tribes of America never fail to become diseased whenthey give themselves up to the singular desire of eating earth.In the mission of San Borgia, we saw a child, who, accordingto what its mother told us, would not eat any thing but earth,which diet had made it as lean as a skeleton. Whence is it,that, in the cold and temperate zones, the desire of eating earthis so rare, and exists only among children and pregnant wo-men? It may be asserted, that, in all the regions of the tor-rid zone, this desire for earth has been observed. In Guinea,the negroes eat a yellowish earth which they call caouac. Theslaves which are brought into America, endeavour to procurea similar gratification; but it is always to the detriment of theirhealth. “Another very general cause of the mal d’estomac,” says amodern traveller, “is, that many of the slaves who come fromGuinea eat earth. This does not arise from a depraved taste;it is a custom contracted in their own country, where they saythat they habitually eat a certain kind of earth, the taste ofwhich pleases them, and which does not hurt them. Theysearch among us for earth most resembling it. That which theyprefer is a reddish yellow tufa, very common in our islands.This they even sell secretly in our public markets, under the
* Gily has made the same remark, Saggio di Storia dell’ America, t. ii. p. 311.In winter, the wolves eat earth, but, above all, clay. In general it would be inte-resting to analyze the feces of man, and all those animals who eat earth.|319| name of caouac. * (M. Thibaut was at Martinique in the year1751.) Those who are accustomed to the use of it are so fondof it, that no chastisement can prevent them from eating it.” In the villages of the isle of Java, between Sourabaya andSamarang, M. La Billardière saw little square reddish cakes ex-posed to sale. The natives call them tanaampo. Upon examin-ing them more narrowly, they were found to be cakes of reddishearth, which they eat. † The inhabitants of New Caledonia,eat, to satisfy their hunger, pieces as large as the fist, of friable lapis ollaris. M. Vauquelin, upon analyzing it, found in it a considerablequantity of copper. ‡ At Popayan, and in many parts of Pe-ru, the inhabitants purchase at the market calcareous earth, withother commodities. In using it, they mix with it the cocca, orthe leaves of the erythroxilon peruvianum. Thus we find, thatthis taste for eating earth, which it would seem that nature oughtto have reserved to the inhabitants of the ungrateful regions ofthe north, extends through all the torrid zone, among the indo-lent races of men, who live in the most beautiful and the mostfertile countries in the world.
* Thibaut de Chanvallon, Voyage à la Martinique, p. 85.† Voyage à la recherche de La Peyrouse, Vol. II. p. 322.‡ Ibid. p. 205.