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Alexander von Humboldt: „An Account of The Ottomans, 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-14-neu> [abgerufen am 25.04.2024].
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| Titel | An Account of The Ottomans, who eat clay | ||||
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| Jahr | 1810 | ||||
| Ort | Lancaster | ||||
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Nachweis in: The Lancaster Gazette; and General Aadvertiser for Lancashire, Westmorland, &c. 10:477 (4. August 1810), S. [4].
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua (mit lang-s); Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung. | ||||
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On the coaſt of Cumana, of New Barce-lona, and of Caraccas, viſited by the Fran-ciſcan monks of Guyana in returning fromtheir miſſions, there was a tradition preva-lent, that tribes inhabiting the banks of theOrinoco, eat earth.
On the 6th of June 1800, we ſpent a dayin a
miſſion, inhabited by the Ottamacs,who eat earth.
The village called La Con-ception of Uruana is ſituated
in a very pic-tureſque manner, upon the declivity of arock of granite. Its latitude I determinedto
be 7° 8′ 3″ north, and its longitude 4°38′
38″ weſt of Paris. The earth whichthe Ottamacs
eat is a fat and unctous clay,a real potters earth, of a
greyiſh yellow tint,coloured by a little oxide of iron. Theyſelect it with
much care, and gather it onparticular banks on the ſides
of the Orinoco,and of the Meta. They diſtinguiſh
by thetaſte, one kind of earth from another, forall kinds of clay are not agreeable to theirpalates. They knead this earth into balls,of from four to
ſix inches in diameter, andbake it at a ſlow
fire, till its outer ſurfacebecomes reddiſh.
Before they eat theſe balls,they moiſten them
anew. Theſe Ottamacsare for the moſt part a very
ſavage race, andhave an averſion to improvement.
The na-tions on the Orinoco, that are fartheſt fromthat canton, ſay proverbially, when theywiſh to ſpeak of any thing very filthy, “Itis diſguſting for an Ottamac to eat it.”
Whenthe waters of the Orinoco and Meta arelow, the Ottamacs ſupport themſelves onfiſh and tortoiſes. When the fiſh appear atthe ſurface of the water, they kill them bymeans of darts, with a dexterity which wehave
often admired. When the rivers ex-perience their periodical
overflow the fiſhingceaſes, for it is as
difficult to fiſh in riversbecome too deep, as in the
open ſea. Duringthis inundation, which laſts two
or threemonths, the Ottamacs ſwallow prodigiousquantities of earth. We have found in theirhuts immenſe ſtores of it, heaped up in py-ramids. Each individual conſumes dailythree fourths or
four fifths of a pound ofearth, according to the account which
Fray
Ramon Bueno, a very intelligent monk, anative of Madrid, who has lived twelveyears
among theſe Indians, gave us. TheOttamacs
themſelves ſay, that, in the rainyſeaſon, this earth is their principal food. Inaddition, they eat little fiſhes, lizards, andfern
roots, when they can procure them.They are ſo fond of
this earth, that everyday they eat a little of it after their
repaſt,to regale themſelves, even in the dry
ſeaſons,and when they have abundance of
fiſh.Theſe people are of a very dark
coppercolour. Their features are as ugly as thoſeof the Tartars. They are fat, but theyhave not
a large body. The Miſſionary whoreſides
among them aſſured us, that he has re-marked no
difference in the health of theſeſavages, during
the time that they eat thisearth.
Such is the ſimple narration of the facts.The Indians eat great quantities of earth,without the health ſuffering from it. Theyconſider it as a nouriſhing kind of food; thatis to ſay, they find that this food ſatisfiesthem for ſome time. They attribute thisſatiety to the earth, and not to the othervery bad articles of diet which they are en-abled to add to it.
It may be aſſerted, that, in all the regionsof the torrid zone, this deſire for earth hasbeen obſerved. In Guinea, the negroes eata yellowiſh earth which they call caouac.
The ſlaves which are brought into America,endeavour to procure a ſimilar gratification,but it is always to the detriment of theirhealth; but the Ottamacs do not ſuffer inthe leaſt from the practice.
AN ACCOUNT OF The Ottamacs, who eat clay. (From Humboldt’s Tableux de la Nature, vol 1.)