THE DEVIL’S PARADISE TRAVELS IN THE PERUVIAN AMAZON REGION   AND   AN ACCOUNT OF THE ATROCITIES COMMITTED UPON THE INDIANS THEREIN BY W. E. HARDENBURG EDITED AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION By C. REGINALD ENOCK, F.R.G.S. Author of “The Andes and the Amazon,” &c. TOGETHER   WITH   EXTRACTS   FROM   THE   REPORT   OF SIR ROGER CASEMENT CONFIRMING THE OCCURRENCES WITH   16   ILLUSTRATIONS   AND   A   MAP T.   FISHER   UNWIN LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE LEIPSIC: INSELSTRASSE 20 First Published, December

T HE extracts from Sir Roger Casement’s Report, which form part of this work, are made by permission of H.M. Stationery Office. Acknowledgement is also made for assistance rendered, both to the Rev. J. H. Harris, Organising Secretary of the Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society, and to the Editor of Truth . Portions of Mr. Hardenburg’s accounts have been omitted, and some revisions necessarily made, but the statements of adventures and the occurrences remain as in the original and stand

I T is something of a terrible irony of fate that in a land whose people for unknown centuries, and up to only four hundred years ago, lived under social laws “so beneficent as had never been known under any ancient kings of Asia, Africa, or Europe, or under any Christian monarch”—laws recorded by a reliable historian and partly capable of verification by the traveller and student to-day—should, in the twentieth century, have been the scene of the ruination and wholesale torture and murder of tr

N OT far from the city of Pasto, in Southern Colombia, a small, swift-flowing mountain stream has its origin in one of the high peaks of the Colombian Andes. Here, plunging furiously down the steep, precipitous descents of the Cordillera Oriental, between the high, heavily wooded mountains, which rise almost perpendicularly to the clouds, it dashes itself into spray against the immense boulders that form its bed, and throws itself over the numerous precipices in its path with a deep, resounding

E ARLY the next morning, Sunday, December 1st, we engaged two Cioni boatmen for our canoe, as did Materón for his; and, after constructing a platform of split bamboo to put in the bottom of the boat in order to prevent our effects from becoming damp, we began loading our little craft with its miscellaneous cargo. In accordance with Materón’s advice, we determined to stow away our trunks, books, and engineering instruments in the most inaccessible part of the canoe, while our food and the Indian

A T about seven o’clock the next morning I awoke, yawned, crawled out of our makeshift pamacari , and saw—a desert of wet, uneven sand. Perfectly stupefied, I awakened Perkins, and we stepped out to investigate. There stood—firm as a rock—the stump that had served as our sheet-anchor, and yonder—separated from us by a broad stretch of sandy beach—ran the river. At last we understood. The river had gone down some two feet during the night and had left us stranded on the enormous playa that was no

R EACHING the port with some difficulty, we secured the canoe, climbed up the steep bank, walked through the clearing, which was sown with yuca , plantains, &c., and arrived at the house. Here we were received in a friendly manner by an old, tattered-looking racional , who upon our asking for Señor Ordoñez informed us that that gentleman was at La Unión, the principal establishment of the Company, which was situated on the banks of the Caraparaná, about three hours’ march overland. Somew

T HE next morning, January 3rd, Serrano took me out for a stroll in the forest, and, after considerable meditation, surprised me by proposing to sell us a half-interest in his business. He then went on to explain his reason, which, briefly, was that he considered that the Peruvian Amazon Company would not dare to molest him were he not a Colombian, and that if some foreigners were interested in his business they would have to keep their hands off him in order to avoid complications. This point s

F OLLOWING are sworn statements of those who, as agents or sufferers, participated in the outrages on the Peruvian Amazon Company’s estates, together with translations from various Peruvian newspapers of Iquitos, and statements of Peruvians, who, to their credit, endeavoured to expose the conditions existing in the Putumayo region:— Translation from “La Felpa,” of Iquitos, of December 29, 1907. Notice is hereby given to persons who intend going to the rubber possessions of the J. C. Arana and He

T HE history of the Putumayo occurrences after the exposure by Messrs. Hardenburg and Perkins, due to the persistence of the Anti-Slavery Society and the courage of the editor of Truth , who alone incurred the risk of libel proceedings attaching to such exposures, so performing a notable service to humanity, [123] is contained in the Blue Book, or Foreign Office Report, already quoted. The proceedings leading to the sending of Consul Casement to the Putumayo by Sir Edward Grey and the Report its

T HE foregoing are but a few portions of the accounts published in Consul Casement’s Report given by the Barbados men whose statements were taken. They have been here selected to show that the worst stories of almost incredible barbarity were more than confirmed. No apology is needed for setting them forth in this book. It is in the interests of truth and justice that one half of the world should know how another, remoter half lives. The history of the affair throws a light on the curious charac