# A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro/Chapter 17

Contents
CHAPTER XVII.
on the aborigines of the amazon.
Commparing the accounts given by other travellers with my own obervations, the Indians of the Amazon valley appear to be much superior, both physically and intellectually, to those of South Brazil and of most other parts of South America; they more closely resemble the intelligent and noble races inhabiting the western prairies of North America. This view is confirmed by Prince Adalbert of Prussia, who first saw the uncivilised Indians of South Brazil, and afterwards those of the Amazon; and records his surprise and admiration at the vast superiority of the latter in strength and beauty of body, and in gentleness of disposition.
I have myself had opportunities of observing the Aborigines of the interior, in places where they retain all their native customs and peculiarities. These truly uncivilised Indians are seen by few travellers, and can only be found by going far beyond the dwellings of white men, and out of the ordinary track of trade. In the neighbourhood of civilisation the Indian loses many of his peculiar customs, — changes his mode of life, his house, his costume, and his language, — becomes imbued with the prejudices of civilisation, and adopts the forms and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion. In this state he is a different being from the true denizen of the forests, and it may be doubted, where his civilisation goes no further than this, if he is not a degenerate and degraded one; but it is in this state alone that he is met with by most travellers in Brazil, on the banks of the Amazon, in Venezuela, and in Peru.
I do not remember a single circumstance in my travels so striking and new, or that so well fulfilled all previous expec​332 ON THE ABORIGINES
tations, as my first view of the real uncivilised inhabitants of the river Uaupes. Though I had been already three years in the country, and had seen Indians of almost every shade of colour and every degree of civilisation, I felt that I was as much in the midst of something new and startling, as if I had been instantaneously transported to a distant and unknown country.
The Indians of the Amazon and its tributaries are of a countless variety of tribes and nations ; all of whom have peculiar languages and customs, and many of them some dis- tinct physical characteristics. Those now found in the city of Para, and all about the country of the Lower Amazon, have long been civilised, — have lost their own language, and speak the Portuguese, and are known by the general name of Tapuyas, which is applied to all Indians, and seems to be a corruption of " Tupis," the name applied to the natives of the coast-districts, on the first settlement of the country. These Indians are short, stout, and well made. They learn all trades quickly and well, and are a quiet, good-natured, inoffensive people. They form the crews of most of the Para trading canoes. Their main peculiarity consists in their short stature, which is more observable than in any other tribe I am acquainted with. It may be as well, before proceeding further, to mention the general characteristics of the Amazon Indians, from which the particular tribes vary but very slightly.
They are, a skin of a coppery or brown colour of various shades, often nearly the tint of smooth Honduras mahogany,
and very little or no beard. With regard to their features, it is impossible to give any general characteristics. In some the whole face is wide and rather flattened, but I never could dis- cern an unusual obliquity of the eyes, or projection of the cheek-bones ; in many, of both sexes, the most perfect regu- larity of features exists, and there are numbers who in colour alone differ from a good-looking European.
Their figures are generally superb ; and I have never felt so much pleasure in gazing at the finest statue, as at these living illustrations of the beauty of the human form. The develop- ment of the chest is such as I believe never exists in the best-formed European, exhibiting a splendid series of convex undulations, without a hollow in any part of it. ​OF THR AMAZOtf. 333
Some native tribes exist in the rivers Guama, Capi'm, and Acarra, just above the city of Pari, but I could learn little definite about them. High up the rivers Tocantfns and Araguaya, there are numerous tribes of tall well-formed Indians, some of whom I have seen in Para, where they arrive in canoes from the interior. Most of them have enormously elongated ears hanging down on their shoulders, produced probably by weights suspended from the lobe in youth. On the Xingii are many native tribes, some of whom were visited by Prince Adalbert. On the next river, the Tapajoz, dwell the Mundrucus, and they extend far into the interior, across to the Madeira and to the river Purus ; they are a very numerous tribe, and portions of them are now civilised. The Maras, another of the populous tribes, are also partly civilised, about the mouths of the Madeira and Rio Negro ; but in the interior, and up the river Puriis, many yet live in a totally wild and savage state.
All along the banks of the main streams of the Amazon, Solimoes, Madeira, and Rio Negro, live Indians of various races, in a semi-civilised state, and with their peculiar habits and languages in a great measure lost. Traces of these pecu- liarities are, however, still to be found, in the painted pottery manufactured at Breves, the elegant calabashes of Montealegre, the curious baskets of some tribes on the Rio Negro, and the calabashes of Ega, always painted in geometrical patterns.
Commencing near Santarem, and extending among all the half-civilised Indians of the Amazon, Rio Negro, and other rivers, the Lingoa Geral, or general Indian language, is spoken. Near the more populous towns and villages, it is used indis- criminately with the Portuguese ; a little further, it is often the only language known ; and far up in the interior it exists in common with the native language of the tribe to which the in- habitants belong. Thus on the Lower Amazon, all the Indians can speak both Portuguese and Lingoa Geral ; on the Solimoes and Rio Negro, Lingoa Geral alone is generally spoken ; and in the interior, on the lakes and tributaries of the Solimoes, the Miira and Juri tongues are in common use, with the Lingoa Geral as a means of communication with the traders. Near the sources of the Rio Negro, in Venezuela, the Barre" and Baniwa languages are those used among the Indians them- selves. ​334 ON THE ABORIGINES
The Lingoa Geral is the Tupi, an Indian language found in the country by the Jesuits, and modified and extended by them for use among all the tribes included in their missions. It is now spread over all the interior of Brazil, and even extends into Peru and Venezuela, as well as Bolivia and Paraguay, and is the general vehicle of communication between the Brazilian traders and the Indians. It is a simple and euphonious language, and is often preferred by Europeans who get thoroughly used to it. I knew a Frenchman who had been twenty years in the Solimoes, who always conversed with his wife and children in Lingoa Geral, and could speak it with more ease than either French or Portuguese; and, in many cases, I have seen Portuguese settlers whose children were unable to speak any other language.
I shall now proceed to give some account of the various tribes that still exist, in all their native integrity, among the trackless forests of the Purvis, Rio Branco, Japura, and the rivers Uaupes and Isanna, near the sources of the Rio Negro.
As I am best acquainted with the Indians of the river Uaupes, I shall first state all I know of them, and then point out the particulars in which other nations differ from them. The tribes which inhabit the Uaupes, as far as any of the traders ascend, and of which I can get any information, are the following : —
Up the main stream.
i. Queianas, at Sao Joaquim.
2. Tarianas, about Sao Jeronymo.
3. Ananas (Pine-apples), below Jauarite.
4. Cobeus, about Caruru caxoeira.
5. Piraiuru (Fish's mouth).
6. Pisa (Net).
7. Carapana (Mosquito), Jurupuri caxoeira.
8. Tapura (Tapir).
9. Uaracii (a Fish), above Jukeira Parana.
10. Cohidias.
11. Tucundera (an Ant).
12. Jacami (Trumpeter). Miriti (Mauritia Palm), Baccate Parana.
1
14. Omauas.
On the river Tiquié.
15. Macunás.
16. Taiassú (Pig Indians).
17. Tijúco (Mud Indians).
Onjapoó Paraná.
18. Arapásso (Woodpeckers).
On the river Apaporís.
19. Tucános (Toucans).
20. Uacarrás (Herons).
21. Pirá (Fish).
22. Desannas.
On the river Quiriri.
23. Ipécas (Ducks).
24. Gi (Axe).
25. Coúa (Wasp).
On the river Codaiari.
26. Corócoró (Green Ibis).
27. Bauhúnas.
28. Tat{[subst:u'}}s (Armadillos).
On Canísi Par and.
29. Tenimbúca (Ashes).
Jukéira Paraná).
30. Mucúra (Opossum).
These tribes have almost all of them some peculiarities of language and customs, but they all go under the general name of " Uaupés," and distinguish themselves, as a body, from the inhabitants of other rivers. Hence the river is called " Rio dos Uaupés " (the River of the Uaupés), though the proper name of it is "Uacaiarí," and it is always so termed by the Indians.
The Uaupés are generally rather tall, five feet nine or ten inches being not an uncommon height, and they are very stout and well formed. Their hair is jet-black and straight, ​
OJ
only turning grey with extreme old age. The men do not cut their hair, but gather it behind into a long tail, bound round with cord, and hanging down to the middle of the back, and often to the thighs ; the hair of the women hangs loose down their backs, and is cut to a moderate length. The men have very little beard, and that little they eradicate by pulling it out j men and women also eradicate the hair of the eyebrows, the arm-pits, and the private parts. The colour of the skin is a light, uniform, glossy reddish-brown.
They are an agricultural people, having a permanent abode, and cultivating mandiocca {Jatropha Manihot), sugar-cane {Sacchanan officinarum), sweet potatoes {Convolvulus Batatas), carra, or yam {Dioscorea sp.), pupunha palms {Guilielma speciosa), cocura (a fruit like grapes), pine-apples {Ananassa sativa), maize ( Zea Mays), urucii or arnotto {Bixa Orellana), plantains and bananas {Musa sp.), abios (Lucuma Caimito), cashews {Anacardium occidentale), ingas {Inga- sp.), peppers {Capsicum sp.), tobacco {Nicotiana Tabacum), and plants for dyes and cordage. All, even in the most remote districts, have now iron axes and knives, though the stone axes which they formerly used are still to be found among them. The men cut down the trees and brushwood, which, after they have lain some months to dry, are burnt ; and the mandiocca is then planted by the women, together with little patches of cane, sweet potatoes, and various fruits. The women also dig up the mandiocca, and prepare from it the bread which is their main subsistence. The roots are brought home from the field in large baskets called aturas, made of a climber, and only manufactured by these tribes; they are then washed and peeled, this last operation being generally performed with the teeth, after which they are grated on large wooden graters about three feet long and a foot wide, rather concave, and covered all over with small sharp pieces of quartz, inserted in a regular diagonal pattern. These graters are an article of trade in all the Upper Amazon, as they are cheaper than the copper graters used in other parts of Brazil. The pulp is placed to drain on a large sieve made of the bark of a water- plant. It is then put into a long elastic cylinder made of the outer rind, or bark, of a climbing palm, a species of Desmoncus : this is filled with the half-dry pulp, and, being hung on a cross- beam between two posts, is stretched by a lever, on the further ​OF THE AMAZON. 337
end of which the woman sits, and thus presses out the remaining liquid. These cylinders, called " tipitis," are also a considerable article of trade, and the Portuguese and Brazilians have not yet introduced any substitute for this rude Indian press. The pulp is then turned out, a dry compact mass, which is broken up, and the hard lumps and fibres picked out, when it is at once roasted on large flat ovens from four to six feet in diameter, with a sloping rim about six inches high. These ovens are well made, of clay mixed with the ashes of the bark of a tree called " caripe," and are supported on walls of mud about two feet high,with a large opening on one side, in which to make a fire of logs of wood. The mandiocca cakes, or " beijii," thus prepared, are sweet and agreeable to the taste ; but the Indians generally first soak the roots some days in water, which softens and ferments them, and gives the bread a sour taste, much relished by the natives, but not generally so agreeable to Europeans. The bread is made fresh every day, as when it gets cold and dry it is far less palatable. The women thus have plenty to do, for every other day at least they have to go to the field, often a mile or two distant, to fetch the root, and every day to grate, prepare, and bake the bread ; as it forms by far the greater part of their food, and they often pass days without eating anything else, especially when the men are engaged in clearing the forest. For the greater part of the year, however, the men go daily to fish, and at these times they have a good supply of this their favourite food. Meat and game they only eat occasionally ; they prefer jabutfs, or land- tortoises, monkeys, inambus (Tinamus sp.), toucans, and the smaller species of wild nig (Dicotyles torquatus). But they will not eat the large wild pig (D. labiatus), the anta {Tapirus Americanus), or the white-rumped mutun (Crax globiceral). They consume great quantities of peppers (species of Capsicum), preferring the small red ones, which are of excessive pungency : when they have no fish, they boil several pounds of these peppers in a little water, and dip their bread into the fiery soup thus formed.
The poisonous juice expressed from the mandiocca root, when fermented and boiled in various ways, forms sauces and peculiarly flavoured drinks, of which they are very fond. In making their bread they have a peculiarity, not noticed among the neighbouring tribes, of extracting pure tapioca from the
22 ​338 ON THE ABORIGINES
mandiocca, and, by mixing this with the ordinary pulp, forming a very superior cake.
They use plantains extensively, eating them as a fruit, and making a mingau, or gruel, by boiling and beating them into a pulp, which is a very agreeable food. From the fruits of the Baccaba, Patawa, and Assai palms {(Enocarpus Baccaba, <E. Batazva, Euterpe oleracea and allied species), they produce wholesome and nourishing drinks.
Besides these they make much use of sweet potatoes, yams, roasted corn, and many forest fruits, from all of which, and from mandiocca cakes, they make fermented drinks, which go under the general name of " caxiri." That made from the mandiocca is the most agreeable, and much resembles good table-beer. At their feasts and dances they consume immense quantities of it, and it does not seem to produce any bad effects. They also use, on these occasions, an intensely exciting pre- paration of the root of a climber, — it is called capi, and the manner of using it I have described in my Narrative (page 205).
The weapons of these Indians are bows and arrows, gravatanas, lances, clubs, and also small hand-nets, and rods and lines, for catching fish.
Their bows are of different kinds of hard elastic wood, well made, and from five to six feet long. The string is either of the " tucum " leaf fibre {Astrocaryum vidgare), or of the inner bark of trees called " tururi." The arrows are of various kinds, from five to seven feet long. The shaft is made of the flower- stalk of the arrow-grass {Gynerium saccharinum). In the war- arrows, or " curubis," the head is made of hard wood, carefully pointed, and by some tribes armed with the serrated spine of the ray-fish : it is thickly anointed with poison, and notched in two or three places so as to break off in the wound. Arrows for shooting fish are now almost always made with iron heads, sold by the traders, but many still use heads made of monkeys' bones, with a barb, to retain a hold of the fish : the iron heads are bent at an angle, so that the lower part projects and forms a barb, and are securely fastened on with twine and pitch. Lighter arrows are made for shooting birds and other small game, and these alone are feathered at the base. The feathers generally used are from the wings of the macaw, and, in putting them on, the Indian shows his knowledge of the principle ​OF THE AMAZON. 339
which is applied in the spirally-grooved rifle-barrel : three feathers are used, and they are all secured spirally, so as to form a little screw on the base of the arrow, the effect of which of course must be, that the arrow revolves rapidly in its onward progress, and this no doubt tends to keep it in a direct course.
The gravatana and small poisoned arrows are made and used exactly as I have already described in my Narrative (page 147).
The small hand-nets used for catching fish are of two kinds, — a small ring-net, like a landing-net, and one spread between two slender sticks, just like the large folding-nets of entomo- logists : these are much used in the rapids, and among rocks and eddies, and numbers of fish are caught with them. They also use the rod and line, and consume an enormous quantity of hooks : there are probably not less than a hundred thousand fish-hooks sold every year in the river Uaupes ; yet there are still to be found among them many of their own hooks, in- geniously made of palm-spines. They have many other ways of catching fish : one is by a small cone of wicker, called a "matapf," which is placed in some little current in the gapd ; the larger end is entirely open, and it appears at first sight quite incapable of securing the fish, yet it catches great quantities, for when the fish get in they have no room to turn round, and cannot swim backwards, and three or four are often found jammed in the end of these little traps, with the scales and skin quite rubbed off their heads by their vain endeavours to pro- ceed onwards. Other matapis are larger and more cylindrical, with a reversed conical mouth (as in our wire rat-traps), to prevent the return of the fish : these are often made of a very large size, and are placed in little forest-streams, and in narrow channels between rocks, where the fish, in passing up, must enter them. But the best method of procuring fish, and that which has been generally adopted by the Europeans in the country, is with the Cacoaries, or fish-weirs. These are princi- pally used at high-water, when fish are scarce : they are formed at the margin of rivers, supported by strong posts, which are securely fixed at the time of low-water, when the place of the weir is quite dry ; to these posts is secured a high fence of split palm-stems, forming an entering angle, with a narrow opening into a fenced enclosure. Fish almost always travel against the stream, and generally abound more at the sides where the ​34° ON THE ABORIGINES
current is less rapid : they are guided by the side-wings of the weir into the narrow opening, from which they cannot find their way out. They are obtained by diving into the weir, and then catching them with the pisa (small net), or with the hand, or sticking them with a knife. In these cacoaries every kind of fish is caught, from the largest to the smallest, as well as river tortoises and turtles. The Indian generally feels about well with a rod before entering a cacoari, to ascertain if it con- tains an electrical eel, in which case he gets it out first with a net. The Piranhas, species of Serrasalmo, are also rather dangerous, for I have seen an Indian boy return from the cacoary with his finger bitten off by one of them.
The " Gerau," is yet on a larger scale than the Cacoari. It is used only in the cataracts, and is very similar to the eel-traps used at mills and sluices in England. It is a large wooden sieve, supported in the midst of a cataract, so that the full force of the water dashes through it. All the fish which are carried down by the violence of the current are here caught, and their numbers are often so great as to supply a whole village with food. At many of the falls on the Uaupe"s they make these geraiis, which require the united exertions of the inhabitants to construct them ; huge timbers having to be planted in every crevice of the rocks, to withstand the strength of the torrent of water brought down by the winter's floods.
All the fish not used at the time are placed on a little platform of sticks over the fire, till they are so thoroughly dried and imbued with smoke, as to keep good any length of time. They are then used for voyages, and to sell to travellers, but, having no salt, are a very tasteless kind of food.
Salt is not so much sought after by these Indians as by many other tribes ; for they will generally prefer fish-hooks and beads in payment for any articles you may purchase of them. Peppers seem to serve them in place of salt. They do, however, extract from the fruits of the Inaja palm {Maxi- miliana regid) and the Jara palm (Leopoldinia major), and also from the Carurri (a species of Lacis very common on the rocks in the falls), a kind of flour which has a saline taste, and with which they season their food. The Carurii, indeed, has quite the smell of salt water, and is excellent eating, ​OF THE AMAZON. 341
both boiled as a vegetable, or with oil and vinegar as a salad.
All the tribes of the Uaup£s construct their dwellings after one plan, which is peculiar to them. Their houses arc the abode of numerous families, sometimes of a whole tribe. The plan is a parallelogram, with a semicircle at one end. The dimensions of one at Jauarite were one hundred and fifteen feet in length, by seventy-five broad, and about thirty high. This house would hold about a dozen families, consisting of near a hundred individuals. In times of feasts and dances, three or four hundred are accommodated in them. The roof is supported on fine cylindrical columns, formed of the trunks of trees, and beautifully straight and smooth. In the centre a clear opening is left, twenty feet wide, and on the sides are little partitions of palm-leaf thatch, dividing off rooms for the separate families : here are kept the private household utensils, weapons, and ornaments ; while the rest of the space contains, on each side, the large ovens and gigantic pans for making caxiri, and, in the centre, a place for the children to play, and for their dances to take place. These houses are built with much labour and skill ; the main supporters, beams, rafters, and other parts, are straight, well proportioned to the strength required, and bound together with split creepers, in a manner that a sailor would admire. The thatch is of the leaf of some one of the numerous palms so well adapted to the purpose, and is laid on with great compactness and regularity. The side-walls, which are very low, are formed also of palm thatch, but so thick and so well bound together, that neither arrow nor bullet will penetrate them. At the gable-end is a large door- way, about six feet wide and eight or ten high : the door is a large palm-mat, hung from the top, supported by a pole during the day, and let down at night. At the semicircular end is a smaller door, which is the private entrance of the Tushaua, or chief, to whom this part of the house exclusively belongs. The lower part of the gable-end, on each side of the entrance, is covered with the thick bark of a tree unrolled, and standing vertically. Above this is a loose hanging of palm-leaves, between the fissures of which the smoke from the numerous fires within finds an exit. In some cases this gable- end is much ornamented with symmetrical figures painted in colours, as at Carurtf caxoeira, ​342 ON THE ABORIGINES
The furniture consists principally of maqueiras, or hammocks, made of string, twisted from the fibres of the leaves of the Mauritia flexuosa : they are merely an open network of parallel threads, crossed by others at intervals of a foot ; the loops at each end have a cord passed through them, by which they are hung up. The Uaupds make great quantities of string of this and other fibres, twisting it on their breasts or thighs, with great rapidity.
They have always in their houses a large supply of earthen pots, pans, pitchers, and cooking utensils, of various sizes, which they make of clay from the river and brooks, mixed with the ashes of the caripe bark, and baked in a temporary furnace. They have also great quantities of small saucer- shaped baskets, called "Balaios," which are much esteemed down the river, and are the subject of a considerable trade.
Two tribes in the lower part of the river, the Tarianos and Tucdnos, make a curious little stool, cut from a solid block of wood, and neatly painted and varnished ; these, which take many days to finish, are sold for about a pennyworth of fish-hooks.
Their canoes are all made out of a single tree, hollowed and forced open by the cross-benches ; they are very thick in the middle, to resist the wear and tear they are exposed to among the rocks and rapids ; they are often forty feet long, but smaller ones are generally preferred. The paddles are about three feet long, with an oval blade, and are each cut out of one piece of wood.
These people are as free from the encumbrances of dress as it is possible to conceive. The men wear only a small piece of tururi passed between the legs, and twisted on to a string round the lions. Even such a costume as this is dispensed with by the women : they have no dress or covering whatever, but are entirely naked. This is the universal custom among the Uaupes Indians, from which, in a state of nature, they never depart. Paint, with these people, seems to be looked upon as a sufficient clothing ; they are never without it on some part of their bodies, but it is at their festivals that they exhibit all their art in thus decorating their persons : the colours they use are red, yellow, and black, and they dispose them generally in regular patterns, similar to those with which they ornament their stools, their canoes, and other articles of furniture. ​OF THE AMAZON. 343
They pour the juice of a tree, which stains a deep blue- black, on their heads, and let it run in streams all down their backs ; and the red and yellow are often disposed in large round spots upon the cheeks and forehead.
The use of ornaments and trinkets of various kinds is almost confined to the men. The women wear a bracelet on the wrists, but none on the neck, and no comb in the hair ; they have a garter below the knee, worn tight from infancy, for the purpose of swelling out the calf, which they consider a great beauty. While dancing in their festivals, the women wear a small tanga, or apron, made of beads, prettily arranged ; it is only about six inches square, but is never worn at any other time, and immediately the dance is over, it is taken off.
The men, on the other hand, have the hair carefully parted and combed on each side, and tied in a queue behind. In the young men, it hangs in long locks down their necks, and, with the comb, which is invariably carried stuck in the top of the head, gives to them a most feminine appearance : this is increased by the large necklaces and bracelets of beads, and the careful extirpation of every symptom of beard. Taking these circumstances into consideration, I am strongly of opinion that the story of the Amazons has arisen from these feminine- looking warriors encountered by the early voyager. I am inclined to this opinion, from the effect they first produced on myself, when it was only by close examination I saw that they were men ; and, were the front parts of their bodies and their breasts covered with shields, such as they always use, I am convinced any person seeing them for the first time would conclude they were women. We have only therefore to suppose that tribes having similar customs to those now living on the river Uaupes, inhabited the regions where the Amazons were reported to have been seen, and we have a rational explana- tion of what has so much puzzled all geographers. The only objection to this explanation is, that traditions are said to exist among the natives, of a nation of "women without husbands." Of this tradition, however, I was myself unable to obtain any trace, and I can easily imagine it entirely to have arisen from the suggestions and inquiries of Europeans themselves. When the story of the Amazons was first made known, it became of course a point with all future travellers to verify it, or if possible ​344 ON THE ABORIGINES
get a glimpse of these warlike ladies. The Indians must no doubt have been overwhelmed with questions and suggestions about them, and they, thinking that the white men must know best, would transmit to their descendants and families the idea that such a nation did exist in some distant part of the country. Succeeding travellers, finding traces of this idea among the Indians, would take it as a proof of the existence of the Amazons ; instead of being merely the effect of a mistake at the first, which had been unknowingly spread among them by preceding travellers, seeking to obtain some evidence on the subject.
In my communications and inquiries among the Indians on various matters, I have always found the greatest caution necessary, to prevent one's arriving at wrong conclusions. They are always apt to affirm that which they see you wish to believe, and, when they do not at all comprehend your question, will unhesitatingly answer, " Yes." I have often in this manner obtained, as I thought, information, which persons better acquainted with the facts have assured me was quite erroneous. These observations, however, must only be taken to apply to those almost uncivilised nations who do not under- stand, at all clearly, any language in which you can communi- cate with them. I have always been able to rely on what is obtained from Indians speaking Portuguese readily, and I believe that much trustworthy information can be obtained from them. Such, however, is not the case with the wild tribes, who are totally incapable of understanding any con- nected sentence of the language in which they are addressed ; and I fear the story of the Amazons must be placed with those of the wild man-monkeys, which Humboldt mentions and which tradition I also met with, and of the "curupira," or demon of the woods, and " carbunculo," of the Upper Amazon and Peru ; but of which superstitions we have no such satis- factory elucidation as I think has been now given of the warlike Amazons.
To return to our Uaupes Indians and their toilet. We find their daily costume enlivened with a few other ornaments; a circlet of parrots' tail-feathers is generally worn round the head, and the cylindrical white quartz-stone, already described in my Narrative (p. 191), is invariably carried on the breast, suspended from a necklace of black seeds. ​OF THE AMAZON. 345
At festivals and dances they decorate themselves with a complicated costume of feather head-dresses, cinctures, armlets, and leg ornaments, which I have sufficiently described in the account of their dances (p. 202).
We will now describe some peculiarities connected with their births, marriages, and deaths.
The women are generally delivered in the house, though sometimes in the forest. When a birth takes place in the house, everything is taken out of it, even the pans and pots, and bows and arrows, till the next day ; the mother takes the child to the river and washes herself and it, and she generally remains in the house, not doing any work, for four or five days.
The children, more particularly the females, are restricted to a particular food : they are not allowed to eat the meat of any kind of game, nor of fish, except the very small bony kinds ; their food principally consisting of mandiocca-cake and fruits.
On the first signs of puberty in the girls, they have to undergo an ordeal. For a month previously, they are kept secluded in the house, and allowed only a small quantity of bread and water. All relatives and friends of the parents are then assembled, bringing, each of them, pieces of " sipo " (an elastic climber) ; the girl is then brought out, perfectly naked, into the midst of them, when each person present gives her five or six severe blows with the sipo across the back and breast, till she falls senseless, and it sometimes happens, dead. If she recovers, it is repeated four times, at intervals of six hours, and it is considered an offence to the parents not to strike hard. During this time numerous pots of all kinds of meat and fish have been prepared, when the sipos are dipped in them and given to her to lick, and she is then considered a woman, and allowed to eat anything, and is marriageable.
The boys undergo a somewhat similar ordeal, but not so severe ; which initiates them into manhood, and allows them to see the Jurupari music, which will be presently described.
Tattooing is very little practised by these Indians ; they all, however, have a row of circular punctures along the arm, and one tribe, the Tucanos, are distinguished from the rest by three vertical blue lines on the chin ; and they also pierce the lower lip, through which they hang three little threads of white beads. ​346 ON THE ABORIGINES
All the tribes bore their ears, and wear in them little pieces of grass, ornamented with feathers. The Cobeus alone expand the hole to so large a size, that a bottle-cork could be inserted : they ordinarily wear a plug of wood in it, but, on festas, insert a little bunch of arrows.
The men generally have but one wife, but there is no special limit, and many have two or three, and some of the chiefs more ; the elder one is never turned away, but remains the mistress of the house. They have no particular ceremony at their marriages, except that of always carrying away the girl by force, or making a show of doing so, even when she and her parents are quite willing. They do not often marry with re- lations, or even neighbours, — preferring those from a distance, or even from other tribes. When a young man wishes to have the daughter of another Indian, his father sends a message to say he will come with his son and relations to visit him. The girl's father guesses what it is for, and, if he is agreeable, makes preparations for a grand festival : it lasts, perhaps, two or three days, when the bridegroom's party suddenly seize the bride, and hurry her off to their canoes ; no attempt is made to pre- vent them, and she is then considered as married.
Some tribes, as the Uacarras, have a trial of skill at shooting with the bow and arrow, and if the young man does not show himself a good marksman, the girl refuses him, on the ground that he will not be able to shoot fish and game enough for the family.
The dead are almost always buried in the houses, with their bracelets, tobacco-bag, and other trinkets upon them : they are buried the same day they die, the parents and relations keeping up a continual mourning and lamentation over the body, from the death to the time of interment ; a few days afterwards, a great quantity of caxiri is made, and all friends and relations invited to attend, to mourn for the dead, and to dance, sing, and cry to his memory. Some of the large houses have more than a hundred graves in them, but when the houses are small, and very full, the graves are made outside.
The Tarianas and Tucanos, and some other tribes, about a month after the funeral, disinter the corpse, which is then much decomposed, and put it in a great pan, or oven, over the fire, till all the volatile parts are driven off with a most horrible odour, leaving only a black carbonaceous mass, which is ​OF THE AMAZON. 347
pounded into a fine powder, and mixed in several large couches (vats made of hollowed trees) of caxiri : this is drunk by the assembled company till all is finished ; they believe that thus the virtues of the deceased will be transmitted to the drinkers.
The Cobeus alone, in the Uaupes, are real cannibals : they eat those of other tribes whom they kill in battle, and even make war for the express purpose of procuring human flesh for food. When they have more than they can consume at once, they smoke-dry the flesh over the fire, and preserve it for food a long time. They burn their dead, and drink the ashes in caxiri, in the same manner as described above.
Every tribe and every "malocca " (as their houses are called) has its chief, or " Tushaua," who has only a limited authority, principally in war, in making festivals, and in repairing the malocca and keeping the village clean, and in planting the mandiocca-fields ; he also treats with the traders, and supplies them with men to pursue their journeys. The succession of these chiefs is strictly hereditary in the male line, or through the female to her husband, who may be a stranger : their regular hereditary chief is never superseded, however stupid, dull, or cowardly he may be. They have very little law of any kind ; but what they have is of strict retaliation, — an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ; and a murder is punished or revenged in the same manner and by the same weapon with which it was committed.
They have numerous " Pages," a kind of priests, answering to the " medicine-men " of the North American Indians. These are believed to have great power : they cure all diseases by charms, applied by strong blowing and breathing upon the party to be cured, and by the singing of certain songs and incantations. They are also believed to have power to kill enemies, to bring or send away rain, to destroy dogs or game, to make the fish leave a river, and to afflict with various diseases. They are much consulted and believed in, and are well paid for their services. An Indian will give almost all his wealth to a page, when he is threatened with any real or imagi- nary danger.
They scarcely seem to think that death can occur naturally, always imputing it either to direct poisoning or the charms of rome enemy, and, on this supposition, will proceed to revenge it. This they generally do by poisons, of which they have ​348 ON THE ABORIGINE^
many which are most deadly in their effects : they are given at some festival in a bowl of caxiri, which it is good manners always to empty, so that the whole dose is sure to be taken. One of the poisons often used is most terrible in its effects, causing the tongue and throat, as well as the intestines, to pu- trefy and rot away, so that the sufferer lingers some days in the greatest agony : this is of course again retaliated, on perhaps the wrong party, and thus a long succession of murders may result from a mere groundless suspicion in the first instance.
I cannot make out that they have any belief that can be called a religion. They appear to have no definite idea of a God ; if asked who they think made the rivers, and the forests, and the sky, they will reply that they do not know, or some- times that they suppose it was " Tupanau," a word that appears to answer to God, but of which they understand nothing. They have much more definite ideas of a bad spirit, " Jurupari/' or Devil, whom they fear, and endeavour through their page's to propitiate. When it thunders, they say the "Jurupari" is angry, and their idea of natural death is that the "Jurupari " kills them. At an eclipse they believe that this bad spirit is killing the moon, and they make all the noise they can to frighten him away.
One of their most singular superstitions is about the musical instruments they use at their festivals, which they call the Jurupari music. These consist of eight or sometimes twelve pipes, or trumpets, made of bamboos or palm-stems hollowed out, some with trumpet-shaped mouths of bark and with mouth-holes of clay and leaf. Each pair of instruments gives a distinct note, and they produce a rather agreeable concert, something resembling clarionets and bassoons. These instru- ment, however, are with them such a mystery that no woman must ever see them, on pain of death. They are always kept in sone igarip£, at a distance from the malocca, whence they are brought on particular occasions : when the sound of them is heard approaching, every woman retires into the woods, or into some adjoining shed, which they generally have near, and remains invisible till after the ceremony is over, when the instruments are taken away to their hiding-place, and the women come out of their concealment. Should any female be supposed to have seen them, either by accident or design, she is invaribly executed, generally by poison, and a father ​OF THE AMAZON. 349
will not hesitate to sacrifice his daughter, or a husband his wife, on such an occasion.
They have many other prejudices with regard to women. They believe that if a woman, during her pregnancy, eats of any meat, any other animal partaking of it will suffer : if a domestic animal or tame bird, it will die ; if a dog, it will be for the future incapable of hunting ; and even a man will ever after be unable to shoot that particular kind of game. An Indian, who was one of my hunters, caught a fine cock of the rock, and gave it to his wife to feed, but the poor woman was obliged to live herself on cassava-bread and fruits, and abstain entirely from all animal food, peppers, and salt, which it was believed would cause the bird to die ; notwithstanding all precautions, however, the bird did die, and the woman got a beating from her husband, because he thought she had not been sufficiently rigid in her abstinence from the prohibited articles.
Most of these peculiar practices and superstitions are retained with much tenacity, even by those Indians who are nominally civilised and Christian, and many of them have been even adopted by the Europeans resident in the country : there are actually Portuguese in the Rio Negro who fear the power of the Indian pages, and who fully believe and act on all the Indian superstitions respecting women.
The river Uaupes is the channel by which European manu- factures find their way into the extensive and unknown regions between the Rio Guaviare on the one side, and the Japura on the other. About a thousand pounds worth of goods enter the Uaupes yearly, mosdy in axes, cutlasses, knives, fish-hooks, arrow-heads, salt, mirrors, beads, and a few cottons.
The articles given in exchange are salsaparilha, pitch, farinha, string, hammocks, and Indian stools, baskets, feather ornaments, and curiosities. The salsaparilha is by far the most valuable product, and is the only one exported. Great quantities of articles of European manufacture are exchanged by the Indians with those of remote districts, for the salsa which they give to the traders ; and thus numerous tribes, among whom no civilised man has ever yet penetrated, are well supplied with iron goods, and send the product of their labour to European markets.
In order to give some idea of the state of industry and the ​350 ON THE ABORIGINES
arts among these people, I subjoin a list of articles which I collected when among them, to illustrate their manners, customs, and state of civilisation, but which were unfortunately all lost on my passage home.
LIST OF ARTICLES MANUFACTURED BY THE INDIANS OF THE RIO DOS UAUPES.
Household Furniture and Utensils.
i. Hammocks, or maqueiras, of palm-fibre, of various materials, colours, and texture.
2. Small wooden stools, of various sizes, painted and var- nished. (Plate XIV. d.)
3. Flat baskets of plaited bark, in regular patterns and of various colours.
4. Deeper baskets, called " Aturas." (Plate XIII. d.)
5. Calabashes and gourds, of various shapes and sizes.
6. Water-pitchers of earthenware.
7. Pans of earthenware for cooking.
Articles used in the Manufacture of Mandiocca Bread.
8. Mandiocca graters, of quartz fragments set in wood. (Plate XIII. a.)
9. Tipitis, or wicker elastic pressure cylinders.
10. Wicker sieves for straining the pulp.
11. Ovens for roasting cassava-bread and farinha. (Plate XIII. b.)
12. Plaited fans for blowing the fire and turning the cakes.
Weapons used in War, Hunting, and Fishing.
13. Bows of various woods and different sizes.
14. Quivers of curabis, or poisoned war-arrows.
15. Arrows with heads of monkey-bones.
16. Arrows, with iron heads, for shooting fish.
17. Gravatanas, or blow-tubes, from eight to fourteen feet long.
18. Wicker and wooden quivers, with poisoned arrows for them.
19. Small pots and calabashes, with the curarf or ururf poison. ​
20. Large carved clubs of hard wood.
21. Carved and feather ornamented lances.
22. Large circular shields of wicker-work.
23. Ditto, covered with tapir's skin.
24. Nets for fishing (Pisas).
25. Rod and line for fishing.
26. Palm-spine fish-hooks.
27. Small wicker traps for catching fish (Matapis).
Musical Instmments.
28. A small drum.
29. Eight large trumpets, the Juruparf music.
30. Numerous fifes and flutes of reeds.
31. Fifes made of deer-bones. 31a. Whistle of a deer's skull.
32. Vibrating instruments of tortise and turtle shells.
Ornaments, Dress, and Miscellaneous,
33. About twenty distinct articles, forming the feather head- dress.
34. Combs of palm-wood, ornamented with feathers. (Plate XIV. a.)
35. Necklaces of seeds and beads.
36. Bored cylindrical quartz-stone.
37. Copper earrings, and wooden plugs for the ears.
38. Armlet of feathers, beads, seeds, etc.
39. Girdle of jaguars' teeth.
40. Numbers of cords, made of the " coroa " fibre, mixed with the hair of monkeys and jaguars, — making a soft elastic cord used for binding up the hair, and various purposes of ornament.
41. Painted aprons, or "tangas," made from the inner bark of a tree.
42. Women's bead tangas.
43. Rattles and ornaments for the legs.
44. Garters strongly knitted of " coroa."
45. Packages and carved calabashes, filled with a red pig- ment called " crajurii."
46. Large cloths of prepared bark.
47. Very large carved wooden forks for holding cigars. (Plate XIV. b.) ​352 ON THE ABORIGINES
48. Large cigars used at festivals.
49. Spathes of the Bussu palm (Manicaria saccifera), used for preserving feather-ornaments, etc.
50. Square mats.
51. Painted earthen pot, used for holding the "capi" at festivals.
52. Small pot of dried peppers.
53. Rattles used in dancing, formed of calabashes, carved, and ornamented with small stones inside. (Plate XIV. c.) (Maracas.)
54. Painted dresses of prepared bark (tururf).
55. Balls of string, of various materials and degrees of fineness.
56. Bottle-shaped baskets, for preserving the edible ants.
57. Tinder-boxes of bambo carved, and filled with tinder from an ant's nest.
58. Small canoe hollowed from a tree.
59. Paddles used with ditto.
60. Triangular tool, used for making the small stools.
61. Pestles and mortars, used for pounding peppers and tobacco.
62. Bark bag, full of sammauma,'the silk-cotton of a Bombax, used for making blowing-arrows.
63. Chest of plaited palm-leaves, used for holding feather- ornaments.
64. Stone axes, used before the introduction of iron.
65. Clay cylinders, for supporting cooking utensils. (Plate XIII. c.)* V
The Indians of the river Isanna are few in comparison with those of the Uaupes, the river not being so large or so pro- ductive of fish. The tribes are named —
Baniwas, or Manfvas (Mandiocca).
Arikenas.
Bauatanas.
Ciugi (Stars).
and 03, ot this list, have been sent home by my friend R. Spruce, Esq., and may be seen in the very interesting Museum at the Royal Botanical
Coatf (the Nasua coatimundi). Juruparf (Devils). Ipeca (Ducks).
Papunauas, the name of a river, a tributary of the Guaviare, but which has its sources close to the Isanna.
These tribes are much alike in all their customs, differing only in their languages ; as a whole, however, they offer remarkable points of difference from those of the river Uaupes.
In stature and appearance they are very similar, but they have rather more beard, and do not pull out the hair of the body and face, and they cut the hair of their head with a knife, or, wanting that, with a hard sharp grass. Thus, the absence of the long queue of hair forms a striking characteristic difference in their appearance.
In their dress they differ in the women always wearing a small tanga of turiiri, instead of going perfectly naked, as among the Uaupes ; they also wear more necklaces and bracelets, and the men fewer, and the latter do not make use of so many feather-ornaments and decorations in their festivals.
Each family has a separate house, which is small, of a square shape, and possesses both a door and windows ; and the houses are collected together in little scattered villages. The Isanna Indians make small flat baskets like those of the Uaupes, but not the stools, nor the aturas, neither have they the white cylindrical stone which the others so much esteem. They marry one, two, or three wives, and prefer relations, marrying with cousins, uncles with nieces, and nephews with aunts, so that in a village all are connected. The men are more warlike and morose in their disposition than the Uaupes, by whom they are much feared. They bury their dead in their houses, and mourn for them a long time, but make no feast on the occasion. The Isanna Indians are said not to be nearly so numerous, nor to increase so rapidly, as the Uaupes ; which may perhaps be owing to their marrying with relations, while the former prefer strangers.
The Arekainas make war against other tribes, to obtain prisoners for food, like the Cobeus. In their superstitions and religious ideas they much resemble the Uaupes.
The Macas are one of the lowest and most uncivilised tribes of Indians in the Amazon district. They inhabit the forests
^3 ​354 ON THE ABORIGINES
and serras about the rivers Marid, Curicuriarf, and Urubaxf, and live a wandering life, having no houses and no fixed place of abode, and of course no clothing ; they have little or no iron, and use the tusks of the wild pig to scrape and form their bows and arrows, and they make a most deadly kind of poison to anoint them. At night they sleep on a bundle of palm-leaves, or stick up. a few leaves to make a shed if it rains, or sometimes, with "sipds," construct a rude hammock, which, however, serves only once. They eat all kinds of birds and fish, roasted or boiled in palm-spathes ; and all sorts of wild fruits.
The Macas often attack the houses of other Indians situated in solitary places, and murder all the inhabitants ; and they have even depopulated and caused the removal of several villages. All the other tribes of Indians catch them and keep them as slaves, and in most villages you will see some of them. They are distinguishable at once from the surrounding tribes by a wavy and almost curly hair, and by being rather lanky and ill-formed in their limbs : I am inclined, however, to think that this latter is partly owing to their mode of life, and the hardships and exposure they have to undergo ; and some that I have seen in the houses of traders have been as well-formed and hand- some as any of the other Indian tribes.
The Curetus are a nation inhabiting the country about the river ' Apaporfs, between the Japura and Uaupes. I met with some Indians of this tribe on the Rio Negro, and the only peculiarity I observed in them was, that their cheek-bones were rather more prominent than usual. From them, and from an Isanna Indian who had visited them, I obtained some information about their customs.
They wear their hair long like the Uaupes, and, like them, the women go entirely naked; and they paint their bodies, but do not tattoo. Their houses are large and circular, with walls of thatch, and a high conical capped roof, made like some chimney-pots, with the upper part overlapping, so as to let the smoke escape without allowing the rain to enter. They do not wander about, but reside in small permanent villages, governed by a chief, and are said to be long-lived and very peaceable, never quarrelling or making war with other nations. The men have but one wife. There are no pagds, or priests, among them, and they have no ideas of a superior Being. They cultivate mandiocca, maize, and other fruits, and use ​OF THE AMAZON. 355
game more than fish for food. No civilised man has ever been among them, so they have no salt, and a very scanty supply of iron, and obtain fire by friction. It is said also that they differ from most other tribes in making no intoxicating drinks. Their language is full of harsh and aspirated sounds, and is somewhat allied to those of the Tucanos and Cobeus among the Uaupds.
In the lower part of the Japura" reside the " Uaenambeus," or Humming-bird Indians. I met with some of them in the Rio Negro, and obtained some information as to their customs and language. In most particulars they much resemble the last-mentioned tribe, particularly in their circular houses, their food, and mode of life. Like them they weave the fibres of the Tuciim palm-leaf {Astrocaryum vulgare) to make their hammocks, whereas the Uaupes and Isanna Indians always use the leaf of the Miriti (Mauritia flexuosa). They are dis- tinguished from other tribes by a small blue mark on the upper lip. They have from one to four wives, and the women always wear a small apron of bark.
Closely allied to these are the Juris of the Solimoes, between the Iga and Japura. A number of them have migrated to the Rio Negro, and become settled and partly civilised there. They are remarkable for a custom of tattooing in a circle (not in a square, as in a plate in Dr. Prichard's work) round the mouth, so as exactly to resemble the little black-mouthed squirrel-monkeys (Callithrix sriureus) ; from this cause they are often called the Juripixunas (Black Juris), or by the#Brazilians "Bocapreitos" (Black-mouths). From this strange errors have arisen : we find in some maps the note " Juries, curly-haired Negroes," whereas they are pure straight-haired Indians. They are good servants for canoe and agricultural work, and are the most skilful of all in the use of the gravatana, or blow-pipe.
In the same neighbourhood are Miranhas, who are canni- bals ; and the Ximanas and Cauxanas, who kill all their first- born children : in fact, between the Upper Amazon, the Guaviare, and the Andes, there is a region as large as England, whose inhabitants are entirely uncivilised and unknown.
On the south side of the Amazon also, between the Madeira and the Uaycali, and extending to the Andes of Peru and Bolivia, is a still larger tract of unknown virgin forest, unin- habited by a single civilised man : here reside numerous ​356 ON THE ABORIGINES
nations of the native American race, known only by the reports of the border tribes, who form the communication between them and the traders of the great rivers.
One of the best-known and most regularly visited rivers of this great tract is the Puriis, whose mouth is a short distance above the Rio Negro, but whose sources, a three months' voyage does not reach. Of the Indians found on the banks of this river I have been able to get some information. Five tribes are met with by the traders : — i. Muras, from the mouth to sixteen days' voyage up.
2. Purupuriis, from thence to about thirty days' voyage up.
3. Catauxis, in the district of the Purupuriis, but in the igaripes and lakes inland.
4. Jamamaris, inland on the west bank.
5. Jubiris, on the river-banks above the Purupuriis.
The Miiras are rather a tall race, have a good deal of beard for Indians, and the hair of the head is slightly crisp and wavy. They used formerly to go naked, but now the men all wear trousers and shirts, and the women petticoats. Their houses are grouped together in small villages, and are scarcely ever more than a roof supported on posts ; very rarely do they take the trouble to build any walls. They make no hammocks, but hang up three bands of a bark called "invira," on which they sleep ; but the more civilised now purchase of the traders hammocks made by other Indians. They practise scarcely any cultivation, except sometimes a little mandiocca, but generally live on wild fruits, and abundance of fish and game : their food is entirely produced by the river, consisting of the Manatus, or cow-fish, which is as good as beef, turtles, and various kinds of fish, all of which are in great abundance, so that the traders say there are no people who live so well as the Miiras ; they have therefore no occasion for gravatanas, which they do not make, but have a great variety of bows and arrows and harpoons, and construct very good canoes. They now all cut their hair ; the old men have a large hole in their lower lip filled up with a piece of wood, but this custom is now disused. Each man has two or three wives, but there is no ceremony of marriage ; and they bury their dead some- times in the house, but more commonly outside, and put all the goods of the deceased upon his grave. The women use necklaces and bracelets of beads, and the men tie the seeds ​OF THE AMAZON. 357
of the india-rubber tree to their legs when they dance. Each village has a Tushaua : the succession is hereditary, but the chief has very little power. They have pages, whom they believe to have much skill, and are afraid of, and pay well. They were formerly very warlike, and made many attacks upon the Europeans, but are now much more peaceful ; and are the most skilful of all Indians in shooting turtles and fish, and in catching the cow-fish. They still use their own language among themselves, though they also understand the Lingoa Geral. The white traders obtain from them salsaparilha, oil from turtles' eggs and the cow-fish, Brazil-nuts, and estopa, which is the bark of the young Brazil-nut tree {Bertholletia excelsa), used extensively for caulking canoes ; and pay them in cotton goods, harpoon and arrow-heads, hooks, beads, knives, cutlasses, etc.
The next tribes, the Purupurus, are in many respects very peculiar, and differ remarkably in their habits from any other nation we have yet described. They call themselves Pamouiris, but are always called by the Brazilians Purupurus, a name also applied to a peculiar disease, with which they are almost all afflicted : this consists in the body being spotted and blotched with white, brown, or nearly black patches, of irregular size and shape, and having a very disagreeable appearance : when young, their skins are clear, but' as they grow up, they invariably become more or less spotted. Other Indians are sometimes seen afflicted in this manner, and they are then said to have the Purupuru ; though it does not appear whether the disease is called after the tribe of Indians who are most subject to it, or the Indians after the disease. Some say that the word is Portuguese, but this seems to be a mistake.
The Purupurus, men and women, go perfectly naked ; and their houses are of the rudest construction, being semi-cylindri- cal, like those of our gipsies, and so small, as to be set up on the sandy beaches and carried away in their canoes whenever they wish to move. These canoes are of the rudest construc- tion, having a flat bottom and upright sides, — a mere square box, and quite unlike those of all other Indians. But what distinguishes them yet more from their neighbours is, that they use neither the gravatana, nor bow and arrows, but have an instrument called a " palheta," which is a piece of wood with a projection at the end, to secure the base of the arrow, the ​358 ON THE ABORIGINES
middle of which is held with the handle of the palheta in the hand, and thus thrown as from a sling : they have a surprising dexterity in the use of this weapon, and with it readily kill game, birds, and fish.
They grow a few fruits, such as yams and plantains, but sel- dom have any mandiocca, and they construct earthen pans to cook in. They sleep in their houses on the sand of the prayas, making no hammocks or clothing of any kind ; they make no fires in their houses, which are too small, but are kept warm at night by the number of persons in them. They bore large holes in the upper and lower lip, in the septum of the nose, and in the ears ; at their festivals they insert in these holes sticks, six or eight inches long ; at other times they have only a short piece in, to keep them open. In the wet season, when the prayas and banks of the river are all flooded, they construct rafts of trunks of trees bound together with creepers, and on them erect their huts, and live there till the waters fall again, when they guide their raft to the first sandy beach that appears.
Little is known of their domestic customs and superstitions. The men have each but one wife ; the dead are buried in the sandy beaches ; and they are not known to have any pages A few families only live together, in little movable villages, to each of which there is a Tushaua. They have, at times, dances and festivals, when they make intoxicating drinks from wild fruits, and amuse themselves with rude musical instruments, formed of reeds and bones. They do not use salt, but prefer payment in fish-hooks, knives, beads, and farinha, for the salsaparilha and turtle-oil which they sell to the traders.
May not the curious disease, to which they are so subject, be produced by their habit of constantly sleeping naked on the sand, instead of in the comfortable, airy, and cleanly hammock, so universally used by almost every other tribe of Indians in this part of South America ?
The Catauixis, though in the immediate neighbourhood of the last, are very different. They have permanent houses, cultivate mandiocca, sleep in hammocks, and are clean-skinned. They go naked like the last, but do not bore holes in their nose and lips ; they wear a ring of twisted hair on their arms and legs. They use bows, arrows, and gravatdnas, and make the ervadura, or ururf poison. Their canoes are made of the bark of a tree, taken off entire. They eat principally forest ​OF THE AMAZON. 3S9
game, tapirs, monkeys, and large birds; they are, however, cannibals, killing and eating any Indians of other tribes they can procure, and they preserve the meat, smoked and dried. Senhor Domingos, a Portuguese trader up the river Purus, informed me that he once met a party of them, who felt his belly and ribs, as a butcher would handle a sheep, and talked much to each other, apparently intimating that he was fat, and would be excellent eating.
Of the Jamamaris we have no authentic information, but that they much resemble the last in their manners and customs, and in their appearance.
The Jubiris are equally unknown ; they, however, most resemble the Purupurus in their habits and mode of life, and, like them, have their bodies spotted and mottled, though not to such a great extent.
In the country between the Tapajoz and the Madeira, among the labyrinth of lakes and channels of the great island of the Tupinambaranos, reside the Mundrucus, the most war- like Indians of the Amazons. These are, I believe, the only perfectly tattooed nation in South America : the markings are extended all over the body; they are produced by pricking with the spines of the pupunha palm, and rubbing in the soot from burning pitch to produce the indelible bluish tinge
They make their houses with mud walls, in regular villages. In each village they have a large building which serves as a kind of barrack, or fortress, where all the men sleep at night, armed with their bows and arrows, ready in case of alarm : this house is surrounded within with dried heads of their enemies : these heads they smoke and dry, so as to preserve all the features and the hair most perfectly. They make war every year with an adjoining tribe, the Parentintins, taking the women and children for slaves, and preserving the heads of the men. They make good canoes and hammocks. They live principally on forest-game, and are very agricultural, making quantities of farinha and growing many fruits. The men have each one wife, and each village its chief. Cravo or wild nutmegs, and farinha, are the principal articles of their trade ; and they receive in exchange cotton cloth, iron goods, salt, beads, etc.
In the Rio Branco are numerous tribes, and some of them are said to practise circumcision. ​36o ON THE ABORIGINES
Others, near the sources of the Tapajdz, make the girls undergo the same cruel initiation as has been already described as common among the Uaupes and Isanna Indians.
On the north banks of the Rio Negro are many uncivilised tribes, very little known.
On the south banks, the Manaos were formerly a very numerous nation. It appears to have been from these tribes that the various accounts of imaginary wealth prevalent soon after the discovery of America were derived ; the whole of them are now civilised, and their blood mingles with that of some of the best families in the Province of Pari; their language is said still to exist, and to be spoken by many old persons, but I was never fortunate enough to meet with any one under- standing it.
One of the singular facts connected with these Indians of the Amazon valley, is the resemblance which exists between some of their customs, and those of nations most remote from them. The gravatana, or blow-pipe, reappears in the sumpitan of Borneo ; the great houses of the Uaupes closely resemble those of the Dyaks of the same country ; while many small baskets and bamboo-boxes, from ' Borneo and New Guinea, are so similar in their form and construction to those of the Amazon, that they would be supposed to belong to adjoining tribes. Then again the Mundruais, like the Dyaks, take the heads of their enemies, smoke-dry them with equal care, preserving the skin and hair entire, and hang them up around their houses. In Australia the throwing-stick is used ; and, on a remote branch of the Amazon, we see a tribe of Indians differing from all around them, in substituting for the bow a weapon only found in such a remote portion of the earth, among a people differing from them in almost every physical character.
It will be necessary to obtain much more information on this subject, before we can venture to decide whether such similarities show any remote connection between these nations, or are mere accidental coincidences, produced by the same wants, acting upon people subject to the same conditions of climate and in an equally low state of civilisation ; and it offers additional matter for the wide-spreading speculations of the ethnographer.
The main feature in the personal character of the Indians ​figures on the granite rocks of the river uaupés. Plate XV. ​OF' THE AMAZON. 361
of this part of South America, is a degree of diffidence, bash- fulness, or coldness, which affects all their actions. It is this that produces their quiet deliberation, their circuitous way of introducing a subject they have come to speak about, talking half an hour on different topics before mentioning it : owing to this feeling, they will run away if displeased rather than complain, and will never refuse to undertake what is asked them, even when they are unable or do not intend to perform it.
It is the same peculiarity which causes the men never to exhibit any feeling on meeting after a separation ; though they have, and show, a great affection for their children, whom they never part with ; nor can they be induced to do so, even for a short time. They scarcely ever quarrel among themselves, work hard, and submit willingly to authority. They are ingeni- ous and skilful workmen, and readily adopt any customs of civilised life that may be introduced among them ; and they seem capable of being formed, by education and good govern- ment, into a peaceable and civilised community.
This change, however, will, perhaps, never take place : they are exposed to the influence of the refuse of Brazilian society, and will probably, before many years, be reduced to the condition of the other half-civilised Indians of the country, who seem to have lost the good qualities of savage life, and gained only the vices of civilisation.