Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-06-27
flesh on the head, cleaning out the eyes


even.
Well, we passed the mouths of differ.
ent rivers, and followed the bank of the
Iapajos along till we came to the home
OF the Mundurucu. Up to this point ]
had travelled in five different boats The
Mundurucu all lived in one hut, which
was very filthy and crowded. They are
a nation of very large people. Where
they live is a place with hills on both
sides, through which the waters pour
with terrible force We got upon the
rocks and pulled our boats with cords.
Here we lost one of our boats. / lost
all of my clothes except those I had on
and one shirt which was wrapped round
the razors which | carried to trade with
the natives. One of my guides was lost
here. They were all powerful swimmers
or else they never would have reached
the rocks. The women of the Mundu-
rucu began to gather on the bank all
naked, weeping and shouting, while the
men were struggling in the water. Here
stopped week. A little further on,
at lrere, was sick for month. The
natives were very kind to me, and
brought me plenty to eat, beside drink
which they make out of different kinds
OF fruits. [ had boneset tea with me j;
that is all [ had in the way of medicine.
When L got better [ arranged for a
canoe and two native guides. We set
out on the river again, and [ lay in the
boat and covered myself up with a blan-
ket to keep those piums from biting me-
| was sick still, but [ wanted to get away
from the native doctor. He would put
his mouth close to my body and suck at
the place where I felt pain. Then he
would rub his hands all overit, and, put
ting down his face again, would lift it up
suddenly and spit out something like a
worm, which, Of course, he had in his
mouth already.
Going up the river we finally came
to the river Cururu. The forest was
Hooded for miles, no land anywhere to
encamp on. There was another boat
with me besides my own, and when we
got to Cururu / had fuss with the
chief in the other boat When | went
to take my spare shirt from about my
razors, the Indians saw them. They
began to act curiously, and [ walked
up to the boat two guides were drag
glng IN front, for we were crossing a
morass, and got my gun. I stepped up
to the chief and told him to vamoose,
or get out, in English, but he understood
well enough, for almost all natives know
a few words of Portuguese. He did
scowl at me terribly. 1 raised my gun
and aimed it at his head, and moved
OFT very slowly. All my guides went
except little fellow named Barney,
who still stuck to me. He and [ went
on, striking for the campo, and pulling
our boat slowly. The forest was flooded,
and within the woods there was plenty
Of game if we had been able to get at it,
but the only way we had was to shoot
from the boat as we went up the river.
Finally we reached that part of the
campo, or swampy plain, for which / was
heading, and then we left our boat and
set off to cross it, Barney and I. For
six days the only meat we had was a
monkey, small macaw and a duck.
These we ate raw. [ tell you [ remem-
Der those days. Oh, Lord, how the
piums bit. All round my neck in the
creases was solid sore, and you couldn't
touch my hands without making your
fingers bloody. We waded through the
w iINI olSt Iiu1t, tlIIS L udC 81 lOdu OI1 lily
back Of ninety-six pounds, too. Barney
walked ahead to spy out the land He
carried my gun. The long grass in the
swamp got between my toes and cut my
feet. My old shirt was torn half off me
and the sun was fiery hot in the campenos
Sometimes [ could hardly draw m y legs
out of the mud. Every day we had
rain. Far away we could see the highest
hills that had yet seen. Looking away
to the east you could see the open land
stretching out for miles. There was no
sound or voice or bird-nothing. We
went on, sometimes climbing hills and
sometimes going down into valleys. l
got dreadfully tired, and one day | sat
down on an ant hill to rest and to shift the
cords Of my load which cut into my
neck. | heard voice behind me and
turned, and there was six painted devils
with their bows drawn and their arrows
pointed straight me. hallowed out in
the t Mundurucu language, "This is a
friend, my brothers," At first they
hesitated, but finally they dropped their
bows and took out their arrows I had
caught up my gun, but I then put it
down. Tall, stalwart-looking fellows
they were, too, painted red on their
breasts and necks. Their ears were
pierced with great pieces of wood through
the lobe, and long strings of colored
feathers dangled from them. On the
top of their heads long tuft of hair
grew, which fell back on their necks. I
handed one of them a razor, and you
ought to have seen the grin that went
over their faces. We sat down by
creek close by, and tell you l never can
forget it. [ was very weak with walk
ing, felt very sick. They took the heavy
load off my back, and we stared off over
a terribly rough and rocky country.
Most Of the rocks [ saw were sandstone.
They brought me to a village, and the
women came out of the huts to meet us.
They were very curious and handled my
clothes, talking and laughing with one
another, and not showing me half the
respect which the men had"
Morris passed curious life at this vii
lage, where he staid for several weeks,
and then set out on his journey again to
explore the provinces of Paraand Matto-