, 1879-07-31
Child-Lite on the Amazons,

Child-Hfe here is an exceedingly curl.
ous study; the little quiet creatures are
so different from our romping American
boys and girls, They get few caresses
and give none mother-love is mechani-
cal there is nothing of that overflow Of
tenderness, that constant watchful care,
that sheds such a halo around our homes.
The babies vegetate in their steady brown
fashion, seldom crying or laughing, but
lying all day in their hrmmock cradles
and watching everything around them
with keen eyes, AS soon as the little
boys and girls can toddle about they are
left pretty much to their own resources,
tumbling up the back stairs of life on
diet of mandioca meal and fish. The
parents seldom punish their children. for
they are very docile !; when they do, the
little ones pucker up their mouths and
look sullen, but do not cry. Pleasure is
expressed by smile--among the little
girls very often by a broad grin, with
abundant show of teeth-but an articul-
ate laugh is a rarity.
1t is interesting to watch how the
mental traits of the races appear even in
the young babies If plaything is Civ.
en- them they examine it gravely for a
little while, and then let it drop. Oh
serve how different this is from white
baby's actions. A bright little six
months old at home has four distinct
methods of investigation. First, by
looking; second, by touching; then by
putting the object in its mouth; and fl
nally by banging it against the floor.
The brown merino just looks; he does
not investigate at all. AS the children
grow older, the same trait is apparent in
almost every case. An Indian is con.
tent to hear or see a thing without ex'
amining or troubling himself about the
why's and wherefores; even such incom-
prehensibe pursuits as fossil-collecting,
or butterfly catching, or sketching, pro-
woke hardly any curiosity. The people
look on quietly, sometimes asking
question or two, but soon dismissing the
subject from their minds as something
they are incapable of understanding.
With all the crowding to see the lady of
our party, hardly u person asked why she
came. So, too, the babies are unambit-
ious they do not cry after pretty cclors,
or stretch out their hands to a candle,
And the men have no apparent desire to
better their lot. They go on just as
their fathers did submit to the imposi-
tion of the whites, little sullenly, but
without a thought of rebellion, unless
there is white or half-breed to lead
them. The children do not care much
for playthings we rarely see one with
a rag doll; the little boys delight in
bows and arrows, but they take them as
part of their training. Sometimes
the people have dances in imitation of
the festa sports: and we hear them hum
ming the waltzes and quadrilles which
their quick ears have caught from the
musicians. AS an Indian will paddle
steadily all day, while his wife at home
hardly ceases her monotonous cotton,
beating, so the little ones have an mex
haustible gift of patience. Where
white child would fret and cry, the
brown one sits all day, perfectly still,
but watching everything around him.
To see little Indian boy in canoe,
you would say that nothing of him was
alive but his eyes,-Herbert H. Smith,
n Scrihner's for July.