Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-06-03
A Primitive Brazilian Village.

In Erefe, q typical village OF the SEMI
civilized Amazonian Indians, we shall
learn how it is possible for men and
women to live almost separated from
the civilized world; how single family
can provide themselves, not only with
food, but with house, furniture, utensils
everything in fact but clothing and a
few coarse articles of iron and steel.
Wherever we go we will meet with
nothing but kindness and unostenta-
tious politeness. For instance, walking
across the weedy plot in front of our
windows we can call on old Joao Bap-
tista, the best hunter and the best fish
Serman in the village. Joao rises to meet
us, offering his hand Everybody shakes
hands here, even more than in the
States), and inviting us to a seat on the
rough wooden bench by the door. He
is: dressed in coarse canvass trousers
and short jacket or shirt; the cloth is
stained dull red with murnchy. 1t is
soiled, for this is his work-day dres s.;
but you may be sure that it covers a
clean body. The old man is busily
shaping paddle, using his clumsy
knife very cleverly on the hard itauba
wood. He converses quietly. answer
, ing our questions and asking a few in
return, but he is not laxative.
The women of the house remain at a
distance unless they are spoken to. The
code of social life here does not permit
them to intrude their presence ON male
visitors. If the lady of the party is with
us they sit by her side, curiously ex-
amining her clothing and asking simple
questions about her country-the far
away, wonderful land, which, like Rome
and paradise and heaven. exists to them
only in name. The little ones, after the
universal child-greeting of extending
their palms for blessing, stand watch
ing US silently.
Examine the structure of the hOus e..
Roughly hewn logs of itauba and pao
d'arco for the uprights set in the ground
: they will last for fifty years. Beams
and rafters are of other hardly less du-
rable timbers; the joints are secured
with pegs or with strips of bark. Roof
and sides are covered with excellent
palm-leaf thatch, tied on in regular lay
.ers, like shingles. AS for floor. there
is Mother Earth, with q few mats laid
down, under the hammocks. There are
no windows, and the door-ways are
closed with palm-leaf mats. So you
see the whole house is formed OF mate
rails which every Indian can gather in
the forest with no other tools than his
heavy wood-knife and clumsy, straight
handled ak. Some houses have the
sides built up with Jumps of clay gath
cred from the lowland creeks; walls of
this material, supported by q frame
work of poles and sticks, are durable
but very unsightlv. In the larger
places they cover the adobe with p1as-
ter and whitewash the outside very
neatly.
The dwelling does not boast of much
: furniture. Besides the reed mats and
; cotton hammocks, there are only two
(. or three benches (the boards of which
have been hewn out of solid logs and
some green wooden trunks with pre-
posterous keys. These latter contain
the fiesta dresses; the coarser, work
day garments hang on lines behind the
. hammocks. The trunks are rather ar
ticles of luxury than of necessity; in
other houses we will see great balaio
baskets taking their place; but every