395 from bush to bush; the larger pigeons (Amarzoga and Troquase), seeking singly among the bushes for food, hasten alarmed to the summits of the neighbouring wood, where their brilliant plumage shines in the sun; numerous flocks of little monkeys run whistling and hissing to the recesses of the forest; the cavies, running about on the tops of the mountains, hastily secrete themselves under loose stones; the American ostriches (Emus), which herd in families, gallop at the slightest noise, like horses through the bushes, and over hills and valleys accompanied by their young; the dicholopus (Siriemas), which pursues serpents, flies, sometimes sinking into the grass, sometimes rising into the trees, or rapidly climbing the summits of the hills, where it sends forth its loud deceitful cry, resembling that of the bustard; the terrified armadillo (Tatú Canastra, Peba, Bola) runs fearfully about to look for a hiding-place, or, when the danger presses, sinks into its armour; the ant-eater (Tamanduá, Bandeira, mirim) runs heavily through the plain, and, in case of need, lying on its back, threatens its pursuers with its sharp claws. Far from all noise, the slender deer, the black tapir or the pecari, feed on the skirts of the forest., Elevated above all this, the red-headed vulture (Urubu) soars in the higher regions; the dangerous rattlesnake (Cascaoel), hidden in the grasses, excites terror by its rattle; the gigantic snake sports suspended from the tree with its head upon the ground; and the crocodile, resembling the trunk of a tree, basks in the sun on the banks of the pools. After all this has passed during the day before the eyes of the traveller, the approach of night, with the chirping of the grasshoppers, the monotonous cry of the goatsucker (João corta pão), the barking of the prowling wolf, and of the shy fox, or the roaring of the ounces, complete the singular picture of the animal kingdom in these peaceful plains.' Vol. II. pp. 159-163. Mr. Mawe has told us all about the gold-washing and the diamond mines; we shall not therefore follow these travellers Their account of the Paulistas is someto the city of riches. what meagre. That which they give of the Coroado and Coropo Indians, is not unacceptable, but the subject is a most disgusting one. In these southern tribes, no redeeming qualities appear to present themselves, such as have sometimes been exhibited by the North American Indians. They seem the negroes of the Western continent,-inferior in capacity to some of the African tribes, and in their physiognomy partaking of both the Ethiopian and the Calmuc. The following is a darkly coloured representation, and, we suspect, on some points, overcharged: it is, at all events, applicable, in its full extent, to some tribes only of the Indian family. The temperament of the Indian is almost wholly undeveloped, and appears as phlegm. All the powers of the soul, nay, even the more refined pleasures of the senses, seem to be in a state of le thargy. Without reflection on the whole of the creation, or the causes and internal connection of things, they live with their faculties directed only to self-preservation. They scarcely distinguish the past and the future, and hence they never provide for the following day. Strangers to complaisance, gratitude, friendship, humility, ambition, and, in general, to all delicate and noble emotions which adorn human society; obtuse, reserved, sunk in indifference to every thing, the Indian employs nothing but his naturally acute senses, his cunning, and his retentive memory, and that only in war or hunting, his chief occupations. Cold and indolent in his domestic relations, he follows mere animal instinct more than tender attachment; and his love to his wife shews itself only in cruel jealousy, which, with revenge, is the only passion that can rouse his stunted soul from its moody indifference. The men seem to have no sense of modesty ;* only the naked women, when they are in the presence of strangers, appear to shew it, by the manner of their walking. Insensible to the pleasures of the palate, particularly inclined to animal food, the Indian is in general abstemious, following only the calls of nature, without regard to time, and often fasting to suit his convenience;" but he drinks to excess of his Vinhassa, or of brandy when he can procure it. Still and docile in the service of the whites; unremit tingly persevering in the work assigned him: not to be excited by any treatment to anger, though he may to long cherished revenge he is born, as the colonists are used to say, only to be commanded. Neither thievish nor deceitful, having no eagerness after any thing that does not relate to the wants of the stomach, he' keeps always isolated and separate from the family. However carefully attended by the colonists in sickness, or, in general, loaded with benefits, he feels, during his convalescence, only the greater: longing for his wandering life; and, almost incapable of gratitude, flies, even without any particular inducement, back to his gloomy forests. By no means inclined to conversation, he sleeps during a part of the day; plays, when not occupied in the chase, with his domestic animals; or sits gazing intently without thought, sometimes frightened, as in a dream, by fanciful images. Chained to the present, he hardly ever raises his eyes to the starry firmament. Yet he is actuated by a certain awe of some constellations, as of every thing that indicates a spiritual connection of things. His chief attention, however, is not directed to the sun, but to the moon; according to which he calculates time, and from which he is used to deduce good and evil. As all that is good passes without notice by him, and only what is disagreeable makes an impression on him; he acknowledges no cause of good, or no God, but only an evil principle, which meets him sometimes in the form of a lizard, of a man with stag's feet, of a crocodile, or an ounce; sometimes transforms itself into a swamp, &c., leads him astray, vexes him, brings him into difficulty and danger, and even kills him.' Vol. II. pp. 241-3. Prince Maximilian gives by no means a much more pleasing account of some of the tribes with which he formed an acquaintance. The Puries who inhabit the northern bank of the Parahyba, are thus described. ་ ་ མ ་ ་ They were all short, not above five feet five inches high; most of them, the women as well as the men, were broad and strong limbed. They were all quite naked, except a few who wore handkerchiefs round their waists, or short breeches, which they had obtained from the Portuguese. Some had their heads entirely shorn; others had their naturally thick, coal-black hair, cut over the eyes, and hanging down into the neck; some of them had their beards and eye-brows cut short. In general, they have but little beard; in most of them it forms only a thin circle round the mouth, and hangs down about three inches below the chin. Some had painted on their foreheads and cheeks, round red spots with urucu: on the breast and arms, on the contrary, they all had dark-blue stripes, made of the juice of the genipaba fruit. These are two colours which are employed by all the Tapuyas. Round the neck, or across the breast and one shoulder, they had rows of hard black-berries strung together, in the middle of which, in front, was a number of the eye-teeth of monkeys, ounces, cats, and wild animals. Some of them wore these necklaces without teeth. They have another similar ornament, which appears to be composed of the rind of certain vegetable excrescences, probably the thorns of some shrub. The men carry in their hands long bows and arrows, which, as well as all their effects, they, at our desire, bartered for trifles. Two of them had been brought up in their childhood among the Portuguese, and spoke their language a little. We gave them knives, rosaries, small looking-glasses, and distributed among them some bottles of sugar-brandy, on which they became extremely cheerful and familiar. We informed them of our intention to visit them in their woods early in the morning, if they would receive us well; and, on our promising also to bring other presents with us, they took their leave highly pleased, and, with loud shouts and singing, hastened back to their wilds. 1 The figure of the men is in general robust, squat, and often very muscular; the head large and round; the face broad, with mostly high cheek-bones; the eyes black, small, and sometimes oblique ; the nose short and broad, and their teeth very white: but some were distinguished by sharp features, small aquiline noses, and very lively eyes, which in very few of them have a pleasing look, but in most, a grave, gloomy, and cunning expression, shaded by their projecting foreheads. One of the men was distinguished from all the rest by his Calmuck physiognomy; he had a large round head, the hair of which was all cut to an inch in length, a very muscular robust body, a short, thick neck, a broad, flat face; his eyes, which were placed obliquely, were rather larger than those of the Calmucks usually are, very black, staring, and wild; the eye-brows were black, bushy, and much arched: the nose small, but with wide nostrils: the lips rather thick. This fellow, who, as our attendants said, had never been seen here before, appeared to us all so formidable, that we unanimously declared we should not like to meet him alone, unarmed, in a solitary place. All the men here carried their weapons, consisting of long bows and arrows, in their hands. The bow of the Puries and Coroadoes measures six feet and a half, or even more; it is smooth, made of the hard, tough, dark brown wood of the airi palm, and has a string composed of fibres of grawatha (bromelia.) The arrows of the Puries are often above six feet long, made of a firm knotty reed (taquara) which grows in the dry woods, feathered at the lower extremity with beautiful blue or red feathers, or with those of the peacock-pheasant, or of the jacutinga. Those of the Coroadoes are made of another reed, which has no joints. None of the tribes which I visited on this coast, poison their arrows: the ingenuity of these people, who are in the lowest stage of civilization, has, happily, not attained this art. When our first curiosity was satisfied, we requested the savages to conduct us to their huts. The whole troop preceded, and we followed on horseback. The way led into a valley which crossed the sugar plantations; it then decreased to a narrow path, till at length, in the thickest of the forest, we came to some huts, called cuari in the language of the Puries. They are certainly some of the most simple in the world. The sleeping-net, which is made of embira (bass from a kind of cecropia), is suspended between two trunks of trees, to which, higher up, a pole is fastened transversely by means of a rope of bindweed (cipo), against which large palm-leaves are laid obliquely on the windward side, and these are lined below with heliconia or pattioba leaves, and, when near the plantations, with those of the banana. Near a small fire on the ground lie some vessels of the fruit of the crescentia cujete, or a few gourd shells, a little wax, various trifles of dress or ornament, reeds for arrows and arrow-heads, some feathers and provisions, such as bananas and other fruit. The bows and arrows stand against a tree, and lean dogs rush loudly barking upon the stranger who approaches this solitude. The huts are small, and so exposed on every side, that when the weather is unfavourable, the brown inmates are seen seeking protection against it by crowding close round the fire, and cowering in the ashes: at other times, the man lies stretched at his ease in his hammock, while the woman attends the fire, and broils meat, which is stuck on a pointed stick. Fire, which the Puries call poté, is a prime necessary of life with all the Brazilian tribes: they never suffer it to go out, and keep it up the whole night, because they would otherwise, owing to the want of clothing, suffer severely from the cold; and beeause it is also attended with the im portant advantage of scaring all wild beasts from their huts. • As soon as we reached the huts, our exchange of commodities was set on foot. We made the women presents of rosaries, of which they are particularly fond, though they pulled off the cross, and laughed at this sacred emblem of the Catholic church. They have also a strong predilection for red woollen caps, knives, and red handkerchiefs, and most readily parted with their bows and arrows in exchange for these articles. The women were very eager after looking-glasses, but they set no value upon scissors. We obtained from them by barter, a great number of bows and arrows, and several large baskets. The latter are of green palm-leaves interwoven together: below, where they lie against the back, they have a bottom of platted work, and a high border of the same on the sides, but are generally open at top. All the savages frequently offer for sale large balls of wax, which they collect when gathering wild honey. They use this dark brown wax in preparing their bows and arrows, and also for candles, which they sell to the Portuguese. The Tapuyas make these candles, which burn extremely well, by wrapping a wick of cotton round a thin stick of wax, and then rolling the whole firmly together. They set a high value on their knife, which they fasten to a string round the neck, and let it hang down upon the back: it frequently consists only of a piece of iron, which they are constantly whetting on stones, and thus keep it very sharp. If you give them a knife, they generally break off the handle, and make another according to their own taste, by putting the blade between two pieces of wood, which they bind fast together with a string.' pp. 114-120. Rude insensibility, except under the stimulus of physical appetite or revenge, is represented as the most distinguishing trait of their character. No idols were seen among them, but they recognise in the thunder, the voice of a supreme Being, whom they call Tupan. Prince Maximilian says, that the Puries would never confess that they eat human flesh; but, that they feast on their slaughtered enemies, is attested by various witnesses. The most formidable tribe now found on the eastern coast, are the remains of the once powerful Aymores or Botucudoes*. These savages are distinguished by the practice of disfiguring themselves by the most singular ornament that ever the perverted taste of a savage mistook for an improvement upon nature. The nose-jewel is graceful and rational, in comparisonwith this hideous mouth-piece. The sight of the Botucudoes,' says Prince Maximilian, ' astonished us beyond all expression: we had never before seen such strange and singularly ugly beings. Their original countenances were further disfigured by large pieces of wood which they wore in their * The term Botucudo was given them by the Portuguese in allusion to this practice, botoque signifying in Portuguese, Prince Maximilian says, the bung of a barrel. Vieyra's Dictionary gives as the meaning of the word, a pierced stone worn by the Indians.' Mr. Luccock, considering the appellation as a barbarous term, half Tupi, half Por tuguese, assigns, but evidently on conjecture, a different derivation. (Notes on Rio de Janeiro, &c. p. 301.) The savages call themselves Engerekmoung, and are much displeased at being spoken of by their nick-name. |