RETURN TO MANAOS. 269 
about their own way of life. They said the present gath- 
ering of neighbors and friends was no unusual occurrence, 
for they have a great many festas, which, though partly 
religious in character, are also occasions of great festivity. 
These festas are celebrated at different sitios in turn, the 
saint of the day being carried, with all his ornaments, can- 
dles, bouquets, &c., to the house where the ceremony is to 
take place, and where all the people of the village congre- 
gate. Sometimes the festa lasts for several days, and is 
accompanied with processions, music, and dances in the 
evening. But the women said the forest was very sad 
now, because their men had all been taken as recruits, 
or were seeking safety in the woods. The old Senhora 
told me a sad story of the brutality exercised in recruit- 
ing the .Indians. She assured me that they were taken 
wherever found, without regard to age or circumstances, 
women and children often being dependent upon them ; 
and if they made resistance, were carried off by force, and 
frequently handcuffed or had heavy weights attached to 
their feet. Such proceedings are entirely illegal ; but these 
forest villages are so remote, that the men employed to 
recruit may practice any cruelty without being called to 
account for it. If the recruits are brought in in good 
condition, no questions are asked. These women said 
that all the work of the sitios the making of farinha, 
the fishing, the turtle-hunting- -was stopped for want of 
hands. The appearance of things certainly confirms this, 
for we scarcely see any men in the villages, and the ca- 
noes we meet are mostly rowed by women. 
Yet I must say that the life of the Indian woman, so 
far as we have seen it, seems enviable, in comparison with 
that of the Brazilian lady in the Amazonian towns. The 
