RECOLLECTIONS OF BRAZIL. 307 



They never take the hand as a mark of friendship, but rub their noses 

 together ; they also clap their hands together as a mark of satisfaction 

 whenever they conclude an affair. The master of a hut receives 

 a stranger lolling in his hammock, and makes a sign to him to par- 

 take of the common repast ; and when the head of a family removes 

 the pipe from his mouth, and presents it his guest, the latter may rest 

 assured that it is a sacred pledge of hospitality that is never violated. 

 A lance fixed in the earth, on the frontiers of a territory, with a notch 

 made in the feathers, are emblems of war. 



The animal kingdom furnishes the Indians in the immense 

 forests of Brazil with an abundant supply of game ; but what they 

 bring in is regarded as the common property of the whole family ; 

 and therefore it is buried, in order that the women may go into the 

 wood and bring it home when wanted. When several Indians go 

 out together the game belongs to the hunter who brings it down. 

 No one can make use of the arms of another, especially of the Sar- 

 bocanna, (shooting trunk) which is supposed to be polluted by 

 coming in contact with the lips of a stranger. Hunting parties are 

 frequent, in order to destroy wild animals and monkeys ; the latter 

 is looked upon by the Indians as the most delicate food, and in fact 

 there are some species that in tenderness and flavour are superior 

 to a hare. They roast them on a spit before a fire, and as the struc- 

 ture and skeleton of these animals so closely resemble that of a 

 human being, the idea may have arisen that human flesh is their 

 habitual food. Not that these savages are free from the reproach of 

 cannibalism, but it is certain that it does not proceed from any 

 partialitv to that horrid excess, but solely to satisfy their thirst for 

 vengeance. 



Marriage is unaccompanied by any religious ceremony, the woman 

 whom a man selects as his companion is formrlly purchased from her 

 parents, without her inclination being even consulted, and becomes 

 from that moment the slave of her husband. Monogamy is the most 

 ordinary state, although polygamy is not forbidden. The first wife 

 has generally a kind of supremacy over all the rest in the domestic 

 affairs. The husband rarely treats his wives with kindness, and 

 keeps them in the most abject state of subjection. These savages 

 often ally themselves to weaker tribes, with the view of engaging 

 their wives' relations to come and settle among them, and by that 

 means to augment the number of their warriors. Among the 

 Guancurus the women speak a language different to that of the men : 

 this may perhaps arise from their being settled in a conquered 

 country, the male inhabitants of which have been all exterminated. 

 To obtain a wife by forcibly carrying her off is a very general 

 practice among them. A stoical indifference to both pleasure and 

 pain is the principal type of masculine virtue among all the tribes of 

 Brazil, as with those of North America ; for this reason, in some of 

 them the husband abstains from cohabiting with his wife for a certain 

 period, and very frequently, the Paes, like the feudal barons of the 

 middle ages enjoy " le droit du Seigneur" on the new married 

 woman. 



The degrees of hinderance to marriage vary considerably, but to 



