346 ON THE ABORIGINES 



All the tribes bore their ears, and wear in them little pieces of 

 grass, ornamented with feathers. The Cobeus alone expand 

 the hole to so large a size, that a bottle-cork could be inserted : 

 they ordinarily wear a plug of wood in it, but, on festas, insert 

 a little bunch of arrows. 



The men generally have but one wife, but there is no special 

 limit, and many have two or three, and some of the chiefs 

 more ; the elder one is never turned away, but remains the 

 mistress of the house. They have no particular ceremony at 

 their marriages, except that of always carrying away the girl by 

 force, or making a show of doing so, even when she and her 

 parents are quite willing. They do not often marry with re- 

 lations, or even neighbours, preferring those from a distance, 

 or even from other tribes. When a young man wishes to have 

 the daughter of another Indian, his father sends a message to 

 say he will come with his son and relations to visit him. The 

 girl's father guesses what it is for, and, if he is agreeable, makes 

 preparations for a grand festival : it lasts, perhaps, two or three 

 days, when the bridegroom's party suddenly seize the bride, 

 and hurry her off to their canoes ; no attempt is made to pre- 

 vent them, and she is then considered as married. 



Some tribes, as the Uacarras, have a trial of skill at shooting 

 with the bow and arrow, and if the young man does not show 

 himself a good marksman, the girl refuses him, op the ground 

 that he will not be able to shoot fish and game enough for the 

 family. 



The dead are almost always buried in the houses, with their 

 bracelets, tobacco-bag, and other trinkets upon them : they 

 are buried the same day they die, the parents and relations 

 keeping up a continual mourning and lamentation over the 

 body, from the death to the time of interment ; a few days 

 afterwards, a great quantity of caxiri is made, and all friends 

 and relations invited to attend, to mourn for the dead, and to 

 dance, sing, and cry to his memory. Some of the large houses 

 have more than a hundred graves in them, but w T hen the houses 

 are small, and very full, the graves are made outside. 



The Tarianas and Tucanos, and some other tribes, about a 

 month after the funeral, disinter the corpse, which is then 

 much decomposed, and put it in a great pan, or oven, over the 

 fire, till all the volatile parts are driven off with a most horrible 

 odour, leaving only a black carbonaceous mass, which is 



