192 A JOURNEY IX BRAZIL. 



heads. They make quite a procession at morning and 

 evening ; for the river water is not considered good, and 

 the town is chiefly supplied from pools and little stream- 

 lets in the woods. Many of these pools, very prettily 

 situated and embowered in trees, are used as bathing- 

 places ; one, which is quite large and deep, is a special 

 favorite ; it has been thatched over with palm, and has 

 also a little thatched shed adjoining, to serve as a dressing- 

 room. 



Yesterday we passed an interesting morning at a school 

 for Indian children a little way out of the city. We were 

 astonished at the aptness they showed for the arts of civiliza- 

 tion so uncongenial to our North American Indians: it, re- 

 minded one that they are the successors, on the same soil, 

 of the races who founded the ancient civilizations of Peru 

 and Mexico, so much beyond any social organization known 

 to have existed among the more northern tribes. In one 

 room they were turning out very nice pieces of furniture, 

 chairs, tables, book-stands, &c., with a number of smaller 

 articles, such as rulers and paper-knives. In another room 

 they were working in iron, in another making fine fancy 

 articles of straw. Besides these trades, they are taught 

 to read, write, and cipher, and to play on various musical 

 instruments. For music they are said to have, like the 

 negro, a natural aptitude. In the main building were 

 the school-rooms, dormitories, store-rooms, kitchen, &c. 

 We were there just at the breakfast hour, and had the 

 satisfaction of seeing them sit down to a hearty meal, 

 consisting of a large portion of bread and butter and a 

 generous bowl of coffee. I could not help contrasting the 

 expression of these boys, when they were all collected, 

 with that of a number of negro children assembled to- 



