226 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



V 



are quite pretty, but as a general thing the Indians in this 

 part of the country do not look very healthy, and are apt to 

 have diseases of the eyes and skin. It is a curious thing 

 that the natives seem more liable to the maladies of the 

 country than strangers. They are very subject to inter- 

 mittent fevers, and one often sees Indians worn to mere 

 skin and bone by this terrible scourge. 



If the morning walk in the woods is delightful, the even- 

 ing stroll on the beach in front of the house is no less so, 

 when the water is dyed in the purple sunset, and the quiet 

 of the scene is broken here and there by a fire on the sands, 

 around which a cluster of Indians are cooking their supper. 

 As Major Coutinho and I were walking on the shore last 

 evening we came on such a group. They were a family 

 who had come over from their home on the other side 

 of the lake, with a boat-load of fish and turtle to sell 

 in the village. When they have disposed of their cargo, 

 they build their fire on the beach, eat their supper of 

 salted or broiled fish, farinha, and the nuts of a particu- 

 lar kind of palm (Atalea), and then sleep in their canoe. 

 We sat down with them, and, that they should not think 

 we came merely out of curiosity, we shared their nuts 

 and farinha, and they were soon very sociable. I am con- 

 stantly astonished at the frank geniality of these people, 

 so different from our sombre, sullen Indians, who are so 

 unwilling to talk with strangers. The cordiality of their 

 reception, however, depends very much on the way in 

 which they are accosted. Major Coutinho, who has passed 

 years among them, understands their character well, and 

 has remarkable tact in his dealings with them. He speaks 

 their language a little also, and this is important here 

 where many of the Indians speak only the " lingua geral." 



