60 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 
flutes. They stopped frequently to drink 
chicha,! and at intervals they sang the names 
of their dead warriors and mighty hunters, 
and called upon them for guidance and 
assistance. 
Utiarity proved to be a profitable collecting 
place. Many small rodents and a few larger 
mammals, including a soft-shelled armadillo 
collected by Colonel Roosevelt, were taken, 
besides a number of birds. We spent five 
days in the village (Colonel Roosevelt ar- 
rived three days after we did) at the end of 
which time Doctor Zahm accompanied by 
Mr. Sigg left the party and started back 
home. A short time later Mr. Fiala began 
his homeward trip down the Papagaio and 
Tapajos. 
Utiarity had been the first telegraph 
station in operation along the new line; the 
second was on the banks of the Rio Juruena, 
approximately one hundred kilometers away, 
and it required five days to reach this point. 
We had been compelled to reduce the amount 
of our baggage very materially shortly after 
leaving the Parecis village, as many of the 
cargo animals had given out on the trail, 
and the others were weakening perceptibly. 
Most of the tents were abandoned, and all 
superfluous clothing was left behind. The 
equipment for collecting and _ preserving 
specimens, unfortunately had to be reduced 
also, on account of its weight, so that we 
retained only a few hundred cartridges and 
about a dozen traps with which to prosecute 
the natural history work. This reduction of 
the impedimenta was unavoidable and af- 
fected every member of the party either 
directly or indirectly. It was one of the sev- 
eral instances where individual interests had 
to be sacrificed for the good of the whole 
expedition. 
At Juruena we made the acquaintance of a 
primitive tribe of Indians who probably 
represent the lowest type of civilization to be 
found anywhere on the South American 
continent. They are known as the Nhambi- 
quara. As we drew up on the river bank 
they gathered about and stared at the party 
curiously, but betrayed no hostile feelings. 
Colonel Rondon had but recently succeeded 
in establishing amicable relations with them. 
On his first visits to the country, numbers 
of his men had been slain by their poisoned 
1Chicha: a fermented drink made from maize 
or cane sugar. 
arrows, and they had resented his every step 
into their stronghold; but having been 
persistently treated with kindness, they 
have learned to look upon him as a friend, 
and some of them even appeared to be 
heartily glad to see him. 
In stature the Nhambiquara is short, but 
well-built, and of a very dark brown color. 
Clothes are absolutely unknown to them, 
and practically the only ornaments in their 
possession are strings of beads which they 
had received from Colonel Rondon. Some 
of the men have the nose and upper lip 
pierced and wear pieces of slender bamboo 
in these perforations. Their huts or malo- 
cas are rude structures of grass or leaves, 
and they cultivate small areas of mandioca, 
but wild fruits, game and wild honey form 
the principal articles of their diet. Bows 
six feet tall and made of palm wood, and 
long bamboo arrows are used both in hunting 
and in warfare. Frequently hunting parties 
go on long tramps through the jungle, sub- 
sisting entirely on the fruits of their prowess. 
At night a rude lean-to is built of branches, 
the game is roasted in a roaring fire and eaten, 
and then they stretch themselves on the bare 
ground to sleep. 
We remained a day at Juruena to rest and 
to develop films. The pictures taken by the 
various members of the party form one of 
the important records of the expedition, and 
great care has to be exercised in developing 
all exposed films promptly or they would be 
spoiled because of the hot, damp climate. 
The country beyond the Juruena is some- 
what rolling, but there is no appreciable 
change in the vegetation. We rode twenty 
kilometers the first day, camping on the 
banks of the Rio do Fomiga (February 10). 
Next day we travelled but twelve kilometers, 
reaching the Jurina, a shallow though rapid 
stream six hundred feet wide; the crossing 
was slow and laborious as there was only a 
very small balsa or ferry. Camp was pitched 
a league beyond, on the banks of a small 
stream. Near by were several deserted 
thatched huts, and the comparatively new 
graves where three Brazilians, one an army 
officer, had been buried. They had been 
slain by the Nhambiquara and buried in an 
upright position with the head and shoulders 
protruding above the ground. The following 
night, on the Rio Primavera we saw two 
other graves. The two men who had been 
interred here were slain while asleep in their 
