NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



belonging *> the same tribe are not able to 

 understand each other. 



The civilized Tapuyo of Para differs in no 

 essential point, in physical or moral qualities, 

 from the Indian of the interior. He is more 

 stoutly built, being better fed than some of 

 them ; but in this respect there are great 

 differences among the tribes themselves. He 

 presents all the chief characteristics of the 

 American red man. The skin of a coppery 

 brown color, the features of the face broad, 

 and the hair black, thick, and straight. He is 

 generally about the middle height, thick-set, 

 has a broad muscular chest, well-shaped but 

 somewhat thick legs and arms, and small 

 hands and feet. The cheek bones are not 

 generally prominent ; the eyes are black, and 

 seldom oblique like those of the Tartar races 

 of Eastern Asia, which are supposed to have 

 sprung from the same original stock as the 

 American red man. The features exhibit 

 scarcely any mobility of expression ; this is 

 connected with the excessively apathetic and 

 undemonstrative character of the race. They 

 never betray, in fact they do not feel keenly, 

 the emotions of joy, grief, wonder, fear, and 

 so forth. They can never be excited to en- 

 thusiasm ; but they have strong affections, 

 especially those connected with family. It 

 is commonly stated by the whites and ne- 

 groes that the Tapuyo is ungrateful. Bra- 

 zilian mistresses of households, who have 

 much experience of Indians, have always a 

 long list of instances to relate to the stranger, 

 showing their base ingratitude. They cer- 

 tainly do not appear to remember or think 

 of repaying benefits, but this is probably be- 

 cause they did not require, and do not value, 

 such benefits as their would-be masters con- 

 fer upon them. I have known instances of 

 attachment and fidelity on the part of Indians 

 toward their masters, but these are excep- 

 tional cases. All the actions of the Indian 

 show that his ruling desire is to be let alone ; 

 he is attached to his home, his quiet monot- 

 onous forest and river life ; he likes to go to 

 towns occasionally, to see the wonders intro- 

 duced by the white man, but he has a great 

 repugnance to living in the midst of the 

 crowd ; he prefers handicraft to field labor, 

 and especially dislikes binding himself to reg- 

 ular labor for hire. He is shy and uneasy 

 before strangers, but if they visit his abode, 

 he treats them well, for he has a rooted ap- 

 preciation of the duty of hospitality ; there 

 is a pride about him, and being naturally 

 formal and polite, he acts the host with great 

 dignity. He withdraws from towns as soon 

 as the stir of civilization begins to make it- 

 self felt. When we first arrived at Para, 

 many Indian families resided there, for the 

 mode of living at that time was more like 

 lhat of a large village than a city ; but as 

 soon as river steamers and more business ac- 

 tivity were introduced, they all gradually 

 took themselves away. 



These characteristics of the Pa<n Indians 

 are applicable, of course, to some extent, to 

 the Mamelucos, who now constitute a great 

 proportion of the population. The inflexi- 



bility of character of the Indian, and his tot% 

 inability to accommodate himself to new ar- 

 rangements, will infallibly lead to his extinc- 

 tion, as immigrants, endowed with mor 

 supple organizations, increase, and civiliza- 

 tion advances in the Amazon region. But, 

 as the different races amalgamate readily, 

 and the offspring of white and Indian often 

 become distinguished Brazilian citizens, 

 there is little reason to regret the fate of the 

 race. Formerly the Indian was harshly 

 treated, and even now he is so in many parts 

 of the interior. But, according to the laws 

 of Brazil, he is a free citizen, having equal 

 privileges with the whites ; and there are 

 very strong enactments providing against the 

 enslaving and ill-treatment of the Indians. 

 The residents of the interior, who have no 

 higher principles to counteract instinctive 

 selfishness or antipathy of race, cannot com- 

 prehend why they are not allowed to compel 

 Indians to work for them, seeing that they 

 will not do it of their own accord. The in- 

 evitable result of the conflict of interests be- 

 tween a European and a weaker indigenous 

 race, when the two come in contact, is the 

 sacrifice of the latter. In the Para district, 

 the Indians are no longer enslaved, but they 

 are deprived of their lands, and this they 

 feel bitterly, as one of them, an industrious 

 and worthy man, related to me. 



On our second visit to the mills we stayed 

 ten days. There is a large reservoir and also 

 a natural lake near the place, both contain- 

 ing aquatic plants, whose leaves rest on the 

 surface like our water-lilies, but they are not 

 so elegant as our nymphaea, either in leaf or 

 flower. On the banks of these pools grow 

 quantities of a species of fan-leaved palm- 

 tree, the Carana, whose stems are surrounded 

 by whorls of strong spines. I sometimes 

 took a montaria and paddled myself alone 

 down the creek. One day 1 got upset, and 

 had to land on a grassy slope leading to an 

 old plantation, wher", I ran about naked 

 while my clothes were being dried on a bush. 

 The creek Iritiri is not so picturesque as 

 many others which I subsequently explored. 

 Toward the Magoary the banks at the edge 

 of the water are clothed with mangrove 

 bushes, and beneath them the muddy banks, 

 into which the long roots that hang down 

 from the fruit before it leaves the branches 

 strike their fibres, swarm with crabs. On 

 the lower branches the beautiful bird, Ardea 

 helias, is found. This is a small heron of 

 exquisitely graceful shape and mien ; its 

 plumage is minutely variegated with bars 

 and spots of many colors, like the wings of 

 certain kinds of moths. It is diflicult to see 

 the bird in the woods, on account of its som- 

 bre colors and the shadiness of its dwelling- 

 places ; but its note, a soft long-drawn 

 whistle, often betrays its hiding-place. I 

 was told by the Indians that it builds in trees, 

 and that the nest, which is made of clay, is 

 beautifully constructed. It is a favorite pet- 

 hird of the Brazilians, who call it Pavai 

 ' Jbnounced pavaong), or peacock. I often 



