THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS. 



of much harm to the Brazilian Indian. He 

 lias his drinking bout now and then, like the 

 common working people of other countries. 

 It was his habit in his original state, before 

 Europeans visited his country ; but he is 

 always ashamed of it afterward, and remains 

 sober during the pretty long intervals. The 

 harsh, slave-driving practices of the Portu- 

 guese and their descendants have been the 

 greatest curses to the Indians ; theMunduru- 

 cus of the Cupari, however, have been now 

 for many years protected against ill-treat- 

 ment. This is one of the good services ren- 

 dered by the missionaries, who take oaje that 

 the Brazilian law in favor of the aborigines 

 shall be respected by the brutal and unprinci- 

 pled traders who go among them. I think 

 no Indians could be in a happier position than 

 these simple, peaceful, and friendly people 

 on the banks of the Cupari. The members 

 of each family live together, and seem to be 

 much attached to each other ; and the au- 

 thority of the chief is exercised in the mild- 

 est manner. Perpetual summer reigns around 

 them ; the land is of the highest fertility, 

 $ind a moderate amount of light work pro- 

 riuces them all the necessaries of their simple 

 life. It is difficult to get at their notions on 

 subjects that require a little abstract 

 thought ; but the mind of the Indian is in a 

 very primitive condition. I believe he thinks of 

 nothing except the matters that immediately 

 concern his daily material wants. There is an 

 almost total absence of curiosity in his men- 

 tal dispositioL, consequently he troubles him- 

 self very little concerning the causes of the 

 natural phenomena around him. He has no 

 idea cf a Supreme Being ; but, nt the same 

 time, he is free from revolting superstitions 

 his religious notions going no f Hither than 

 the belief in ae evil spirit, regarded merely 

 as a kind of hobgoblin, who is at the bottom 

 of all his little failures, troubles in fishing, 

 hunting, and so forth. With so little mental 

 activity and with feelings and passions slow 

 of excitement, the life of these people is 

 naturally monotonous and dull, and their vir- 

 tues are, properly speaking, onty negative ; 

 ibut the pictuie of haimless homely content- 

 ment they exhibit is very pleasing, com- 

 pared with the state of savage races in many 

 Dther parts of the world. 



The raen awoke me at four o'clock with 

 tl e Found of their oars on leaving the port of 

 1he Tushaua. I was surprised to rind a dense 

 fog veiling all surrounding objects, and the 

 air quite cold. The lofty wall of forest, with 

 the beautiful ci owns of Assai palms standing 

 Dut from it on their slender, arching stems, 



.looked dim and strange through the misty 

 curtain. The sudden change a little after 

 sunrise had quite a magical effect ; for the 

 mist rose up like the gauze veil before the 

 *ransformation scene at a pantomime, and 



-showed the glorious foliage in the bright glow 



-of morning, glittering with dew-drops. We 

 ^arrived at the falls about ten o'clock. The 

 river here is net more than forty yards bioad, 



.sand falls over a low ledge of rock stretching 



in a nearly straight line across. 



We had now arrived at the end of the navi. 

 gation for large vessels a distance from the 

 mouth of the river, according to a rough cal- 

 culation, of a little over seventy miles. I 

 found it the better course now to send Jcse 

 and one of the men forward in the montaria 

 with John Aracu, and remain myself with 

 the cuberta and our other men, to collect in 

 the neighboring foiest. We stayed here four 

 days ; one of the beats returning each even- 

 ing from the upper river with the produce 

 of the day's chase of my huntsmen. I ob- 

 tained six good specimens of the hyacinthine 

 macaw, besides a number of smaller birds, a 

 species new to me of Guaiiba, or howling 

 monkey, and two large lizards. The Guan- 

 ba was an old male, with the hair much woi n 

 from his rump and breast, and his body dis- 

 figured with large tumors made by the grubs 

 of a gad-fly (^Estrus). The back and tail 

 were of a ruddy- brown color ; the limbs and 

 under side of the body, black. The men as- 

 cended to the second falls, which form a 

 cataract several feet in height about fifteen 

 miles beyond our anchorage. The macaws 

 were found feeding in small flocks on fruit 

 of the Tucunm palm (Astryocaryum Tucu- 

 ma), the excessively hard nut of which is 

 crushed into pulp by the powerful beak of 

 the bird. I found the craws of all the speci- 

 mens rilled with the sour paste to which the 

 stone-like fruit luid been reduced. Each bird 

 lock mo three hours to skin, and I was occu- 

 pied with these arid my other specimens 

 every evening until midnight, after my own 

 laborious day's hunt ; working on the roof 

 of my cabin by the light of a lamp. 



The place where the cuberta was anchored 

 formed a little rocky haven, with u sandy 

 beach sloping to the forest, within which 

 were the ruins of an Indian Maloca, and a 

 large weed-grown plantation. The port 

 swarmed with fishes, whose movements it 

 was amusing to watch in the deep, clear 

 water. The most abundant were the Piian- 

 has. One species, which varied in length, 

 according to age, from two to six inches, but 

 was recognizable by a black spot at the root 

 of the tail, was always the quickest to seize 

 any fragment of meat thrown into the water. 

 When nothing was being given to them, a 

 few only were seen scattered about, their 

 heads all turned one way in an altitude of 

 expectation ; but as soon as any offal fell 

 from the canoe the water was blackened 

 with the shoals that rushed instantaneously' 

 to the spot. Those who did not succeed in 

 securing a fragment fought with those who 

 had been more successful, and many con- 

 trived t j steal the coveted morsels from their 

 mouths. When a bee or fly passed through 

 the air near the water, they all simultaneously 

 darted toward it as if roused by an electric 

 shock. Sometimes a larger fish approached, 

 and 1 hen the host of Piranhas took the alarm 

 and flashed out of sight. The population of the 

 wa'er varied from day today. Once a small 

 slioal of a handsome black-banded fish.called 

 Uie natives Acara bundeka CMesonauta 



