318 A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



ever will be different. The woman s face is more mobile ; 

 occasionally a smile lights it up, and her expression is sweet 

 and gentle. Even her painted spectacles do not destroy the 

 soft, drooping look in the eyes, very common among the 

 Indian women here, and, as it would seem, characteristic of 

 the women in the South American tribes ; for Humboldt 

 speaks of it in those of the Spanish provinces to the north. 

 Major Coutinho tells us that the tattooing has nothing to 

 do with individual taste, but that the pattern is appointed 

 for both sexes, and is invariable throughout the tribe. It 

 is connected with their caste, the limits of which are very 

 precise, and with their religion. The tradition runs thus, 

 childish and inconsequent, like all such primitive fables. 

 The first man, Caro Sacaibu, was also divine. Associated 

 with him was his son, and an inferior being named Rairu, 

 to whom, although he was as it were his prime minister 

 and executed his commands, Caro Sacaibu was inimical. 

 Among other stratagems he used to get rid of him was 

 the following. He made a figure in imitation of a tatu 

 (armadillo), and buried it partly in the earth, leaving 

 only the tail exposed. He covered the tail with a kind 

 of oil, which when touched adheres to the skin. He then 

 commanded Rairu to drag the half-buried tatu out of its 

 hole and bring it to him. Rairu seized it by the tail, but 

 was of course unable to withdraw his hand, and the tatu, 

 suddenly endowed with life by the Supreme Being, dived 

 into the earth, dragging Rairu with him. The story does 

 not say how Rairu found his way out of the earth again, 

 but, being a spirit of great cunning and invention, he 

 contrived to reach the upper air once more. On his re 

 turn, he informed Caro Sacaibu that he had found in the 

 earth a great many men and women, and that it woild 



