BRAZIL, PARAGUAY, ETC. 



567 



away by shooting arrows, were supposed to be the cause of storms and eclipses; and fires were 

 kept burning over newly made graves to scare evil spirits. 



Another Brazilian stock-group is that of the Guarauian, or Tupi-Giiaranian. us it is often 

 termed; the Tupi tribes occupying a very large portion of Eastern Brazil, while Guarani peoples 

 are found about the head- waters of the main stream of the Amazons and its tributary the 

 Madeira, as well as in Paraguay and Uruguay. Both languages are near akin; but as the Tupi 

 tongue was chosen by the missionaries as the lingua franca for a large tract of countries, 

 it has been adopted by some tribes not properly belonging to the seel ion. Among the Tupi 

 tribes one of the most remarkable was that of the Omaguas, or Flat-heads, Avho were found 

 on the left bank of the Amazons as far as Peru and Ecuador. Originally they extended all 

 over the country between the Putumayo and Tunguragua or Upper Maranon rivers; and they 

 are still well represented on the head-waters of the Japura, in Ecuador and Colombia. Their 

 near neighbours are the Tacunas and Tacanas, with the former of whom they were constantly 

 at feud. The Tacanas occupy the country bordering the Madre-de-Dios and -Beni, head- 

 tributaries of the Madeira in Xorthern Bolivia. Still farther south on the last-named river we 

 enter the country of the Naquiilciieis, or 

 Chiquitos (Dwarfs), as they are called by 

 the Spaniards; the latter name being de- 

 rived from the extremely small size of the 

 entrances to their houses, which, when found 

 abandoned, were supposed by the conquerors 

 to be the abodes of pygmies. Like certain 

 South American tribes, the Tacunas believe 

 in the existence of good and evil principles, 

 which are forever striving one against the 

 other for the possession of the souls of men. 

 Curiously enough, the Chiquitos are said to 

 have no numerals above one; yet they are 

 an industrious people, cultivating cotton, 

 indigo, and sugar, and manufacturing copper 

 boilers for refining the latter. Farther 

 south, in the Gran Chaco country, lying 

 well within the Parana Watershed, the 

 Chiquitos are replaced by the savage Tobas, 

 between the Pilcomayo and Vermejo rivers, 

 and by the Matacos, or Mataguayos, on the 

 latter. The Tobas are said to present a 

 distinctly European cast of countenance, 

 but are specially distinguished by their 

 relatively short limbs and strongly developed 

 chest. 



Of the Southern Guaraui, who form the 

 substratum of the Paraguayan nation, some 

 still wander in a more or less aboriginal 

 condition through the forests of the Parana, 

 while others have adopted Christianity. Some 

 years ago the Christianised Guarani inhabited 

 thirty-two large towns on the banks of the 

 Parana. Paraguay, and Uruguay rivers; 

 while among the uncivilised tribes were 



reckoned the Chiriguanos, Tobatinguas, and BlJ peim i sf: ion of the south ^ ///;< Missionary society. 



Payaguas. A WITCH-DOCTOR OF ARAUCANIA. 



