76 PARA. Chap. II, 



an arched awning or cabin near the stern, made of a 

 framework of tough lianas, thatched with palm leaves. In 

 the igarite they will cross stormy rivers fifteen or twenty 

 miles broad. The natives are all boat-builders. It is 

 often remarked, by white residents, that an Indian is a 

 carpenter and shipwright by intuition. It is astonishing 

 to see in what crazy vessels these people will risk them- 

 selves. I have seen Indians cross rivers in a leaky mon- 

 taria, when it required the nicest equilibrium to keep 

 the leak just above water ; a movement of a hair's 

 breadth would send all to the bottom, but they managed 

 to cross in safety. They are especially careful when 

 they have strangers under their charge, and it is the 

 custom of Brazilian and Portuguese travellers to leave 

 the whole management to them. When they are alone 

 they are more reckless, and often have to swim for their 

 lives. When a squall overtakes them as they are 

 crossing in a heavily-laden canoe, they all jump over- 

 board and swim about until the heavy sea subsides, 

 when they re-embark. 



A few words on the aboriginal population of the Para 

 estuary will here not be out of place. The banks of the 

 Para were originally inhabited by a number of distinct 

 tribes, who, in their habits, resembled very much the 

 natives of the sea-coast from Maranham to Bahia. It 

 is related that one large tribe, the Tupinambas, migrated 

 from Pernambuco to the Amazons. One fact seems to 

 be well-established, namely, that all the coast tribes 

 were far more advanced in civilisation, and milder in 

 their manners, than the savages who inhabited the 



