150 THE TOCANTINS. Chap. IV. 



Liberal, or, as it is called throughout Brazil, the Santa 

 Luzia faction ; the opposite side, at the head of which 

 was one Pedro Moraes, was the Conservative, or Saqua- 

 rema party. I preserved one of the stanzas of the 

 song, which, however, does not contain much point ; it 

 ran thus : — 



Ora pana, tana pana, pan a tana, 

 Joao Augusto h^ bouito e hoinem pimpao, 

 Mas Pedro he feio e hum grande ladrad, 



(Choras) Ora pana, &c. 



John Augustus is handsome and as a man ought to be, 

 But Peter is ugly and a great thief. 

 (Chorus) Ora pana, &e. 



The canoe-men of the Amazons have many songs 

 and choruses, with which they are in the habit of 

 relieving the monotony of their slow voyages, and 

 which are kno^vn all over the interior.. The choruses 

 consist of a simple strain, repeated almost to weariness, 

 and sung generally in unison, but sometimes with an 

 attempt at harmony. There is a wildness and sad- 

 ness about the tunes which harmonise well with, and in 

 fact are born of, the circumstances of the canoe-man's 

 life ; the echoing channels, the endless gloomy forests, 

 the solemn nights, and the desolate scenes of broad 

 and stormy waters and falling banks. Whether they 

 were invented by the Indians or introduced by the 

 Portuguese it is hard to decide, as many of the 

 customs of the lower classes of Portugese are so similar 

 to those of the Indians that they have become blended 

 with them. One of the commonest songs is very wild 

 and pretty. It has for refrain the words " Mai, Mai," 



