Chap. YII. RUSTIC FESTIVAL. 301 



To resume our voyage. We left Villa Nova on the 4tli 

 of December. A light wind on the 5th carried us across 

 to the opposite shore and past the mouth of the Parana- 

 mirim do arco, or the little river of the bow, so called 

 on account of its being a short arm of the main river 

 of a curved shape, rejoining the Amazons a httje 

 below Villa Nova. On the 6th, after passing a large 

 island in mid-river, we arrived at a place where a line 

 of perpendicular clay cliffs, called the Barreiros de 

 Cararaucu, diverts slightly the course of the main 

 stream, as at Obydos. A little below these cliffs were a 

 few settlers' houses ; here Penna remained ten days to 

 trade, a delay which I turned to good account in aug- 

 menting very considerably my collections. 



At the first house a festival was going forward. We 

 anchored at some distance from the shore, on account of 

 the water being shoaly, and early in the morning three 

 canoes put off laden with salt fish, oil of manatee, fowls 

 and bananas, wares which the owners wished to exchange 

 for different articles required for the festa. Soon after I 

 went ashore. The head man was a tall, well-made, 

 civilised Tapuyo named Marcellino, who, with his wife, 

 a thin, active, wiry old squaw, did the honours of their 

 house, I thought, admirably. The company consisted 

 of 50 or 60 Indians and Mamelucos ; some of them knew 

 Portuguese, but the Tupi language was the only one 

 used amongst themselves. The festival was in honour 

 of our Lady of Conception ; and when the people learnt 

 that Penna had on board an image of the saint hand- 

 somer than their own, they put off in their canoes to 

 borrow it ; Marcellino taking charge of the doll, cover- 



