Chap. VII. INDIAN LANGUAGES. ' 329 



alliance with the Brazilians, they have given no serious 

 trouble. 



The reasons which lead me to think the Muras are 

 merely an offshoot from the Mundurucus, or some other 

 allied section of the widely-spread Tupi nation, and not 

 an originally distinct people, are founded on a general 

 comparison of the different tribes of Amazonian Indians. 

 In the fii-st place, there is no sharply-defined difference 

 between sections of the Indian race, either in physical 

 or moral qualities. They are all very much alike in 

 bodily structure ; and, although some are much lower 

 in the scale of culture than others, yet the numerous 

 tribes in this respect form a gTaduated link from the 

 lowest to the highest. The same customs reappear in 

 tribes who are strongly contrasted in other respects and 

 live very wide apart. The Mauhes, who live in the 

 neighbourhood of the Mundurucus and Muras, have 

 much in common with both ; but, according to tradition, 

 they once formed part of the Mundurucu nation. The 

 language of the Muras is entu-ely different from that of 

 the tribes mentioned ; but language is not a sure guide 

 in the filiation of Brazilian tribes ; seven or eight dif- 

 ferent languages being sometimes spoken on the same 

 river, within a distance of 200 or 800 miles. There are 

 certain peculiarities in Indian habits which lead to a 

 quick corruption of language and segregation of dialects. 

 When Indians, men or women, are conversing amongst 

 themselves, they seem to take pleasure in inventing 

 new modes of pronunciation, or in distorting words. It 

 is amusing to notice how the whole party will laugh 

 when the wit of the circle perpetrates a new slang term, 



