Chap. VII. INDIANS OF RIO NEGRO. 3?>7 



very uneven land, on the left bank of the Rio Negro, 

 and contained in 1850, about 3000 inhabitants. There 

 was originally a small fort here, erected by the Portu- 

 guese to protect their slave-hunting expeditions amongst 

 the numerous tribes of Indians which peopled the 

 banks of the river. The most distinguished and warlike 

 of these were the Manaos, who had many traits in com- 

 mon with the Omaguas, or Cambevas, of the Upper 

 Amazons, the Mundurucus of the Tapajos, the Jurunas 

 of the Xingu, and other sections of the Tupi nation. 

 The Manaos were continually at war with the neigh- 

 bouring tribes, and had the custom of enslaving the 

 prisoners made during their predatory expeditions. 

 The Portuguese disguised their slave-dealing motives 

 under the pretext of ransoming (resgatando), these 

 captives ; indeed, the term resgatar (to ransom) is still 

 applied by the traders on the Upper Amazons to the 

 very general, but illegal, practice of purchasing Indian 

 children of the wild tribes. The older inhabitants of 

 the place remember the time when many hundreds of 

 these captives were brought dowm by a single expedition. 

 In 1809, Barra became the chief town of the Rio Negro 

 <listrict ; many Portuguese and Brazilians from other 

 provinces then settled here ; spacious houses and ware- 

 houses were built, and it g-rew, in the course of thirtv 

 or forty years, to be, next to Santarem, the principal 

 settlement on the banks of the Amazons. At the time 

 of my visit it was on the decline, in consequence of 

 the growing distrust, or increased cunning, of the 

 Indians, who once formed a numerous and the sole 

 labouring class, but having got to know that the laws 



