16 SANTAREM. Chap. 1. 



settlement indeed has spread to Portugal, where Santa- 

 rem is known as the " Cidade dos Lazaros," or City of 

 Lepers. 



When the Portuguese first ascended the Amazons 

 towards the middle of the 17th century, they found the 

 banks of the Tapajos in the neighbourhood of Santarem, 

 peopled by a warlike tribe of Indians, called the 

 Tapajocos. From these, the river and the settlement 

 (Santarem in the Indian language is called Tapajos), 

 derive their name. The Tapajos, however, amongst the 

 Brazilian settlers in this part, is most generally known 

 by the Portuguese name of Rio Preto, or the Black 

 River. According to Acunna, the historian of the 

 Teixeira expedition (in 1637-9), the Tapajocos were 

 very numerous, one village alone having contained more 

 than 500 families. Their weapons were poisoned darts. 

 Notwithstanding their numbers and courage, they 

 quickly gave way before the encroaching Portuguese 

 settlers, who are said to have treated them with great 

 barbarity. The name of the tribe is no longer known 

 in the neighbourhood, but it is probable their descend- 

 ants still linger on the banks of the Lower Tapajos, a 

 traditional hatred towards the Portuguese having been 

 preserved amongst the semi-civilised inhabitants to the 

 present day. The fact of the Urari poison having been 

 in use amongst the Tapajocos is curious, inasmuch as it 

 shows there was at that time communication between 

 distant tribes along the course of the main Amazons. 

 The Indians now living on the banks of the Tapajos 

 are ignorant of the Urari, the drug being prepared only 



