Chap. IT. INDIAN FEATURES. 129 



clamation, Hm ! hm ! Before I finished, from fifty to 

 sixty had assembled ; there was no pushing or rudeness, 

 the grown-up women letting the young girls and children 

 stand before them, and all behaved in the most quiet 

 and orderly manner possible. 



The great difference in figure, shape of head, and 

 arrangement of features amongst these people struck 

 me forcibly, and showed how little uniformity there 

 is in these respects amongst the Brazilian Indians, 

 even when belonging to the same tribe. The only 

 points in which they all closely resembled each other 

 were the long, thick, straight, jet-black hair, the warm 

 coppery-brown tint of the skin, and the quiet, rather 

 dull, expression of countenance. I saw no countenance 

 so debased in expression as many seen amongst the 

 Mura tribe, and no head of the Mongolian type — broad, 

 with high cheek bones, and oblique position of the 

 eyes — of which single examples occur amongst the 

 semi-civilised canoemen on the river. Many of them 

 had fine oval faces, with rather long and well-formed 

 features, moderately thin lips, and arched forehead. 

 One little girl, about twelve years of age, had quite a 

 European cast of features, and a remarkably slim 

 figure. They were all clean in their persons ; the petti- 

 coats of the women being made of coarse cotton cloth 

 obtained from traders, and their hair secured in a knot 

 behind by combs made of pieces of bamboo. The old 

 men had their heads closely cropped, with the excep- 

 tion of a long fringe which hung down in front over 

 their foreheads. 



The Mundurucus are perhaps the most numerous 



VOL. II. K 



