130 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. Chap. II. 



and formidable tribe of Indians now surviving in the 

 Amazons region. They inhabit the shores of the 

 Tapajos (chiefly the right bank), from 3° to 7° south 

 latitude, and the interior of the country between that 

 part of the river and the Madeira. On the Tapajos alone 

 they can muster, I was told, 2000 fighting men ; the 

 total population of the tribe may be about 20,000. 

 They were not heard of until about ninety years ago, 

 when they made war on the Portuguese settlements ; 

 their hosts crossing the interior of the country eastward 

 of the Tapajos, and attacking the establishments of the 

 whites in the province of Maranham. The Portuguese 

 made peace with them in the beginning of the present 

 century, the event being brought about by the common 

 cause of quarrel entertained by the two peoples against 

 the hated Muras. They have ever since been firm 

 friends of the whites. It is remarkable how faithfully 

 this friendly feeling has been handed down amongst 

 the Mundurucus, and spread to the remotest of the 

 scattered hordes. Wherever a white man meets a 

 family, or even an individual of the tribe, he is almost 

 sure to be reminded of this alliance. They are the 

 most warlike of the Brazilian tribes, and are considered 

 also the most settled and industrious ; they are not, 

 however, superior in this latter respect to the Juris and 

 Passes on the Upper Amazons, or the Uapes Indians 

 near the head waters of the Rio Negro. They make 

 very large plantations of mandioca, and sell the surplus 

 produce, which amounts on the Tapajos to from 3000 

 to 5000 baskets (60 lbs. each) annually, to traders who 

 ascend the river from Santarem between the months 



