Chap. II. WARS OF MUNDURUCUS. 131 



of August and January. They also gather large quan- 

 tities of salsaparilla, India-rubber, and Tonka beans, in 

 the forests. The traders, on their arrival at the 

 Campinas (the scantily wooded region inhabited by the 

 main body of Mundurucus beyond the cataracts) have 

 first to distribute their wares — cheap cotton cloths, iron 

 hatchets, cutlery, small wares, and cashaca — amongst 

 the minor chiefs, and then wait three or four months 

 for repayment in produce. 



A rapid change is taking place in the habits of these 

 Indians through frequent intercourse with the whites, 

 and those who dwell on the banks of the Tapajos now 

 seldom tattoo their children. The principal Tushaua of 

 the whole tribe or nation, named Joaquim, was rewarded 

 with a commission in the Brazilian army, in acknow- 

 ledgment of the assistance he gave to the legal autho- 

 rities during the rebellion of 1835-6. It would be a 

 misnomer to call the Mundurucus of the Cupari and 

 many parts of the Tapajos, savages ; their regular mode 

 of life, agricultural habits, loyalty to their chiefs, 

 fidelity to treaties, and gentleness of demeanour, give 

 them a right to a better title. Yet they show no apti- 

 tude for the civilised life of towns, and, like the rest of 

 the Brazilian tribes, seem incapable of any further 

 advance in culture. In their former wars they exter- 

 minated two of the neighbouring peoples, the Jumas 

 and the Jacares ; and make now an annual expedition 

 against the Pararauates, and one or two other similar 

 wild tribes who inhabit the interior of the land, but 

 are sometimes driven by hunger towards the banks of 

 the great rivers to rob the plantations of the agricul- 



k2 



