Chap. TV. PASSE INDIANS. 241 



hordes were therefore spread over a region 400 miles in 

 length from east to west. It is probable, however, that 

 they have been confounded by the colonists with other 

 neighbouring tribes who tattoo their faces in a similar 

 manner ; such as the Juris, Uainumas, Shumanas, 

 Arauas, and Tucunas. The extinct tribe of Yurimauas, 

 or Sorimoas, from which the river Solimoens derives 

 its name, according to traditions extant at Ega, resem- 

 bled the Passes in their slender figures and friendly dis- 

 position. These tribes (with others lying between them) 

 peopled the banks of the main river and its by-streams 

 from the mouth of the Rio Negro to Peru. True Passes 

 existed in their primitive state on the banks of the 

 Issa, 240 miles to the west of Ega, within the memory 

 of living persons. The only large body of them now 

 extant are located on the Japura, at a place distant 

 about 150 miles from Ega: the population of this horde, 

 however, does not exceed, from what I could learn, 

 300 or 400 persons. I think it probable that the lower 

 part of the Japura and its extensive delta lands formed 

 the original home of this gentle tribe of Indians. 



The Passes are always spoken of in this country as 

 the most advanced of all the Indian nations in the 

 Amazons region. I saw altogether about thirty indi- 

 viduals of the tribe, and found them generally distin- 

 guishable from other Indians by their lighter colour, 

 sharper features, and more open address. But these 

 points of distinction were not invariable, for I saw 

 individuals of the Juri and Miranha tribes from the 

 Upper Japura ; of the Catoquinos, who inhabit the 

 banks of the Jurua, 300 miles from its mouth ; and 



VOL. II. R 



