Chap. IV. COSMOGONY OF THE PASSES. 243 



the one side or the other, in the dealings between Euro- 

 pean settlers and this noble tribe of savages. 



Very little is known of the original customs of the 

 Passes. The mode of life of our host Pedro-uassu did 

 not differ much from that of the civilised Mamelucos ; 

 but he and his people showed a greater industry, and 

 were more open, cheerful, and generous in their dealings 

 than many half-castes. The authority of Pedro, like 

 that of the Tushauas generally, was exercised in a mild 

 manner. These chieftains appear able to command the 

 services of their subjects, since they furnish men to the 

 Brazilian authorities when requested ; but none of them, 

 even those of the most advanced tribes, appear to make 

 use of this authority for the accumulation of property ; 

 the service being exacted chiefly in time of war. Had 

 the ambition of the chiefs of some of these industrious 

 tribes been turned to the acquisition of wealth, pro- 

 bably we should have seen indigenous civilised nations 

 in the heart of South America similar to those found on 

 the Andes of Peru and Mexico. It is very probable that 

 the Passes adopted from the first to some extent the 

 manners of the whites. Ribeiro, a Portuguese official 

 who travelled in these regions in 1774-5, and wrote an 

 account of his journey, relates that they buried their 

 dead in large earthenware vessels (a custom still observed 

 amongst other tribes on the Upper Amazons), and that, 

 as to their marriages, the young men earned their 

 brides by valiant deeds in war. He also states that 

 they possessed a cosmogony, in which the belief that the 

 sun was a fixed body with the earth revolving around 

 it, was a prominent feature. He says, moreover, that 



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