274 EXCURSIONS AROUND EGA. Chap. IV. 



smith of Ega before mentioned, who maintained excel- 

 lent order during the fourteen days the process of 

 excavation and oil manufacture lasted. There were 

 also many primitive Indians here from the neighbour- 

 ing rivers, amongst them a family of Shumanas, good- 

 tempered, harmless people from the Lower Japura. All 

 of them were tattooed round the mouth, the blueish tint 

 forming a border to the lips, and extending in a line on 

 the cheeks towards the ear on each side. They were 

 not quite so slender in figure as the Passes of Pedro- 

 uassus family ; but their features deviated quite as 

 much as those of the Passes from the ordinary Indian 

 type. This was seen chiefly in the comparatively small 

 mouth, pointed chin, thin lips, and narrow, high nose. 

 One of the daughters, a young girl of about seventeen 

 years of age, was a real beauty. The colour of her skin 

 approached the light tanned shade of the Mameluco 

 women ; her figure was almost faultless, and the blue 

 mouth, instead of being a disfigurement, gave quite a 

 captivating finish to her appearance. Her neck, wrists, 

 and ankles were adorned with strings of blue beads. 

 She was, however, extremely bashful, never venturing 

 to look strangers in the face, and never quitting, for 

 many minutes together, the side of her father and 

 mother. The family had been shamefully swindled 

 by some rascally trader on another praia ; and, on 

 our arrival, came to lay their case before Senhor 

 Cardozo, as the delegado of police of the district. The 

 mild way in which the old man, without a trace of 

 anger, stated his complaint in imperfect Tupi, quite 

 enlisted our sympathies in his favour. But Cardozo 



