Chap. IV. POTUGUESE TRADERS. 277 



was given to every fresh occupier of the place. There 

 was then good scope for wit in the invention of nick- 

 names, and peals of laughter would often salute some 

 particularly good hit. Thus a very lanky young man 

 was called the Magoary, or the gray stork ; a moist 

 gray-eyed man with a profile comically suggestive of a 

 fish was christened Jaraki (a kind of fish), which was 

 considered quite a witty sally ; a little Mameluco girl, 

 with light-coloured eyes and brown hair, got the gallant 

 name of Rosa branca, or the white rose ; a young fellow 

 who had recently singed his eyebrows by the explosion 

 of fireworks was dubbed Pedro queimado (burnt Peter) ; 

 in short every one got a nickname, and each time the 

 cognomen was introduced into the chorus as the circle 

 marched round. 



It is said by the Portuguese and Brazilian towns- 

 people lower down the river, that much disorder and all 

 kinds of immorality prevail amongst these assemblages of 

 Upper Amazons rustics on the turtle praias. I can only 

 say that nothing of the kind was seen on the occasions 

 when I attended. But it may be added that there 

 were no traders from the " civilised " parts present to 

 set a bad example. Town-bred Indians and half-castes 

 will be disorderly and quarrelsome, like uneducated 

 people everywhere, when they can get their fill of in- 

 toxicating drinks. When low Portuguese traders, who 

 are most certainly the inferiors of these rustics whom 

 they despise, attend the praias, they corrupt the women, 

 and bribe the Indians with cashaQa to steal their 

 masters' oil ; these proceedings, of course, give rise to 

 disturbances in many ways. There were none of these 



