CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE — PIERSON 



35 



The maracuja is a local species of the passion 

 flowei- (Passiffora edulis) ; the fruit is yellow when 

 ripe. The juice of the uvaia {Eugenia uvalha) is 

 used with pinga.'" When ripe, the gabiroha, aragd 

 {Psidium sp.) , uvaia., ingd, and araticum {Annona 

 sp.) are all yellowish in color. The pitanga {Eu- 

 genia unifl or a) is reddish and the ;a6oi!?off.&a {Myr- 

 ciaria sp.) is dark purple. There are two kinds of 

 ingd {Inga. spp.) distinguished locally, the mirirw 

 and the fen^adura. 



The root of the caragitatd {Brom^lia antiucan- 

 tha) is also sometimes made use of for food. Pin- 

 hoes, or pine nuts, taken from an occasional pine 

 tree, are much liked by the inhabitants. 



The ird " or female saiiva ant at the flying stage 

 when the abdomen is heavy with eggs, is caught 

 and used for food. "Some people," a villager re- 

 marked, "would give their lives to eat e'f a." "There 

 are people,'' said another villager, "who like igd 

 so much they even make passoca " of them." 

 "There isn't anyone who wouldn't like iffl," re- 

 marked a farm woman, "if he once tasted them. 

 Just to try them is to like them." 



Opinion on this point, however, is divided 

 in the community. "I've eaten iqd only once," 

 said another farm woman, "and that was when a 

 neighbor gave me some. My mother never fixed 

 them for us when we were children." "I used to 

 eat them when I was a girl," said a woman in the 

 village, "but my husband doesn't like them and 

 since I've been married, I haven't had any." "All 

 our family except my brother-in-law," another 

 woman remarked, "likes them a lot. He says, 

 'Who would eat ants, those nasty little things that 

 destroy our crops!' But it seems to me that be- 

 cause of that very fact you ought to set your teeth 

 into them with greater relish." 



The technique of preparing igd, as given by dif- 

 ferent farm women, is as follows : 



"I put them into a skillet with a little fat and 

 toast them. Then I make a strong sarmona''^ 

 and pour it into the skillet and let it dry away." 



"I put them into a skillet with salt and toast 

 them a bit. Then I dump them into a peneira '* 



'" See Pingn, Tob.icco. and Ca€(5, p. 39. 

 '^ Known in northern Brazil as tanajura. 

 '- See Food and Food Habits, p. 38. 

 " Local manner of saying salmoura : brine. 

 " A sieve made of taquara. 



and winnow them well until the wings and pincers 

 are all blown out. Then I put them back into the 

 skillet with some fat and toast them some more." 

 "I put them into the forno "^ and stir them up 

 with salt. When they are well toasted, I take 

 them out and pick out the legs and pincers. The 

 tastj' part is the abdomen (egg sack)." 



FOREST UTILIZATION 



Local timber resources have probably been util- 

 ized for firewood and building purposes ever since 

 there were inhabitants in the region and for lum- 

 ber and charcoal since probably the first years of 

 European settlement. Only in comparatively re- 

 cent times, however, has extensive advantage been 

 taken of these resources. 



A local resident who moved to the community 

 36 years ago, says that between the village and 

 nearbj' towns "there was so mata (only forest)." 

 Although this is probably an overstatement, since 

 it is known that there has been considerable plant- 

 ing in the community since settlers first located 

 there sometime in the latter part of the sixteenth 

 century, or the beginning of the seventeenth, the 

 remark emphasizes the considerable cutting of 

 timber which has occurred in comparatively recent 

 years. 



The exportation of charcoal for use in Sao Paulo 

 and other cities is said to have begun about 1928. 

 The exportation of firewood for use as fuel in the 

 wood-burning engines of the railroad and in the 

 factories of Sao Paulo and other cities is said 

 to have begun about 1932. During World War 

 II, the cutting of timber for these purposes ex- 

 tensively increased. Most deliveries were made 

 in Sao Jose dos Patos, the nearest point on the 

 railroad. 



Firewood that is exported for use on the rail- 

 road and in factories is cut into lengths of approx- 

 imately 21/2 feet for ready handling. The gather- 

 ing of firewood for home consumption is referred 

 to elsewhere (see Fuel and Light, p. 47), as also is 

 the preparation of charcoal (see Making of Char- 

 coal, p. 90) and of lumber (see Lumber, p. 91). 



As has been indicated, a few paineiras, or kapok 

 trees, grow in the area. The pods are picked in 

 September or October ; when dry, they are broken 

 open and the floss is separated from the seeds and 

 thoroughly dried. It is used principally to stuff 



'= A large shallow clay or metal vessel. See Pottery, p. 85. 



