TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 2^7 



maize, fastened to a handle, with which in their 

 dancing, they make a ratthng as with castanets ; 

 some tufts or wreaths of coloured feathers, to 

 adorn their heads and arms on festal occasions, 

 complete their simple furniture ; many beautiful, 

 and hitherto unknown parrots ; several species of 

 wood-hens, particularly the pretty Jacu {Penelope 

 Marail, leucoptera') ; tortoises and monkeys running 

 about at liberty, seemed to be reckoned part of the 

 family. Our wish to possess the rarest of these 

 birds, which our soldier seconded by urgent re- 

 presentations, remained unfulfilled till he caught 

 the animals, and held them to the owner in one 

 hand, and a tempting present in the other. After 

 long hesitation, the Indian seized the present, 

 and thus by a kind of tacit agreement, we re- 

 mained in possession of our prize. 



The Indians who had fled into the woods and 

 into the huts, which, as in all the aldeas, stand 

 at a great distance from each other, made their 

 appearance again, but still continued to look at 

 us only by stealth. An old woman, however, 

 returned to her work, and diligently pounded 

 maize in the hollow stem of a tree ; another 

 worked with a piece of wood upon an unfinished 

 hammock ; the younger women looked inquisi- 

 tively from behind the stems of the neighbouring 

 palms ; they were either quite naked, oi' had a 

 piece of white cotton stuff round their waists ; 

 some of them wore round their necks glass beads ; 



Q 2 



