INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 15 



dry and wet seasons. Rains begin in the latter 

 part of September and continue until April. 

 During the rainy season thunderstorms are almost 

 a daily occurrence. During the day the temper- 

 ature ranges in the 90 's and falls somewhat in the 

 night. In January, however, there is a 2-week 

 period when no rain falls and the temperature 

 remains high. The dry season begins in May, 

 and during June, July, and August scarcely any 

 rain falls. During these months in 1948 no rain 

 fell at all. The sky was constantly clear, the 

 humidity high, and the prevailing winds were 

 light easterly breezes appearing in the afternoons. 

 At 7 a.m. the temperatures ranged around 60° F., 

 rising at 2 p. m. to 90° F. During August and 

 September the fires, caused by Indians clearing 

 the land for planting, fill the air with smoke or 

 "bruma seca" as it is called in Portuguese. The 

 haze steadily increases until the first rains in 

 September. When the rains cease in April the 

 rivers slowly begin to fall, reaching their lowest 

 levels in September, the drop on the Kuluene 

 being about 12 feet. (For temperature graph, 

 see fig. 1.) 



Brazilian geographers define this area as mar- 

 ginal, for it lies between the upland savanna of the 

 plateau and the lowland rain forest of the Amazon. 

 The Upper Xingu Basin, however, does not stand 

 out as a separate area but is part of the east-west 

 belt of country which slopes northward from the 

 Brazilian Shield. The plateau to the south has 

 an average altitude of 500 meters and at the con- 

 fluence of the Ronuro and Kuluene Rivers with 

 the Xingu the members of the Roncador-Xingu 

 Expedition gave the altitude as 250 meters. 

 Geological maps indicate that the Upper Xingu 

 Basin is predominantly Devonian sandstone. 

 Outcroppings of stone are rare and what were 

 seen appeared to be "canga," although pieces of 

 reddish sandstone were seen among the Indians, 

 these stones being used for sharpening axes and 

 knives. 



It follows, therefore, that the vegetation found 

 in this transition zone would be a mixture of 

 savanna and rain forest types. Such economically 

 useful palms as the buriti, tucum, acuri, bocaiuva, 

 babasti, and buritizana are found in abundance. 

 The buritf, as usual, occurs in the well-watered 

 bottom land where its fan-shaped foliage makes it 

 conspicuous, the tall babasu on the hillsides where 



its feather-duster shaped top makes it quite out- 

 standing among other palms. The babasu, how- 

 ever, is found only on the hilly fringes of the Basin. 

 Among the forest trees the jatoba, the rubber 

 tree, the cumbaru, the pau d'arco, the mameleiros, 

 and the various trees of the jacaranda' family are 

 common. In late August the piuvas (jacaranda) 

 begin to flower, some putting out bright yellow 

 blossoms, others light purple. As these trees 

 bloom before the leaves come out, the whole tree 

 is one mass of flowers giving the forest a flower- 

 garden appearance. A curious tree is the lixeira. 

 Its short gnarled trunk and branches are covered 

 with large rough leaves which the Indians use for 

 planing or smoothing wood surfaces. American 

 missionaries call it the sandpaper tree. The 

 piqui with its oleaginous fruit and the latex- 

 producing mangabeira with its delicious plum- 

 sized fruit, no doubt, grow wild in this area 

 although the ones seen were planted around the 

 villages by the Indians. Important, too, are the 

 cane plants and the vines. Among these the 

 numerous species of taquara (bamboo), the 

 camaiuva, and the uba are particularly useful to 

 the Indians in the manufacture of arrows and 

 flutes. Among the vines the sipo provides lacing 

 in arrow manufacture while the timbo vine with its 

 sweet-smelling flowers is used for drugging fish. 



In spite of the varied mammalian life of the 

 region, the Indians restrict themselves to the 

 hunting of monkeys for food and a few other 

 animals for their skins and bones. The following 

 description of the animals found in the region is 

 based on the work of Jose* C. M. Carvalho. 



Among the large animals are the tapir (Tapirus 

 terrestris L.), the jaguar (Felis onca L.), jaguatirica 

 (Leopardus partialis brasilensis) , the plains deer, 

 "campeiro" (Ozotoceros bezoarticus L.), the forest 

 deer, "mateiro" {Mazama rufos Uliger). The 

 black jaguar and puma are also reported. 



The wild pigs are represented by the peccary, 

 "caitetu" (Pecari tajacu tajacu L.) and the larger 

 "qeixada" (Tayassu pecari pecari Link). 



The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and 

 the paca (Cuniculus paca) represent the larger 

 rodents. 



In addition, the region abounds in such animals 

 as coati (Nasua nasua solitaria Schinz), the otter 

 (Lutra paranensis) , two kinds of anteater, the 

 "tamandua-bandeira" (Myrmecophaga tridactyla 



