b 



238 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



earthen pots to boil their provisions in ; and they get from 

 the white men flat circular plates of iron, on which they 

 bake their cassava. They have to grate the cassava 

 before it is pressed, preparatory to baking ; and those In- 

 dians who are too far in the wilds to procure graters from 

 the white men, malce use of a flat piece of wood, studded 

 ■with sharp stones. They have no cows, horses, mules, 

 goats, sheep, or asses. The men hunt and fish, and the 

 women work in the provision ground, and cook their 

 victuals. 



In each hamlet there is the trunk of a large tree, 

 hollowed out like a trough. In this, from their cassava, 

 they make an abominable ill-tasted and sour kind of fer- 

 mented liquor, called piwarri. They are very fond of it, 

 and never fail to get drunk after every brewing. The 

 frequency of the brewing depends upon the superabundance 

 of cassava. 



Both men and women go without clothes. The men 

 have a cotton wrapper, and the women a bead-ornamented 

 square piece of cotton, about the size of your hand, for 

 the fig-leaf. Those far away in the interior, use the bark 

 of a tree for this purpose. They are very clean people, 

 and wash in the river, or creek, at least twice every day. 

 They paint themselves with the roucou, sweetly perfumed 

 with hayawa or accaiari. Their hair is black and lank, 

 and never curled. The women braid it up fancifully, 

 something in the shape of Diana's head-dress in ancient 

 pictures. They have very few diseases. Old age and 

 pulmonary complaints seem to be the chief agents for 

 removing them to another world. The pulmonary com- 

 plaints are generally brought on by a severe cold, which 

 lliey do not know how to arrest in its progress, by the use 

 of the lancet. I never saw an idiot amongst them, nor 

 could I perceive any that were deformed from their birth. 



