218 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



from this string in front a scanty tuft of dried grass, or a 

 small piece of cloth, which, however, was of purely sym- 

 bolic use so far as either protection or modesty was con- 

 cerned. The women did not wear a stitch of any kind 

 anywhere on their bodies. They did not have on so much 

 as a string, or a bead, or even an ornament in their hair. 

 They were all, men and women, boys and well-grown 

 young girls, as entirely at ease and unconscious as so many 

 friendly animals. All of them — men, women, and chil- 

 dren, laughing and talking — crowded around us, whether 

 we were on horseback or on foot. They flocked into the 

 house, and when I sat down to write surrounded me so 

 closely that I had to push them gently away. The women 

 and girls often stood holding one another's hands, or with 

 their arms over one another's shoulders or around one 

 another's waists, offering an attractive picture. The men 

 had holes pierced through the septum of the nose and 

 through the upper lip, and wore a straw through each 

 hole. The women were not marked or mutilated. It 

 seems like a contradiction in terms, but it is nevertheless 

 a fact that the behavior of these completely naked women 

 and men was entirely modest. There was never an in- 

 decent look or a consciously indecent gesture. They had 

 no blankets or hammocks, and when night came simply 

 lay down in the sand. Colonel Rondon stated that they 

 never wore a covering by night or by day, and if it was 

 cool slept one on each side of a small fire. Their huts 

 were merely slight shelters against the rain. 



The moon was nearly full, and after nightfall a few of 

 the Indians suddenly held an improvised dance for us in 

 front of our house. There were four men, a small boy, 



