196 Through the Brazilian Wilderness 



The Parecis Indians, whom we met here, were ex- 

 ceedingly interesting. They were to all appearance an 

 unusually cheerful, good-humored, pleasant - natured 

 people. Their teeth were bad ; otherwise they appeared 

 strong and vigorous, and there were plenty of children. 

 The colonel was received as a valued friend and as a 

 leader who was to be followed and obeyed. He is rais- 

 ing them by degrees — the only way by which to make the 

 rise permanent. In this village he has got them to sub- 

 stitute for the flimsy Indian cabins houses of the type 

 usual among the poorer field laborers and back-country 

 dwellers in Brazil. These houses have roofs of palm 

 thatch, steeply pitched. They are usually open at the 

 sides, consisting merely of a framework of timbers, with 

 a wall at the back ; but some have the ordinary four walls, 

 of erect palm-logs. The hammocks are slung in the 

 houses, and the cooking is also done in them, with pots 

 placed on small open fires, or occasionally in a kind of 

 clay oven. The big gourds for water, and the wicker 

 baskets, are placed on the ground, or hung on the poles. 



The men had adopted, and were wearing, shirts and 

 trousers, but the women had made little change in their 

 clothing. A few wore print dresses, but obviously only 

 for ornament. Most of them, especially the girls and 

 young married women, wore nothing but a loin-cloth in 

 addition to bead necklaces and bracelets. The nursing 

 mothers — and almost all the mothers were nursing — 

 sometimes carried the child slung against their side or 

 hip, seated in a cloth belt, or sling, which went over the 

 opposite shoulder of the mother. The women seemed to 

 be well treated, although polygamy is practised. The 



