IN BRAZIL 47 



low, conical hills close to the river. In places the palm- 

 groves broke through the belts of deciduous trees, and 

 stretched for a mile or so right along the river's bank. 

 At times we passed cattle on the banks or sand-bars, 

 followed by their herders ; or a handsome ranch-house, 

 under a cluster of shady trees, some bearing a wealth of 

 red and some a wealth of yellow blossoms ; or we saw a 

 horse-corral among the trees close to the brink, with 

 the horses in it, and a barefooted man in shirt and 

 trousers leaning against the fence ; or a herd of cattle 

 among the palms ; or a big tannery or factory, or a 

 little native hamlet came in sight. We stopped at one 

 tannery. The owner was a Spaniard, the manager an 

 " Oriental," as he called himself, a Uruguayan, of 

 German parentage. The peons, or workers, who lived 

 in a long line of wooden cabins back of the main build- 

 ing, were mostly Paraguayans, with a few Brazilians, 

 and a dozen German and Argentine foremen. There 

 were also some wild Indians, who were camped in the 

 usual squalid fashion of Indians who are hangers-on 

 round the white man, but have not yet adopted his 

 ways. Most of the men were at work cutting wood for 

 the tannery. The women and children were in camp. 

 Some individuals of both sexes were naked to the waist. 

 One little girl had a young ostrich as a pet. 



Water-fowl were plentiful. We saw large flocks of 

 wild muscovy ducks. Our tame birds come from this 

 wUd species, and its absurd misnaming dates back to the 

 period when the turkey and the guinea-pig were mis- 

 named in similar fashion — our European forefathers 

 taking a large and hazy view of geography, and in- 

 cluding Turkey, Guinea, India, and Muscovy as places 

 which, in their capacity of being outlandish, could be 

 comprehensively used as including America. The mus- 



