178 



MAKING FARINHA. 



rowing, pour a little water upon a large gourd-full of farinha, and pass 

 around the mass (which they called pirao) as if it were a delicacy. 



The women generally make the farinha. They soak the root of the 

 mandioc (Iatropha Manihot) in water till it is softened a little, when 

 they scrape off the skin, and grate it upon a board smeared with some 

 of the adhesive gums of the forest, and sprinkled with pebbles. The 

 white grated mass is put into a conical-shaped bag, made of the coarse 

 fibres of a palm, and called tapiti. The bag is hung up to a peg 

 driven into a tree, or a post of the shed ; a lever is put through a loop 

 at the bottom of the bag; the short end of the lever is placed under a 

 chock nailed to the post below, and the woman hangs her weight on 

 the long end. This elongates the bag, and brings a heavy pressure 

 upon the mass within, causing all the juice to ooze out through the 

 interstices of the wicker-work of the bag. When sufficiently pressed 

 the mass is put on the floor of a mud oven; heat is applied, and it 

 is stirred with a stick till it granulates in very irregular grains, (the 

 largest about the size of our No. 2 shot,) and is sufficiently toasted to 

 drive off all the poisonous qualities which it has in a crude state. It 

 is then packed in baskets (lined and covered with palm-leaves) of 

 about sixty-four pounds weight, which are generally sold, all along the 

 river, at from seventy-five cents to one dollar. The sediment of the 

 juice which runs from the tapiti is tapioca, and is used to make cus- 

 tards, puddings, starch, &c. 



September 3. — Our boatmen came down to the port at 8 a. m. They 

 were accompanied, as usual, by their wives, carrying their bedding, 

 their jars of masato, and even their paddles; for these fellows are too 

 lazy, when on shore, to do a hand's turn ; though when embarked they 

 work freely, (these Cocamillas,) and are gay, cheerful, ready, and obe- 

 dient. The dress of the women is nothing more than a piece of cot- 

 ton cloth, generally dark brown in color, wrapped around the loins 

 and reaching to the knee. I was struck with the appearance of one, 

 the only pretty Indian girl I have seen. She appeared to be about 

 thirteen years of age, and was the wife of one of our boatmen. It was 

 amusing to see the slavish respect with which she waited upon the 

 young savage, (himself about nineteen,) and the lordly indifference with 

 which he received her attentions. She was as straight as an arrow, deli- 

 cately and elegantly formed, and had a free, wild, Indian look, that was 

 quite taking. 



We got off at a quarter past nine ; the merchants at the same time ; 

 and the padre also returns to-day to Yurimaguas; so that we make a 

 haul upon the population of Laguna, and carry off about seventy of its 



