VOYAGE ON THE TAPAJOS. 



319 



" Several vegetable substances compose parica : first, the ashes of a 

 vine that I cannot class, not having been able to procure the flowers ; 

 second, seeds of the acacia angico, of the leguminous family ; third, 

 juice of the leaves of the abuta, (cocculus) of the menispermes family. 



" I never saw a Mahue Indian sick, nor ever heard them complain of 

 the slightest pain, notwithstanding that the forests they inhabit are the 

 birthplaces of dangerous fevers, which rarely spare the Brazilian mer- 

 chants who come to purchase sarsaparilla roots. 



" I had often heard of the great Tuchao, Socano chief, and king of 

 the Mahue nation, who, (unlike the kings of France,) notwithstanding 

 the urgent entreaties of his subjects, abdicated in favor of his brother, 

 and retired apart in a profound solitude, to pass there tranquilly the re- 

 mainder of his life. I wished to see this philosopher of the New 

 "World before going to Itaituba, from which I was eleven days' journey 

 on foot. 



" I went again to Massu to see the Indian bitten by the serpent, and 

 perhaps a little, also, to see the Indian girl. He was still lame, but 

 walked, however, better. The girl was incorruptible. Promises, brace- 

 lets, collars of pearl, (false) — all were useless. 



" Without wishing to attack the virtue of the Mundrucus women, I 

 was induced to believe she would be more charitable, because in the 

 whole Mundrucuanie it is not proved that there exists a dragon of 

 such virtue as to resist the temptation of a small glass of rum. 



" I assisted at an Indian festival so singular that it is only in use 

 among the true Mahues. Following the example of the other nations of 

 Brazil, (who tattoo themselves with thorns, or pierce the nose, the lips, 

 and the ears,) and obeying an ancient law which commands these dif- 

 ferent tortures, this baptism of blood, to habituate the warriors to despise 

 bodily sufferings, and even death, the Mahues have preserved from their 

 ancestors the great festival of the Tocandeira. 



" An Indian is not a renowned Mahue, and cannot take a wife, until 

 he has passed his arms at least ten times through long stalks of the 

 palm-tree, filled intentionally with large, venomous ants. He whoni I 

 saw receive this terrible baptism was not sixteen years old. They con- 

 ducted him to the chiefs, where the instruments awaited him ; and, when 

 muffled in these terrible mittens, he was obliged to sing and dance 

 before every cabin of the Malocca, accompanied by music still more 

 horrible. Soon the torments he endured became so great that he 

 staggered. (The father and relatives dread, as the greatest dishonor that 

 can befall the family, a cry or a weakness on the part of the young 



