298 



CARIPUNA INDIANS. 



in one of the canoes which kept company with us. The parrots swarm 

 along the banks of the river, but there are few other birds. The current 

 runs at the rate of six miles per hour. River three quarters of a mile 

 wide, with sand-banks and islands in the stream. We landed on the 

 north bank with the Caripuna savages ; men, women, and children, all 

 seated themselves in a friendly way round our cow hide, which was 

 spread on the ground for breakfast. 



Richards was left in charge of the boat, while I, with one of the 

 negroes armed with a musket, followed a path through the woods single 

 file for a quarter of a mile from the river. As we came in sight of huts 

 the men and boys gathered under an open house at the end of the path ; 

 the women all seized their babies and ran into two enclosed buildings 

 in the rear. The savages did not take up their bows and arrows, which 

 however lay at hand, but several of them held knives, and others picked 

 theirs up. Thomas, the tall negro soldier, came to a stand just outside 

 of the shed, while I walked under and took a seat in one of the grass 

 hamacs slung between the posts on which the roof was supported. The 

 boys all laughed, and gathered round me. One man came up and 

 leaned against a post close by me with his arm elevated. He held a knife 

 in his hand ; my hand was concealed under my jacket, where Colt's re- 

 volver rested in a belt. The Indian wanted to test me, as is their 

 custom. A fine large rooster passed by. Savage was asked to sell it 

 by signs of hunger. He at once took down his hand, and called out to 

 the houses, when the women came out with their babies. One of them, 

 a good-looking squaw, came to him, and they had a consultation about 

 the chicken. She nodded her head, and the boys gave chase to catch 

 it for me. 



There were thirty savages living in this wild, out-of-the-way place. 

 One of the men was chipping off the outside of a hollow piece of log 

 with his knife for a drum, two of which already hung up under the 

 shed. They expressed no pleasure at seeing us. They looked as though 

 they preferred we would go away. The roof of the wooden house under 

 which the men were collected was beautifully thatched with a species 

 of wild palm-leaf. The frame-work was made of poles stripped of their 

 bark, fastened together by vines or creepers. The whole rested upon 

 forked posts set in the ground, between which there were slung a num- 

 ber of grass hamacs. Bows and arrows were their only home-made 

 arms. The knives were imported. After making friends with them, 

 they all came up, shook hands, and took a good look at me. The floor 

 of the guard or men's house was swept clean. It seemed to be kept in 

 military order, clear of all household or kitchen furniture. One of the 



