82 



THE TOCANTINS 



works raised high on wooden piles, and thatched with 

 the leaves of the Ubussu palm. In their construction 

 another palm-tree is made much use of, viz., the Assai 

 (Euterpe oleracea). The outer part of the stem of this 

 species is hard and tough as horn ; it is spht into narrow 

 planks, and these form a great portion of the walls and 

 flooring. The residents told us that the western channel 

 becomes nearly dry in the middle of the fine season, 

 but that at high water, in April and May, the river rises 

 to the level of the house-floors. The river bottom is 

 everywhere sandy, and the country perfectly healthy. 

 The people seemed to be all contented and happy, but 

 idleness and poverty were exhibited by many unmistak- 

 able signs. As to the flooding of their island abodes, 

 they did not seem to care about that at all. They seem 

 to be almost amphibious, or as much at home on the 

 water as on land. It was really alarming to see men 

 and w^omen and children, in little leaky canoes laden to 

 the water-level with bag and baggage, crossing broad 

 reaches of the river. Most of them have houses also on 

 the terra firma, and reside in the cool palm-swamps of 

 the Ygapo islands, as they are called, only in the hot and 

 dry season. They live chiefly on fish, shellfish (amongst 

 which were large AmpuUarise, whose flesh I found, on 

 trial, to be a very tough morsel), the never-failing farinha, 

 and the fruits of the forest. Amongst the latter the 

 fruits of palm-trees occupied the chief place. The Assai 

 is the most in use, but this forms a universal article of 

 diet in all parts of the country. The fruit, which is per- 

 fectly round, and about the size of a cherry, contains but 

 a small portion of pulp lying between the skin and the 

 hard kernel. This is made, with the addition of water, 

 into a thick, violet-coloured beverage, which stains the 

 lips hke blackberries. The fruit of the Miriti is also a 

 common article of food, although the pulp is sour and 

 unpalatable, at least to European tastes. It is boiled, 

 and then eaten with farinha. The Tucuma (Astrocarynm 

 tucuma), and the Mucuja (Acrocomia lasiospatha), grow 

 only on the main land. Their fruits yield a yellowish, 

 fibrous pulp, which the natives eat in the same way as 

 the Miriti. They contain so much fatty matter, that 

 vultures and dogs devour them greedily. 



Early on the morning of September 3rd we reached 

 the right or eastern bank, which is here from forty to 



