CARIPI 



113 



wards. The broad reach of the Para in front of this 

 coast is called the Bahia, or bay of Marajo. The coast 

 and the interior of the land are peopled by civilized 

 Indians and Mamelucos, with a mixture of free negroes 

 and mulattos. They are poor, for the waters are not 

 abundant in fish, and they are dependent for a livelihood 

 solely on their small plantations, and the scanty supply 

 of game found in the woods. The district was originally 

 peopled by various tribes of Indians, of whom the prin- 

 cipal were the Tupinambas and Nhengahibas. Like all 

 the coast tribes, whether inhabiting the banks of the 

 Amazons or the sea-shore between Para and Bahia, they 

 were far more advanced in civilization than the hordes 

 scattered through the interior of the country, some of 

 which still remain in the wild state, between the Amazons 

 and the Plata. There are three villages on the coast of 

 Carnapijo, and several planters' houses, formerly the 

 centres of flourishing estates, which have now relapsed 

 into forest in consequence of the scarcity of labour and 

 diminished enterprise. One of the largest of these es- 

 tablishments is called Caripi : at the time of which I am 

 speaking it belonged to a Scotch gentleman, Mr. Camp- 

 bell, who had married the daughter of a large Brazilian 

 proprietor. Most of the occasional English and American 

 visitors to Para had made some stay at Caripi, and it 

 had obtained quite a reputation for the number and 

 beauty of the birds and insects found there ; I therefore 

 applied for and obtained permission to spend two or 

 three months at the place. The distance from Para was 

 about 23 miles, round by the northern end of the Ilha 

 das on9as (Isle of Tigers), which faces the city. I bar- 

 gained for a passage thither with the cabo of a small 

 trading vessel, which was going past the place, and 

 started on the 7th of December, 1848. 



We were 1 3 persons aboard ; the cabo, his pretty 

 mulatto mistress, the pilot and five Indian canoe-men, 

 three young mamelucos, tailor-apprentices who were 

 taking a holiday trip to Cameta, a runaway slave heavily 

 chained, and myself. The young mamelucos were 

 pleasant, gentle fellows : they could read and write, and 

 amused themselves on the voyage with a book containing 

 descriptions and statistics of foreign countries, in which 

 they seemed to take great interest ; one reading whilst 

 the others listened. At Uirapiranga, a small island be- 



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