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CARIPI 



inches of one's head. The last kind I shall mention is 

 the Coral-snake, which is a most beautiful object when 

 seen coiled up on black soil in the woods. The one I 

 saw here was banded with black and vermilion, the 

 black bands having each two clear white rings. The 

 state of specimens preserved in spirits can give no idea 

 of the brilliant colours which adorn the Coral-snake in 

 hfe. 



Petzell and I, as already mentioned, made many ex- 

 cursions of long extent in the neighbouring forest. We 

 sometimes went to Murucupi, a creek which passes 

 through the forest about four miles behind Caripi, the 

 banks of which are inhabited by Indians and half-breeds 

 who have lived there for many generations in perfect 

 seclusion from the rest of the world, the place being 

 little known or frequented. A path from Caripi leads 

 to it through a gloomy tract of virgin forest, where the 

 trees are so closely packed together that the ground 

 beneath is thrown into the deepest shade, under which 

 nothing but fetid fungi and rotting vegetable debris is to 

 be seen. On emerging from this unfriendly solitude near 

 the banks of the Murucupi, a charming contrast is pre- 

 sented. A glorious vegetation, piled up to an immense 

 height, clothes the banks of the creek, which traverses a 

 broad tract of semi-cultivated ground, and the varied 

 masses of greenery are lighted up with the sunny glow. 

 Open palm-thatched huts peep forth here and there from 

 amidst groves of banana, mango, cotton, and papaw trees 

 and palms. On our first excursion, we struck the banks 

 of the river in front of a house of somewhat more sub- 

 stantial architecture than the rest, having finished mud 

 walls, plastered and white-washed, and a covering of red 

 tiles. It seemed to be full of children, and the aspect 

 of the household was improved by a number of good- 

 looking mameluco women, who were busily employed 

 washing, spinning, and making farinha. Two of them, 

 seated on a mat in the open verandah, were engaged 

 sewing dresses, for a festival was going to take place 

 a few days hence at Balcarem, a village eight miles dis- 

 tant from Murucupi, and they intended to be present 

 to hear mass and show their finery. One of the children, 

 a naked boy about seven years of age, crossed over with 

 the montaria to fetch us. We were made welcome at 



