INDIAN GIRL 



187 



Tupi in both ^. The Httle girl had not the sUghtest 

 trace of the savage in her appearance. Her features were 

 finely shaped, the cheek-bones not at all prominent, the 

 lips thin, and the expression of her countenance frank 

 and smiling. She had been brought only a few weeks 

 previously from a remote settlement of her tribe on the 

 banks of the Abacaxl, and did not yet know five words 

 of Portuguese. The Indians, as a general rule, are very 

 manageable when they are young, but it is a general 

 complaint that when they reach the age of puberty they 

 become restless and discontented. The rooted impatience 

 of all restraint then shows itself, and the kindest treat- 

 ment will not prevent them running away from their 

 masters ; they do not return to the malocas of their 

 tribes, but join parties who go out to collect the produce 

 of the forests and rivers, and lead a wandering semi- 

 savage kind of life. 



We remained under the Serra dos Parentins all night. 

 Early the next morning a light mist hung about the 

 tree-tops, and the forest resounded with the yelping 

 of Whaiapu-sai monkeys. I went ashore with my gun 

 and got a glimpse of the flock, but did not succeed in 

 obtaining a specimen. They were of small size and 

 covered with long fur of a uniform gray colour. I think 

 the species was the Callithrix donacophilus. The rock 

 composing the elevated ridge of the Parentins is the 

 same coarse iron-cemented conglomerate which I have 

 spoken of as occurring near Para and in several other 

 places. Many loose blocks were scattered about. The 

 forest was extremely varied, and inextricable coils of 

 woody climbers stretched from tree to tree. Thongs of 

 cacti were spread over the rocks and tree-trunks. The 

 variety of small, beautifully-shaped ferns, lichens, and 

 boleti made the place quite a museum of cryptogamic 

 plants. I found here two exquisite species of Longicorn 

 beetles, and a large kind of grasshopper (Pterochroza) 

 whose broad fore-wings resembled the leaf of a plant, 

 providing the insect with a perfect disguise when they 

 were closed ; whilst the hind-wings were decorated with 

 gaily-coloured eye-like spots. 



^ Thus the word Woman, in Mauhe, is Uniha ; in Tupi, 

 Cunha ; in Mundurucii, Taishi. Fire in Mauhe, is Aria ; in 

 Tupi, Tata ; in Mundurucu, Idasha or Tasha. 



