322 VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS 



or rudeness, the grown-up women letting the young girls 

 and children stand before them, and all behaved in the 

 most quiet and orderly manner possible. 



The great difference in figure, shape of head, and ar- 

 rangement of features amongst these people struck me 

 forcibly, and showed how little uniformity there is in 

 these respects amongst the Brazilian Indians, even when 

 belonging to the same tribe. The only points in which 

 they all closely resembled each other were the long, thick, 

 straight, jet-black hair, the warm coppery-brown tint of 

 the skin, and the quiet, rather dull, expression of coun- 

 tenance. I saw no countenance so debased in expression 

 as many seen amongst the Mura tribe, and no head of the 

 Mongolian type — broad, with high cheek bones, and 

 oblique position of the eyes — of which single examples 

 occur amongst the semi-civilized canoe-men on the river. 

 Many of them had fine oval faces, with rather long and 

 well -formed features, moderately thin lips, and arched 

 forehead. One little girl, about twelve years of age, had 

 quite a European cast of features, and a remarkably slim 

 figure. They were all clean in their persons ; the petti- 

 coats of the women being made of coarse cotton cloth 

 obtained from traders, and their hair secured in a knot 

 behind by combs made of pieces of bamboo. The old 

 men had their heads closely cropped, with the exception 

 of a long fringe which hung down in front over their 

 foreheads. 



The Mundurucus are perhaps the most numerous and 

 formidable tribe of Indians now surviving in the Amazons 

 region. They inhabit the shores of the Tapajos (chiefly 

 the right bank), from 3° to 7° south latitude, and the 

 interior of the country between that part of the river 

 and the Madeira. On the Tapajos alone they can muster, 

 I was told, 2000 fighting men ; the total population of 

 the tribe may be about 20,000. They were not heard of 

 until about ninety years ago, when they made war on 

 the Portuguese settlements ; their hosts crossing the 

 interior of the country eastward of the Tapajos, and at- 

 tacking the establishments of the whites in the province 

 of Maranham. The Portuguese made peace with them 

 in the beginning of the present century, the event being 

 brought about by the common cause of quarrel enter- 

 tained by the two peoples against the hated Muras. They 

 have ever since been firm friends of the whites. It is 



