484 EXCURSIONS BEYOND EGA 



the Shumana and Passe tribes. The forests of the Tunan- 

 tins, however, are inhabited by a tribe of wild Indians 

 called Caishanas, who resemble much, in their social con- 

 dition and manners, the debased Muras of the Lower 

 Amazons, and have, like them, shown no aptitude for 

 civilized life in any shape. Their huts commence at the 

 distance of an hour's walk from the village, along gloomy 

 and narrow forest-paths. The territory of the tribe ex- 

 tends to the Moco, an affluent of the Japura, with which 

 there is communication by land higher up the Tunantins, 

 the two rivers approximating within about fifteen miles. 

 From what I saw and heard of the Caishanas, I was led 

 to the conclusion that they had no close genealogical 

 relationship with the Muras, but were more likely a de- 

 graded section of the Shumana, or some other neigh- 

 bouring tribe. Scarcely any of them had the coarse 

 features, the large trunk, broad chest, thick arms, and 

 protuberant abdomen of the Muras, and their features, 

 although presenting a wild, unsteady, and distrustful 

 expression like the Muras, were often as finely shaped 

 as those of the Shumanas and Passes. Senhor Bitancourt 

 told me their 'girio', or tribal language, had much re- 

 semblance to that of the Shumanas. I have before shown 

 how scattered hordes have segregated from their original 

 tribes, and by long isolation, themselves become tribes, 

 acquiring totally different languages, habits, and, to a 

 lesser extent, different corporeal structure. 



My first and only visit to a Caishana dwelling, was 

 accidental. One day, having extended my walk further 

 than usual, and followed one of the forest-roads until 

 it became a mere picada, or hunters' track, I came suddenly 

 upon a well-trodden pathway, bordered on each side with 

 Lycopodia of the most elegant shapes, the tips of the 

 fronds stretching almost like tendrils down the little 

 earthy slopes which formed the edge of the path. The 

 road, though smooth, was narrow and dark, and in many 

 places blocked up by trunks of felled trees, which had been 

 apparently thrown across by the timid Indians on purpose 

 to obstruct the way to their habitations. Half-a-mile of 

 this shady road brought me to a small open space on the 

 banks of a brook or creek, on the skirts of which stood a 

 conical hut with a very low doorway. There was also 

 an open shed, with stages made of split palm-stems, and 

 a number of large wooden troughs. Two or three dark- 



