PROVINCE OF MATTO GROSSO. 



209 



The men have no other clothing than a narrow gh'dle, or cinta of dyed cotton, 

 which they tie round the middle of the body ; and after they have had com- 

 munication with the Europeans, they cover them with beads of divers colours, 

 forming different devices. They ornament the head, arms, and legs, with 

 plumes, or feathers, of various colours. They have the under lip perforated, 

 and a cylinder of wood, almost as thick as a writing pen, and three inches 

 long, introduced, the richer class wearing them of silver; and in their ears, 

 half moons of the same metal. The men are diligent in hunting, fishing, gather- 

 ing honey and wild fruits, and in the manufacture of arms and canoes, which 

 they call noatek. The women spin, manufacture clothes, and cintas, or gir- 

 dles of cotton ; and make cords, mats, &c. Both sexes occupy themselves 

 equally in culinary affairs. 



They breed all the species of domestic European birds and quadrupeds intro- 

 duced into the country, and some peculiar to this continent, with great atten- 

 tion and care, in consequence of which the whole are particularly tame. 



Agriculture is held in contempt by them ; and meat is their only aliment, 

 which renders their stock of animals not over abundant, with the exception of 

 horses, which they never eat. They change the colour of a green parrot into 

 yellow, by stripping off" the plumage, and applying the dye of the urucu, to its 

 unfeathered skin. 



From their custom of incessant riding on horseback, their legs are crook- 

 ed. They do not use the saddle or stirrups, nor any substitute for them, 

 and their bridles consist of cords. They break their horses in water, in order 

 that the rider may not be dismounted, or that his fall may be less sensibly felt. 



Their war-horses are not used for any other purpose, nor do they ever sell 

 them. The women are mounted on horseback between bundles of dried grass 

 upon a cloth which serves at the same time for a housing. 



The Guaycurus are dreaded and respected by the surrounding nations, in 

 consequence of the advantage they have in cavalry in their cruel wars, and 

 the arms which they use, consisting of a club, or staff; of four to five spans in 

 length, and an inch in diameter ; a lance, somewhat thicker, and twelve feet 

 long; a trassado, or large knife, and the bow and arrow. They are equipped 

 with all those arms, when they proceed upon their war-horses, in the following 

 manner. They encircle themselves with a cord, between which and the body, the 

 club is introduced on the right side, the trassado on the left ; with the left hand 

 they govern the horse, and with the right wield the lance, which they do not 



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