PROVINCE OF PARA. 



475 



Jenipapo, are numerous and powerful warriors, and the dread of all the other 

 nations, who give them the appellation of Pat/quice, which signifies cut off the 

 head, in consequence of their savage custom of cutting off the heads of all their 

 enemies who fall into their power ; and they know how to embalm them in such 

 a manner that they retain for many years the same aspect they had when 

 severed from the body. They ornament their rude and miserable cabanas with 

 these horrible trophies : he that can exhibit ten is eligible to the rank of chief 

 of the horde. They are well acquainted with the virtues of various vegetables, 

 with which they cure some dangerous diseases. 



Almost all the Mundrucana tribes are at the present time allies of the Portu- 

 guese, and some are Christianized. The brutal inhumanity at present of those 

 who rove in the woods, not giving quarter either to age or sex, has compelled 

 the principal part of the other nations to seek for refuge near the povoa^oes of 

 the Portuguese, under whose protection they live secure from the attacks of 

 their ferocious enemy. 



Villa Franca, originally Camaru, is a middling town, with some regularity, 

 upon a lake, which communicates with the Amazons and with the Tapajos, from 

 whose margin it is not far distant. It is fifteen miles south-west of Santarem. 

 The church is dedicated to the Assump^ao of Nossa Senhora ; and the inhabit- 

 ants are mostly Indians, cultivating cocoa besides the necessaries of life. 



Villanova da Raynha is a town of a similar kind, near the mouth of the 

 Maubes, in an advantageous situation for increasing. Almost all its inhabitants 

 are Mauhe Indians, who produce the best guarana, which is a composition 

 made from the fruit of a shrub so called, and common in their territory. After 

 being pounded, it is made into rolls like chocolate, and becomes quite hard : 

 they attribute various beneficial effects to the use of it ; the most certain, however, 

 is driving away sleep ! 



Borba is a small town, with wretched houses, well situated upon elevated 

 ground on the right margin of the Madeira, eighty miles from the Amazons and 

 forty above the Furo dos Tuppynambaranas, and is a calling-place for those 

 who navigate towards Matto-Grosso. The church is of St. Antonio, and its 

 population is descended from the aborigines of various nations, with a few 

 Europeans and Mesticos, also some negroes. Besides the common produc- 

 tions they cultivate some tobacco and cocoa ; and, with the fishing for the 

 tortoise, they supply the deficiency of cattle, which are at present very few. 



This town had its commencement upon the river Jamary, from whence it was 

 removed to the mouth of the Giparanna, afterwards to the site of Pancau, or 



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