€56 



TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



guage, certain sounds resemble or coincide in a 

 degree with the words of European languages ; for 

 instance, the Coropo words handu and ja^ which 

 we have already mentioned, with the German 

 handtuch and ja; Boeman, wife, with the English 

 woman; or the eivir, viru of the Coroados, with 

 beer ; the mange, eating, and n^/e, nose, with the 

 French manger and nez. The pronunciation of 

 the Indians is mostly guttural, and particularly 

 nasal, for which reason they show greater aptitude 

 for learning Spanish, Portuguese, &c. than Ger- 

 man, English, &c. 



We visited the aldeas of the Coroados at all 

 hours, and by this means acquired a lively idea of 

 the daily mode of life of these uneducated savages. 

 As soon as the first rays of the sun beam on the 

 hut of the Indian, he awakes, rises immediately, 

 and goes to the door, where he generally spends 

 some time, in rubbing and stretching his limbs, 

 and then goes into the wood for a few minutes. 

 Returning into the hut, he looks for the still live 

 embers of the fire of the day before, or lights it 

 afresh by means of two dry sticks, one of which 

 he sets upon the other, twirling it like a mill till it 

 kindles, and then he adds dry grass or straw. All 

 the male inhabitants then take part in the business ; 

 some drag wood out of the forest, others heap up 

 the fire, between several large stones, and all of 

 them then seat themselves around it, in a squatting 

 attitude. Without looking at, or speaking to each 



