OF THE AMAZON. 



347 



pounded into a fine powder, and mixed in several large couches 

 (vats made of hollowed trees) of caxiri : this is drunk by the 

 assembled company till all is finished ; they beHeve that thus 

 the virtues of the deceased will be transmitted to the drinkers. 



The Cobeus alone, in the Uaupes, are real cannibals : they 

 eat those of other tribes whom they kill in battle, and even 

 make war for the express purpose of procuring human flesh for 

 food. When they have more than they can consume at once, 

 they smoke-dry the flesh over the fire, and preserve it for food 

 a long time. They burn their dead, and drink the ashes in 

 caxiri, in the same manner as described above. 



Every tribe and every "malocca " (as their houses are called) 

 has its chief, or " Tushaua,'' who has only a hmited authority, 

 principally in war, in making festivals, and in repairing 

 the malocca and keeping the village clean, and in planting the 

 mandiocca-fields ; he also treats with the traders, and supplies 

 them with men to pursue their journeys. The succession of 

 these chiefs is strictly hereditary in the male line, or through 

 the female to her husband, who may be a stranger : their 

 regular hereditary chief is never superseded, however stupid, 

 dull, or cowardly he may be. They have very little law of any 

 kind ; but what they have is of strict retaliation, — an eye for an 

 eye and a tooth for a tooth ; and a murder is punished or 

 revenged in the same manner and by the same weapon with 

 which it was committed. 



They have numerous " Pages," a kind of priests, answering 

 to the medicine-men " of the North American Indians. These 

 are believed to have great power : they cure all diseases by 

 charms, applied by strong blowing and breathing upon the 

 party to be cured, and by the singing of certain songs and 

 incantations. They are also believed to have power to kill 

 enemies, to bring or send away rain, to destroy dogs or game, 

 to make the fish leave a river, and to afllict with various 

 diseases. They are much consulted and believed in, and are 

 well paid for their services. An Indian will give almost all his 

 wealth to a page, when he is threatened with any real or imagi- 

 nary danger. 



They scarcely seem to think that death can occur naturally, 

 always imputing it either to direct poisoning or the charms of 

 some enemy, and, on this supposition, will proceed to revenge 

 it. This they generally do by poisons, of which they have 



