354 



ON THE ABORIGINES 



and serras about the rivers Marie, Curicuriarf, and Urubaxl, and 

 live a wandering life, having no houses and no fixed place of 

 abode, and of course no clothing ; they have little or no iron, 

 and use the tusks of the wild pig to scrape and form their bows 

 and arrows, and they make a most deadly kind of poison to anoint 

 them. At night they sleep on a bundle of palm-leaves, or stick 

 up a few leaves to make a shed if it rains, or sometimes, with 

 " sipos," construct a rude hammock, which, however, serves 

 only once. They eat all kinds of birds and fish, roasted or 

 boiled in palm-spathes ; and all sorts of wild fruits. 



The Macas often attack the houses of other Indians 

 situated in solitary places, and murder all the inhabitants ; and 

 they have even depopulated and caused the removal of several 

 villages. All the other tribes of Indians catch them and keep 

 them as slaves, and in most villages you will see some of them. 

 They are distinguishable at once from the surrounding tribes 

 by a wavy and almost curly hair, and by being rather lanky and 

 ill-formed in their limbs : I am inclined, however, to think that 

 this latter is partly owing to their mode of life, and the hardships 

 and exposure they have to undergo ; and some that I have seen 

 in the houses of traders have been as well-formed and hand- 

 some as any of the other Indian tribes. 



The Curetus are a nation inhabiting the country about the 

 river ?Apaporis, between the Japura and Uaupes. I met with 

 some Indians of this tribe on the Rio Negro, and the only 

 peculiarity I observed in them was, that their cheek-bones 

 were rather more prominent than usual. From them, and 

 from an Isanna Indian who had visited them, I obtained some 

 information about their customs. 



They wear their hair long like the Uaupes, and, like them, 

 the women go entirely naked; and they paint their bodies, 

 but do not tattoo. Their houses are large and circular, with 

 walls of thatch, and a high conical capped roof, made like 

 some chimney-pots, with the upper part overlapping, so as to 

 let the smoke escape without allowing the rain to enter. They 

 do not wander about, but reside in small permanent villages, 

 governed by a chief, and are said to be long-lived and very 

 peaceable, never quarrelling or making war with other nations. 

 The men have but one wife. There are no pages, or priests, 

 among them, and they have no ideas of a superior Being. 

 They cultivate mandiocca, maize, and other fruits, and use 



