LIFE IN TEFFE. 



227 



This was the case with several of the family whose ac- 

 quaintance we made last evening, though some of them 

 talked in Portuguese fluently enough, telling us about 

 their life in the forest, their success in disposing of their 

 fish and turtle, and inviting us to come to their house. 

 They pointed out to us one of the younger girls, who 

 they said had never been baptized, and they seemed to 

 wish to have the rite performed. Major Coutinho promised 

 to speak to the priest about it for them. So far as we can 

 learn, the white population do little to civilize the Indians 

 beyond giving them the external rites of religion. It is the 

 old sad story of oppression, duplicity, and license on the 

 part of the white man, which seems likely to last as long 

 as skins shall differ, and which necessarily ends in the 

 degradation of both races. 



October 4th. — On Saturday morning at four o'clock, Ma- 

 jor Coutinho, Mr. Agassiz, and myself left Teffi^ in company 

 with our neighbor and landlord Major Estolano, on our way 

 to his "sitio," a rough sort of Indian lodge on the other 

 side of the Solimoens, where he goes occasionally with 

 his family to superintend the drying and salting of fish, 

 a great article of commerce here. It had rained heavily 

 all night, but the stars were bright, and the morning was 

 cool and fresh when we put off in the canoe. When we 

 issued from TefF^ lake it was already broad day, and by 

 the time we entered the Solimoens we began to have 

 admonitions that breakfast-time was approaching. There 

 is something very pleasant in these improvised meals ; the 

 coffee tastes better when you have made it yourself, setting 

 up the coffee-machine under the straw-roof of the canoe, 

 dipping up the water from the river over the side of the 

 boat, and cooking your own breakfast. One would think 



