TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 249 



small piece of reed, in the little aperture. The men, like those of all 

 the other tribes on the east coast, carry their knives fastened to a 

 string round their necks ; and they hung the rosaries which were given 

 them, in the same manner. Their skin was of its natural red brown 

 colour, and no where painted. They have a very strange custom 

 of tying up the pr^eputium with a bind-weed, which gives to the 

 part a very singular appearance. Their weapons are, in the main, 

 the same as those of the other savages ; their bows are, however, 

 larger than those of any of the other tribes ; I measured one of them, 

 and found it to be eight feet nine inches and a half, English measure ; 

 they are made of ah^i wood, ( Bigiionia J. The arrows which they usu- 

 ally carry with them for the chace, are rather short; but they probably 

 make those which they use in war longer, according to the custom 

 of the other tribes. These arrows are tipped with feathers of the 

 arara, mutiim, or birds of prey ; and they are pointed with taqua- 

 7-ussu or uba reed : but no where did I find among the various tribes 

 of the savages the bowstring made of the guts or sinews of animals, 

 as Lindley erroneously states in his Narrative, (p. 22). Every man 

 carries on his back a bag, or sack, made of bast or other materials, 

 which hangs round his neck, and serves to hold various trifles. The 

 women are not painted, any more than the men, and go entirely 

 naked. The huts of these savages differ in their construction from 

 those of the Puris, which have been described above. The stems of 

 young trees, and poles stuck in the ground, are bent at the top, tied 

 together, and a covering of cocoa or pattioba leaves laid on them. 

 These huts are very flat and low ; near each of them there is a sort of 

 grate, consisting of four prongs stuck in the ground, on which are 

 laid four sticks, and these are crossed by others, laid pretty close, for 

 the purpose of roasting or broiling their game. The Patachos in 

 many respects resemble the Machacaris or Machacalis ; their lan- 



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