256 



JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS 



It was twilight when we reached the httle Indian village of Cra- 

 memoan, which was built by order of the ouvidor upon a hill on the 

 river, and is properly intended to serve as a station by the name of 

 Quartel da Cunha, for the security of this part of the country. 



The Indians were not a little astonished at so uncommon and so late 

 a visit of a loaded tropa in this solitary spot; they immediately 

 crowded round to converse with us, while our people were lighting a 

 fire in a solitary hut. They subsist by their plantations, by fishing in 

 the river and the sea, and make in the forest estoppa and emhira^ 

 (bast) which they send to Porto Seguro for sale. As powder and ball 

 are scarce and extremely dear on the coast, they partly use in hunting 

 bows and arrows, which they procure from the Patachos in the neigh- 

 bouring forests in exchange for knives. Though these people were 

 placed here by the ouvidor^ for the express purpose of assisting 

 travellers to pass the river, they are not satisfied with this destination, 

 and live chiefly on their plantations in the neighbourhood. They are 

 strong and robust, but so indolent, that in bad weather they will 

 rather remain in their huts without provisions, than put themselves 

 to any inconvenience in labouring. The Indians provided us with 

 fish ; we also obtained from them some cakes of mandiocca-flour, of 

 which they had a stock ready made. The various methods of pre- 

 paring mandiocca-flour for food have been transmitted to them from 

 their ancestors, the Tupinambas, and other tribes of the Lingoa geral. 

 The river Cramemoan has on its banks rhizophora, or coiiocarpus 

 bushes. In the cool of the morning numbers of parrots were heard in 

 the woods, of the species psittacus amazonicus, Latham, or ocroce- 

 phalus. Linn., which are here called cMr/ca : this bird frequents the 

 mangrove bushes on the banks of the rivers where it builds its nest. 



After we had reached the north bank with our whole tropa, we 

 proceeded along the sea-coast over the. level plain covered with thick 

 bushes, which is bounded in the distance by hills; but we soon came 



