290 STAY AT THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, 



Quartel, consist of four hordes, each of which has its particular chief, 

 whom the Portuguese call Captain : they had all retreated further 

 into the woods, and it was only known that one of them, Captain 

 June, called by the savages Kerengnatnuck, was with his people, 

 three days journey farther up, on the Salto : but whither the three 

 others had retired was not known. The mission of Francisco did not 

 immediately produce the desired effect; and I therefore persuaded the 

 commandant to dispatch after them, for the same purpose, several 

 young Botocudos, who had just returned from Rio de Janeiro, whither 

 the ouvidor had sent them. 



As I was furnished with recommendations to the commandant, I 

 found myself very comfortable at this quartel. The prime necessaries 

 of life are, indeed, scarce in this wilderness, and the only articles of 

 subsistence are, mandiocca-flour, beans, and salt fish, of a species 

 which is caught in abundance in the river : but on the other hand, 

 the travelling naturalist, accustomed to privations, finds here ample 

 occupation and the most agreeable amusement. We daily made hunt- 

 ing excursions in the forests, which are close to the bank, and returned 

 home in the evening so weary, that we had scarcely time and strength 

 left to note down the observations that we had made. 



I took advantage of the absence of the Botocudos, to visit and ex- 

 amine the huts they had lately forsaken, which lay at a considerable 

 distance from the river, in the inmost recesses of the wilderness. They 

 consisted merely of leaves of cocoa-palms, which were fixed in the 

 ground, in an oval figure, in such a manner, that their points, meeting 

 at the top, formed a kind of arch. In those huts I found none of the 

 utensils, except large thick stones, with which they are accustomed to 

 break open certain wild cocoa-nuts, which they call ororo. Not far 

 from one of these huts was the grave of a man, which I resolved 

 also to examine. It was situated in a small clear spot, under some 

 tall ancient trees, and was covered over with short thick pieces of wood. 



