AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 



297 



hunting grounds, can induce them to a gradual change in their mode 

 of hfe. 



The Botocudos who now Hved under the same roof with us, afforded 

 us the greatest entertainment, and frequently interesting scenes. 

 Thus, the old captain from whom I had purchased his bow and arrows, 

 came to me one day to borrow them, because, as he said, he could not 

 hunt without them. I granted his request, but the appointed time 

 passed over, and my arrows did not make their appearance ; nor did I 

 ever see them in the hands of the savage. I asked him for them in a 

 friendly manner, but in vain. At length I learned that he had hid- 

 den them in the forest, and it was a long time before my serious ex- 

 postulations, supported by the commandant of the Quartel, at last 

 induced him to fetch them and give them up. Hatchets (in their 

 language carapo ) and knives have the greatest value in their estima- 

 tion. They use the former especially to split the tough wood of the pao 

 d'arco, (bignonia,) of which they make their bows : they barter their 

 bows and arrows for them both ; yet their appetite is so preponde- 

 rant, that they part with the knife which they have just obtained for 

 a little flour. 



The island upon which the buildings of the Quartel are situated, 

 is cleared of wood, as we have already observed, only on its hither 

 or lower extremity, where are also the plantations which supply 

 food both for the soldiers and the Botocudos : while the back part, on 

 the contrary, is covered with shrubs ( capueira) and forests, through 

 which there are no paths ; the same is the case on the neighbourmg 

 banks of the river. Except the Minas road on the south bank, you 

 find in the thick forests nothing but narrow paths, which the Botocu- 

 dos or the wild beasts have formed for themselves. We therefore 

 made most of our hunting excursions partly by water in canoes: 

 proceeding a part of the way up or down the river, then landing and 

 penetrating into the woods. Some of these excursions were highly 



2 Q 



