AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 313 



all wet, and a little Botocudo whom I had brought with me, shed 

 floods of tears from alarm. Our canoe glided with equal good for- 

 tune down all the other little falls. Near the Lapa dos Mineir^os we 

 saw some Botocudos on the southern bank employed in shooting fish 

 with their arrows. One of them, who was the nearest to us, imme- 

 diately beckoned to us with his hand to fetch him off, and give him 

 something to eat. To see him more closely, and to barter with him 

 for his arms, I made the boat steer towards the bank ; but, impelled 

 by his craving appetite, he did not wait for our arrival, plunged up 

 to his neck in the water, and then came partly wading and partly 

 swimming, and holding his weapons above his head, to a mass of 

 rock which lay pretty far in the river, where he remained making 

 signs, which indicated his rude uncurbed impatience. When we ap- 

 proached nearer, we found this Botocudo to be a tall robust man, 

 who in all his gestures betrayed the most marked characteristics of his 

 savage nature. He opened his mouth as wide as he could, and 

 bawled out nuncut (to eat), on which we threw some handfuls of 

 flour into his jaws ; while he was greedily swallowing it, one of my 

 people, who understood a little of the language of these savages, 

 leaped on shore, seized his weapons, and brought them safely on 

 board the canoe, telling us that this man was so savage that we must 

 be on our guard against him ; at the same time he stuck a knife into 

 the point of his oar and presented it to the savage, who seemed to be 

 well satisfied with this exchange; we then quickly pushed off our 

 canoe into the stream. The Botocudo, whose hunger was not yet 

 appeased, did not give up the hope of overtaking us ; he ran a good 

 while along the bank after the canoe, sprang from rock to rock, 

 swam and waded through the water ; till at length perceiving that the 

 canoe was too far ahead for him to overtake it, he turned round dis- 

 satisfied, and M^ent back into the forest. A little farther on we met 

 with two other savages, who also conversed with us, and made 



2 s 



