AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 319 



acquainted with him, their great chief. He was of the middle size, 

 but strong and muscular ; in his ears and lower lip he wore larger 

 pieces of wood ; his face, as low as the mouth, was painted of a 

 bright red; and he had drawn a black line under the nose, extending 

 from ear to ear, but left his body of its natural colour. Towards the 

 Portuguese he showed himself sincere and well disposed, and there 

 had never been any occasion to complain of his conduct. Though 

 he was not externally distinguished from the other members of his 

 tribe, he enjoyed great consideration among his countrymen, which 

 enabled him at times to be serviceable even to the Portuguese. Once, 

 for example, when the latter first met the Botocudos on friendly 

 terms, another of their chiefs appeared at the Quartel, and importu- 

 nately demanded a great quantity of iron wares. As the station had 

 at that time but a weak garrison, and was surrounded by numerous 

 savages, it was thought advisable to comply with his desires. Soon 

 afterwards Captain Gipakeiu arrived ; the Portuguese complained to 

 him of what had happened, on which he went into the woods, and 

 obliged his countryman to restore the greatest part of the implements. 

 He frequently embraced me in the Portuguese fashion, but our conver- 

 sation was very singular, as neither of us could understand the other ; 

 however, the Captain soon made me comprehend that he was very 

 hungry, and expected me to give him something to eat : to satisfy 

 their unbounded appetite is always the most urgent want of these 

 savages. 



When I had treated him with mandiocca-flour, and ingratiated 

 myself still more into his favour, he sent to his hut in the forest for 

 some articles for the purpose of bartering ; among these was in 

 particular a short speaking-trumpet, cuntschun cocann*, which 



* Instead of the tail of the armadillo, the more civilised Coroados in Minas Geraes use 

 the horn of an ox for this purpose. 



