Travels in tJie Brazils. 61 



their forehead. Some of the women carried their little chil- 

 ren by the means of bands fastened over the right shoulder, 

 and others on their back, the band being fixed across their 

 forehead, which is also their usual method of carrying their 

 provision-baskets on their expeditions. Some of the men and 

 young women were much painted ; they had the red points on 

 their forehead and cheek, and, in part, red streaks on the 

 face ; on the body of others were to be seen black streaks, 

 both lengthwise and across, intermixed with points ; and 

 several children were covered all over with the same descrip- 

 tion of small black spots. The mode of painting seems to be 

 a mere matter of taste, and quite arbitrary among them. Some 

 of the females wore bands round their heads ; and it is besides 

 a custom with them to wear a tight band round their ancles 

 and wrists, in order, as they say, to render those parts slender 

 and elegant. The figure of the men is in general stout, thick, 

 and broad, and often very brawny ; the head thick and round, 

 the face broad, and generally with strong prominent cheek- 

 bones; the eyes small, black, and sometimes awry ; the nose 

 short and broad, and the teeth very white. Some, however, 

 were distinguished by sharp features, small, curved noses, and 

 very lively eyes, which, in a few instances, had a friendly ex- 

 pression, but, in general, sunk beneath the projecting fore- 

 head, cast forth a black stern glance. 



One of the men was distingutshed from all the rest by his 

 Calmuck-physiognomy; he had a thick round head, the hair 

 of which was cut off to the length of an inch ; a very muscular 

 squab body ; a short broad neck, a large fiat face, a small nose 

 with wide nostrils, a thick mouth, thick black eye-brows, 

 highly arched, and squinting eyes, somewhat larger than those 

 of the Calmucks usually are. Von Eschwege adduces, as a 

 peculiarity of the Puris, the smallness of the male sex ; but 1 

 must confess, that I found in this respect no remarkable dif- 

 ference between them and the other tribes 3 the Puris are 

 usually very little, and the whole Brazilian race is, in this 

 point, inferior to Europeans, and still more so to the Negroes. 



All the men here carried large bows and arrows. Some of 

 the South American people, however, especially those on the 

 Maranham, use short-feathered lances of hard wood ; and 

 others as those o^ Paraguay, Motto Grosso, Cuyabd, Cuyana, and 

 the Tapi-tYibes on the east coast of Brazils, make use of short 

 clubs, though every where the chief arms are the bow and 

 arrow. Only a^ few tribes who inhabit the places of South 

 A,merica, the Pampas of Buenos Ayr es, and some countries of 

 Paraguay, being always on horseback, use, as tbcir principal 

 weapon, a long lance, and carry a small bow and siiort arrow. 



