64 



Prince Maximilian's 



high value on their knives^ which they carry attached to 

 strings tied round the neck and hanging down the back ; and 

 which often consist merely of a piece of iron^ though by con- 

 stantly whetting them on stones, they render them very sharp. 

 If a knife is given to them they generally break the handle, 

 and make a new one after their own taste, by tying the blade 

 tightly in between two pieces of wood. 



When we had finished our barter, we remounted our horses 

 and proceeded towards some other huts situated farther up the 

 wood. The way was toilsome, full of tree-roots, and con- 

 stantly ascending and descending over hills; some of the 

 savages swung themselves up behind and rode with us; and a 

 whole troop of Cozoado Indians from S. Fidelis accompanied 

 us on foot. We found in the thick wood, in a small solitary 

 valley, the house of a Portuguese, w ho lived among the Piiris, 

 Henceforward the way became easy, and we soon reached 

 the huts of many savages, where a multitude of lean dogs 

 again assailed us. The Piiris seem to have had these dogs 

 from the Europeans; they call them Joare, and I found them 

 among all the aboriginal tribes on the east coast.* In 

 the huts there were, in particular, a great number of women 

 and children ; and in some of them several hammocks, though 

 one only was in general to be seen. One Puri sold his ham- 

 mock to me for a knife : others bartered their ape-skin brow- 

 bands, their necklaces, &c. M. Freyreiss treated with a 

 Purl for his son, and offered several things for him. The 

 women gave their advice loudly in their pecuhar singing tone, 

 and sometimes with sorrowful gestures : most of their words 

 ended in a, and were drawled out, which occasioned a noisy, 

 curious concert. It was evident that they were unwilling to 

 give up the boy ; but the head of the family, an elderly grave 

 man, spoke a few impressive words, and then stood in deep 

 thought, with his head sunk downwards. Two knives, a shirt, 

 a handkerchief, some strings of glass pearls, and a small mirror, 

 being ultimately offered to him, he could not withstand the 

 temptation, but immediately brought a youth out of the wood, 

 who being ugly and ill-made was rejected ; after which the 

 savage brought a second, of a more agreeable exterior. The 

 iiidifFerence with with which this youth learned his destiny 

 is incredible : he never changed countenance, took no leave, 

 and seated himself, perfectly contented, on the crupper of Mr. 

 Freireiss's horse. This insensible indifference, under events 

 both of sorrow and of joy, is found to exist among all >the 



* Von Humboldt found in Spanish America naked dogs; we saw nothing 

 similar on this coast. — Ansichten der Natur. S. 90. 



