Travels in Brazils. 



13 



^03. Southey and Beauchamp, in their Histories of Brazil, have 



f leaned from the works of the above authors. Vasconcello?, in 

 is Noticias curiosas do Brazil, divides all the aborigines of the 

 east coast in two classes, namelj, the civilized Indians, Indios man- 

 SOS, and the wild hordes, Tapuyas. When the Europeans first 

 visited this country, the former inhabited merely the sea coast. 

 They were divided into several tribes which differed very little 

 from each other, in language and manners. The custom of fatten- 

 ing their prisoners, in order to kill them on a festival, with the 

 club Tacape, or Ive7'a pemme, adorned with variegated fea- 

 thers, and then devouring them, prevailed universally. Among 

 these tribes were the Tamoyos, Tupinambas, Tupinaquins, To- 

 bay ar as, Tupis, Tupigoaes, Tumimirios, Amoigpyras, Araboy- 

 aras, Rariguaras., Potigoares^ Cavigos, 4*c. Father Jose de 

 Anchieta has left us a very complete grammar of the language, 

 common to the whole of the tribes on the coast, and therefore 

 called Lingoa geral, or Matriz. Though these Indians are now 

 all civihzed, and have adopted the Portuguese, they still recollect 

 more or less of their mother tongue, and the old men and women 

 speak it pretty accurately. All the names of animals, plants, rivers, 

 &c. which occur in descriptions of Brazil belong to this language, 

 which extended over all the adjoining countries, as the names of 

 the animals in Azara's Natural History of Paraguay, as well as 

 other facts shew. These names, which are all taken from the 

 Guarani language, correspond, in a great measure, with the Lingoa 

 geral. 



The Indians of the first class (according to the division of Vas- 

 conellos,) have completely changed their mode of life, and there- 

 by lost the originality of their character. It is quite otherwise 

 with the second class or Tabuyas ; they have undergone no change, 

 and are still in their original savage state. Inhabiting the interior 

 of the forests, and withdrawn from the observation and the influ- 

 ence of the European settlers, these savages live in greater security 

 than their brethren on the coast, with whom, as well as the Eu- 

 ropeans, they are in constant war. They are divided into various 

 tribes, and it is remarkable that they all speak different languages. 

 One very wild tribe, the Uetacas or Goaytacases, as the Portu- 

 guese call them, dwelt on the east coast, surrounded by races that 

 spoke the Lingoa geral, from which their language was com- 

 pletely different. 1 ney lived in constant war with their neigli- 

 bours, and were dreaded by them and the Europeans, until the 

 Jesuits, so well practised in civilizing the savage hordes of this 

 quarter of the world, at last succeeded, to a certain degree, in 

 softening their manners. 



At the building of St. Sebastian (Rio de Janeiro), in l5(j7, 

 Mendo de Saa established the village of St. Lourenzo, under Mar- 

 tin Alfonso^ for the Indians who had fought bravely against tlie 



' 4 



