THE ANIMALS OF AMAZONIA. 



521 



found in the East Indies. The serpentine family is led by the enormous boa, while 

 the rear is brought up by the Amphisbaenas, or " double-headers," who crawl one end 

 foremost as well as the other, so that it is no easy matter to make head or tail of them. 

 The greater part of the South American species are not venomous. 



Amazonia is remarkably poor in terrestrial mammals, and the species are of small 

 size. The elephants and rhinoceroses of the Old World are represented by a single 

 species of the tapir, and this is rare and shy. The lion tribe finds its only representa- 

 tive in the puma. The jaguar, representing the tiger and leopard, is the fiercest and 

 most powerful beast of prey of the New World. He is marked something like the 

 leopard ; but his spots are angular instead of rounded, and have a central dot. In 

 size it exceeds the leopard. Humboldt, indeed, saw a jaguar whose length surpassed 

 that of any of the tigers of India whose skins he had seen in the collections of Europe. 

 There are but three species of deer, all small. A peccari, a wild dog, opossums, ant- 

 eaters, armadilloes, capybaras, pacas, agoutis, and monkeys, conclude the list of Ama- 

 zonia. Monkeys are the most numerous, about forty species inhabiting the valley. 



Man makes an insignificant figure in the vast solitudes of the Amazon. There is 

 but one human being to every four square miles. Put them down at equal distances 

 apart, and each one would be two miles from his nearest neighbor. From what we 

 know and can infer, there is no part of the globe in itself capable of supporting a more 

 dense population. It is safe to say that a third of the present population of the globe 

 could find food in these now almost unpeopled wastes. The most zealous disciple of 

 Malthus may dismiss his fears that the world will, within any reasonable number 

 of centuries, become so over-peopled that population will outrun means of sustenance. 



There are said to be several hundred Indian tribes in Amazonia, each having a dif- 

 ferent language unintelligible to all others. The most numerous are the Mundaraucus, 

 who number about 10,000. They are far from being savages, are friendly to the 

 whites, and are industrious, making considerable journeys to sell sarsaparilla, India 

 rubber, and tonqua beans. They are noted for the elaborate manner in which they are 

 tattooed. Agassiz figures two of these Indians who came from a long distance. The 

 woman had the upper part of the face clear, — except that a black line was drawn 

 across the nose and from the outer corner of the eyes to the ears, presenting precisely 

 the appearance of a pair of spectacles. The chin was tattooed in a pattern of net- 

 work. The upper part of the breast was wrought in open work, headed by two straight 

 lines around the shoulders, as if to represent a lace finish. The man was far more 

 fully ornamented. The whole face was tattooed in bluish black, looking like a fine 

 wire mask, the jaws and chin having a broad pattern. The neck, breast, and arms 

 were wrought all over in a broad pattern with belts, lozenges, and squares, looking 

 very like the netted shirts sometimes worn by laborers with us. To make a full suit 

 of tattoo costs more time than to produce any other article of dress worn by human 

 beings — a Cashmere shawl or the feathered cloak of a Polynesian noble not excepted. 

 Ten full years are required, for so painful is the operation that only a bit can be made 

 at a time ; but when once made the garment lasts a life-time. 



Of the character of the numerous tribes little is positively known. The few notices 

 of travelers are vague, often contradictory, and not seldom wholly incredible. Thus 

 Castlennau gravely assures us that on the banks of the Teffe '* dwell the Canamas and 

 Uginas ; the former dwarfs, the latter having tails a palm and a half long — a hybrid 



