CHAPTER XXVI 
THE WARLIKE WOMEN OF THE AMAZON : 
A HISTORICAL STUDY 
[This essay was written by Spruce as an appendix 
to his chapter on the Trombetas river, near the 
mouth of which the early discoverers first en- 
countered the fighting women. But as the evidence 
adduced by Spruce for their existence is spread over 
a large part of Amazonia, it seems better to give it 
here. By doing so I have been enabled to divide 
the present work into two volumes of nearly equal 
size, each dealing with a well-defined geographical 
area.] 
The Women Warriors 
I cannot dismiss the Trombetas without saying a 
few words about the warlike women whom Orellana 
affirmed that he encountered on his voyage down 
the Great River, the site of the encounter having 
been identified by subsequent travellers with the 
mouth either of the Trombetas or of the Nhamunda 
(called also the Cunun's), which is the next tributary 
of the Amazon to westward. It is of little moment 
to which river we assign it, when (according to 
Baena) the Nhamunda has two mouths, 14 leagues 
apart, and the lower mouth is but 6 leagues above 
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