Chap. II. 
INDIAN FEATURES. 
129 
clamation, Hm ! hm ! Before I finished, from fifty to 
sixty had assembled ; there was no pushing or rudeness, 
the grown-up women letting the young girls and children 
stand before them, and all behaved in the most quiet 
and orderly manner possible. 
The great difference in figure, shape of head, and 
arrangement of features amongst these people struck 
me forcibly, and showed how little uniformity there 
is in these respects amongst the Brazilian Indians, 
even when belonging to the same tribe. The only 
* points in which they all closely resembled each other 
were the long, thick, straight, jet-black hair, the warm 
coppery-brown tint of the skin, and the quiet, rather 
dull, expression of countenance. I saw no countenance 
so debased in expression as many seen amongst the 
Mura tribe, and no head of the Mongolian tjrpe — broad, 
with high cheek bones, and oblique position of the 
eyes — of which single examples occur amongst the 
semi-civilised canoemen on the river. Many of them 
had fine oval faces, with rather long and well-formed 
features, moderately thin lips, and arched forehead. 
One little girl, about twelve years of age, had quite a 
European cast of features, and a remarkably slim 
figure. They were all clean in their persons ; the petti- 
coats of the women being made of coarse cotton cloth 
obtained from traders, and their hair secured in a knot 
behind by combs made of pieces of bamboo. The old 
men had their heads closely cropped, with the excep- 
tion of a long fringe which hung down in front over 
their foreheads. 
The Mundurucus are perhaps the most numerous 
VOL. IT. K 
