130 
VOYAGE UP THE TAPAJOS. 
Chap. IT. 
and formidable tribe of Indians now surviving in the 
Amazons region. They inhabit the shores of the 
Tapajos (chiefly the right bank), from 3^ to 7° south 
latitude, and the interior of the country between that 
part of the river and the Madeira. On the Tapajos alone 
they can muster, I was told, 2000 fighting men ; the 
total population of the tribe may be about 20,000. 
They were not heard of until about ninety years ago, 
when they made war on the Portuguese settlements ; 
their hosts crossing the interior of the country eastward 
of the Tapajos, and attacking the establishments of the 
whites in the province of Maranham. The Portuguese 
made peace with them in the beginning of the present 
century, the event being brought about by the common 
cause of quarrel entertained by the two peoples against 
the hated Muras. They have ever since been firm 
friends of the whites. It is remarkable how faithfully 
this friendly feeling has been handed down amongst 
the Mundurucus, and spread to the remotest of the 
scattered hordes. Wherever a white man meets a 
family, or even an individual of the tribe, he is almost 
sure to be reminded of this alliance. They are the 
most warlike of the Brazilian tribes, and are considered 
also the most settled and industrious ; they are not, 
however, superior in this latter respect to the Juris and 
Passes on the Upper Amazons, or the Uapes Indians 
near the head waters of the Rio Negro. . They make 
very large plantations of mandioca, and sell the surplus 
produce, which amounts on the Tapajos to from 3000 
to 5000 baskets (60 lbs. each) annually, to traders who 
ascend the river from Santarem between the months 
