180 
THE UPPER AMAZONS. 
Chap. III. 
man (also somewhat of a mulatto), always merry and 
fond of practical jokes. His wife, Donna Anna, a dressy 
dame from Santarem, was the leader of fashion in the 
settlement. The vicar, Father Luiz Gonsalvo Gomez, 
was a nearly pure-blood Indian, a native of one of 
the neighbouring villages, but educated in Maranham, 
a city on the Atlantic seaboard. I afterwards saw a 
good deal of him, as he was an agreeable, sociable fel- 
low, fond of reading and hearing about foreign countries, 
and quite free from the prejudices which might be 
expected in a man of his profession. I found him, 
moreover, a thoroughly upright, sincere, and virtuous 
man. He supported his aged mother and unmarried 
sisters in a very creditable way out of his small salary 
and emoluments. It is a pleasure to be able to speak 
in these terms of a Brazilian priest, for the opportunity 
occurs rarely enough. 
Leaving these agreeable new acquaintances to finish 
their breakfast, we next called on the Director of the 
Indians of the Japura, Senhor Jose Chrysostomo Mon- 
teiro, a thin wiry Mameluco, the most enterprising per- 
son in the settlement. Each of the neighbouring rivers 
with its numerous wild tribes is under the control of a 
Director, who is nominated by the Imperial Govern- 
ment. There are now no missions in the region of the 
Upper Amazons : the " gentios " (heathens, or unbap- 
tized Indians) being considered under the management 
and protection of these despots, who, like the captains 
of Trabalhadores, before mentioned, use the natives for 
their own private ends ; Senhor Chrysostomo had, at 
this time, 200 of the Japura Indians in his employ. He 
