Chap. 1Y. COSMOGONY OF THE PASSES. 
243 
the one side or the other, in the dealings between Euro- 
pean settlers and this noble tribe of savages. 
Very little is known of the original customs of the 
Passes. The mode of life of our host Pedro-uassii did 
not differ much from that of the civilised Mamelucos ; 
but he and his people showed a greater industry, and 
were more open, cheerful, and generous in their dealings 
than many half-castes. The authority of Pedro, like 
that of the Tushauas generally, was exercised in a mild 
manner. These chieftains appear able to command the 
services of their subjects, since they furnish men to the 
Brazilian authorities when requested ; but none of them, 
even those of the most advanced tribes, appear to make 
use of this authority for the accumulation of property ; 
the service being exacted chiefly in time of war. Had 
the ambition of the chiefs of some of these industrious 
tribes been turned to the acquisition of wealth, pro- 
bably we should have seen indigenous civilised nations 
in the heart of South America similar to those found on 
the Andes of Peru and Mexico. It is very probable that 
the Passes adopted from the first to some extent the 
manners of the whites. Ribeiro, a Portuguese ofiicial 
who travelled in these regions in 1774-5, and wrote an 
account of his journey, relates that they buried their 
dead in large earthenware vessels (a custom still observed 
amongst other tribes on the Upper Amazons), and that^ 
as to their marriages, the young men earned their 
brides by valiant deeds in war. He also states that 
they possessed a cosmogony, in which the belief that the 
sun was a fixed body with the earth revolving around 
it, was a prominent feature. He says, moreover, that 
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