98 
THE AMAZON AND MADEIRA RIVERS. 
Tire T.AMANTTX, OU PBIXE-BOI (irANATITS AMEEICANUs). 
man-like monkeys, sncli as the gorilla, the raiimpanzee, and the orang- 
outang, were to be found in the Brazilian forests, this ■\videly-spread 
superstition ^yould admit of easy explanation; but even the liveliest 
hunter’s tancy is not equal to so hideous an exaggeration of such poor 
representatives of “our cousins” as ai'c hoAvling monkeys, or Barrigudos; 
and the origin of the table is certainly to be sought only in the gloomy 
belief of the Indians, Avho fancy themselves pursued at every step by 
demons and witchcraft. MoreoA'er, every tribe has its own hunting- 
customs, or rather hunting-superstitions, for here also the sons of Nimrod 
are more inclined to credulity than other mortals. The Coroados of 
the South will not taste the meat of the deer, lest they should lose 
their rich black hair; or the protuberance on the neck of the tapir. 
abode, and whose Aimbrageous depth is uninvaded by sunbeam, is regarded 
with superstitious awe, and no Tapuyo Avill v'cntiu’e to stay at nightfall 
at any jjlace within hearing of the roar of the haunted fall. 
Another dreaded ghost of the forest, though it be not by far of so 
lovely a shape, is the Caepbra (Caa pbra, man of the forest), an ugly 
old man covered with hair, of immense bodily strength, who waylays 
the himters and twists their necks. Any unusual sound in the Avoods is 
ascribed to the caepbra, and only absolute silence and motionless cowering 
under bushes and branches will, it is thought, avail to save from his 
dreadful claws. Incredulous people are forced by urgent entreaties, or, if 
need be, by menaces, to comply with these armngoments, in order 
not to rouse the AAU-ath of the totally inAuihierable monster. If large 
