216 
TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO. \Nommhef, j 
informed they were very abundant. I accordingly made ! 
arrangements for a trip to the Serra, with the intention ' 
of staying there a week. By the promise of good pay- 
ment for every Gallo '' they killed for me, I persuaded 
almost the whole male population of the village to ac- ! 
company me. As our path was through a dense forest | 
for ten miles, we could not load ourselves with much 
baggage : every man had to carry his gravatana, bow | 
and arrows, rede, and some farinha; which, with salt, j 
was all the provisions we took, trusting to the forest for 
our meat ; and I even gave up my daily and only luxury 
of coffee. 
We started off, thirteen in number, along a tolerable 
path. In about an hour we came to a mandiocca-field ' 
and a house, the last on the road to the serra. Here we 
waited a short time, took some ‘'mingau,’’ or gruel, made 
of green plantains, and got a volunteer to join our com- 
pany. I was much struck with an old woman whose l 
whole body was one mass of close deep wrinkles, and | 
whose hair was white, a sure sign of very great age in « 
an Indian ; from information I obtained, I believe she l||l 
was more than a hundred years old. There was also a | 
young ‘"mameluca,” very fair and handsome, and of a 
’ particularly intelligent expression of countenance, very y ! 
rarely seen in that mixed race. The moment I saw her | 
I had little doubt of her being a person of whom I had 
heard Senhor L. speak, as the daughter of the celebrated #. " 
German naturalist. Dr. Natterer, by an Indian woman. 
I afterwards saw her at Guia, and ascertained that my r I 
supposition was correct. She was about seventeen years w 
of age, was married to an Indian, and had several chil- T | 
