282 
TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO. 
[June, 
r; 
attached to it fell gracefully down the back. Round 
the neck or over one shoulder were large necklaces of ® 
many folds of white or red beads, as well as the white i 
cylindrical stone hung on the middle of a string of some f 
black shining seeds. I 
The ends of the monkey-ham cords which tied the 
hair were ornamented with little plumes, and from the 
arm hung a bunch of curiously-shaped seeds, ornamented i 
with bright coloured feathers attached by strings of I 
monkeys’ hair. Round the waist was one of their most 
valued ornaments, possessed by comparatively few, — the 
girdle of ongas’ teeth. And lastly, tied round the ankles 
were large bunches of a curious hard fruit, which pro- 
duce a rattling sound in the dance. In their hands | 
some carried a bow and a bundle of curabis, or war- 
arrows j others a murucu, or spear of hard polished j 
wood, or an oval painted gourd, filled with small stones t 
and attached to a handle, which, being shaken at re- I 
gular intervals in the dance, produced a rattling accom- 
paniment to the leg ornaments and the song. 
The wild and strange appearance of these handsome, 
■'& "’'I* 
naked, painted Indians, with their curious ornaments 
and weapons, the stamp and song and rattle which! 
accompanies the dance, the hum of conversation in a'"| 
strange language, the music of fifes and flutes and other 
instruments of reed, bone, and turtles’ shells, the large 
calabashes of caxiri constantly carried about, and the 
great smoke-blackened gloomy house, produced an effect 
to which no description can do justice, and of which thet 
sight of half-a-dozen Indians going through their dances 
for show, gives but a very faint idea. 
