350 
TRAVELS ON THE RIO NEGRO. 
\Marcli, 
They had taken possession of a canoe, and absconded in 
the night leaving me no remedy, but the chance of j 
finding them in their houses on my return, and the still ^ 
more remote chance of their having anything to pay j 
me with. 
The Indians here have but little characteristic distinc- j . 
tion from those below. The women wear more beads [ 
around their necks and arms. The lower lip is often ’ 
pierced, and two or three little strings of white beads 
inserted; but as the nations are so mixed by inter- j 
marriages, this custom is probably derived from the 
Tucanos. Some of the women and children wore two i 
garters, one above the ankle and one below the knee — 
swelling out the calf enormously, which they consider a ' 
very great beauty. I did not see here so many long 
tails of hair ; most of the men having probably been to : 
the Hio Negro with some trader, and thence worn their ' 
hair like Christians ; or perhaps because the last Tushaua ! 
was a '^homen muito civilizado’' (a very well-bred person). 
After four days’ delay, we at length started, with a 
comparatively small complement of Indians, but with 
some extra ones to assist us in passing several caxoeiras, 
which occur near at hand. These are the ‘‘Pirewa” ^ 
(Wound), ‘^Uacoroua” (Goat-sucker), “ Maniwara” (White , 
Ant), “ Matapi ” (Pish-trap), Amana ” (Rain), “ Tapira- | 
cunga” (Tapir’s head), ‘"Tapira eura” (Tapir’s mouth), 
and “ Jacare ” (Alligator). Three of these were very bad, 
the canoe having to be unloaded entirely, and pulled 
over the dry and uneven rocks. The last was the high- J 
est ; the river rushing furiously about twenty feet down 
a rugged slope of rock. The loading and unloading of i 1 
