m / it - / 1< U- 1 /f airi palms. Young vigorous trees of this species, from twenty to thirty feet high, rise with their straight dark-brown stems, surrounded with thorny rings : their beautifully feathered leaves skreened the damp ground from the scorching noon-tide sun ; while younger ones, which had not yet any stem, formed the brush-wood, above which old dead palms, withered and decayed, projected like broken columns. Upon these trees, devoted to destruction, the soli- tary yellow-hooded woodpecker ( picus flavescens, Linn.) or the beau- tiful species with the red head and neck (picus robust us)* was at work. The flower of the flame-coloured heliconia covered the low bushes near us, round which twined a beautiful convolvulus, with the finest azure-blue bells. In this magnificent forest the ligneous creep- ing plants again shewed themselves in all their originality, with their curvatures and singular forms. We contemplated with admiration the sublimity of this wilderness, which was animated onlv by toucans, • This name was given by the Berlin naturalists, after Azara had described this bird in the 4th vol. of his Travels, p. 6, where he calls it charpentier a kuppeet cou rouges. TO THE RIVER ESPIRITO SANTO. 153 pavos (pie d gorge ensanglante'e, Azara), parrots, and other birds. Our hunters were busy in all directions, and rilled their pockets with game. Beyond this wood we reached the Povoacao de Obu, con- sisting of some fishermen's huts, two leagues from Villa Nova. Such dwellings, embowered in woods or thick bushes, are frequently more picturesque than others in open spots. A Povoapao (a village without a church) named MiaipS, inhabited by sixty or eighty families of fishermen, afforded lodging for our company in the even- ing. We had taken up our quarters in a house which stood rather high, whither several persons immediately repaired, who gazed with particular admiration at our savage Puri, and watched all his mo- tions. We were well received in this house, which was roomy, and had a large apartment, where we soon had a brisk fire to dry our clothes, which were wet through with the rain. Not far from Miaipe lies the Villa de Goaraparim, to which a road leads over rocKy hills projecting into the sea. Near the villa a narrow arm of the sea, the water of which is salt, runs up into the country ; it is called the Go- araparim, and is often spoken of as a river. The town has about sixteen hundred inhabitants, and is therefore something larger than Villa Nova de Benevente : the whole district contains about three thousand souls. The streets are not paved, having only ill-paved footpaths next the houses, which are small, and for the most part of one story. The place is in general poor ; but there are some large fazendas in the vicinity. One of them, with four hundred negro slaves, is called fazenda de Campos, and another with two hundred negroes, Engenho Velho. When the last proprie- tor of the former died, general disorder ensued : the slaves revolted, and ceased working. A priest informed the heirs to the estate, in Portugal, of the ruin of their property, and offered to restore order if they would give him a share in the estate. This was agreed to; but the ringleaders of the slaves murdered him in his bed, armed them- T 154 JOURNEY FROM VILLA DE ST. SALVADOR selves, and formed, in these forests, a republic of blacks, whom it was not easy to reduce. They kept possession of the fazenda, but without working much, lived free, and hunted in the woods. Together with the slaves of this fazenda, those of the Engenho Velho also made them- selves independent, and a company of soldiers could do nothing against them. These negroes chiefly employ themselves in collecting some of the principal productions of these forests, such as the odori- ferous Peruvian, and copaiva, and another kind of balsam. The latter proceeds from a lofty tree, the Pao de Oleo. An incision is made in it, and when the sap flows the wound is filled with cotton, which imbibes the resinous matter : it is a common notion that the incision must be made at the full of the moon, and the oil taken awav in the wane. The negroes, or Indians, who collect this production, bring it for sale in small wild cocoa-nutshells, the opening of which at the top they close with wax. The balsam is so subtile that in the hot weather it oozes through the thick shell. In its native country more virtue is attributed to it than it really possesses. The rebel negroes of the two above-mentioned fazendas receive strangers in a friendly manner, and are very different in their behaviour from the runaway negro slaves in Minas Gera'e's and other places, who are there called, from their villages in the woods (quihmbos), Gayam- bolos. These attack travellers, particularlv in Minas, plunder, and often kill them ; for which reason they have there Gavambolo hunters, called capitaes do mato, whose sole business it is to catch the negroes in their hiding-places, or to kill them. The captain of militia commanding at Goaraparim received us politely, and assigned us a house for our night's lodging. The next morning we crossed the river, not far from the town : it winds, in the most picturesque manner, through thickets of mangroves (conocarpus) of a tender green, and is bounded in the distance by verdant hills : on the north bank there is a village inhabited by fishermen. We TO THE RIVER ESPIRITO SANTO. 155 rode through large marshes filled with beautiful violet-flowering rhexia bushes; and over fine wooded hills full of airi and other cocoa-palms, many species of which afforded endless occupation to our curiosity ; after which we came to an extensive plot of uba, or fan-like reed, near the Perro Cao, and then crossed the little river by a wooden bridge. We followed the sea-beach to Ponta da Fruta, where several houses in a copse form a scattered village, the inhabitants of which, descen- dants of Portuguese negroes, received us well. They gain a scanty subsistence from their plantations and fishing. Not far from Ponta da Fruta you see on a distant mountain the convent of Nossa Senhora da Penha, near Villa de Espirito Santo, to which you have still five leagues to travel. Woods, meadows, and bushes, and large reedy pools, succeed each other. Numerous white and other herons wade in them, and many new and fine plants attract the notice of the stranger. In the grass, on the sandy bank of a lagoa, I found the green cipo serpent*, which has its name from its slender pliant figure. It is of a dark olive-green, yellow below, grows to the length of five or six feet, and though it is perfectly harmless, is killed by the Bra- zilians whenever they find it, because they have an antipathy to all serpents. I found here the skeleton of a very large individual of this species. Near the little river Jucu, over which there is a long decayed bridge which must be passed with caution, we found upon the coast a village of fishermen ; we then rode through a fine ancient forest, and at length reached Villa do Espirito Santo, upon the river of the same name. * Coluber bicarinatus, probably a new species : the chief characteristic of which is a row of keel-shaped scales on each side of the back. CHAPTER VII. STAY AT CAPITANIA, AND JOURNEY TO THE KIO DOCE. Villa Velha do Espirito Santo — Cidade de Victoria — Barra de Jucu — Aracatiba — Coroaba — Villa Nova de Almeida — Quartel do Riacho — Rio Doce — Linhares — The Botocudos, as inveterate enemies. The river Espirito Santo, which discharges itself into the sea, and'is of considerable magnitude at its mouth, rises in the mountains on the frontiers of the capitania of Minas Geraes, descends with many wind- ings through the great ancient forests of the Tapuyas,in which the Puris and Botocudos alternately rove about, and issues forth at the foot of one of those higher chains of mountains, stretching towards the sea, in which the Monte de Mestre Alvaro is said to be the most elevated point. The settlements of the Portuguese at the mouth of this fine river are of ancient date ; they suffered severely from the wars with the Tapuyas, especially with the three tribes of the Uetacas, or Goav- tacases, dwelling on the Paraiba. In the last half of the seven- teenth century, the district of Espirito Santo contained no more than five hundred Portuguese settlers and four Indian villages. At pre- sent we find on the south bank of the river, not far from its mouth, in a beautiful bay, the Villa Velha do Espirito Santo, a little wretched ■open town, for the most part built in a square. At one extremitv stands the church, and at the other the Casa da Camara, (royal STAY AT CAPITANIA. 157 building or town-hall.) On a high hill covered with wood, immedi- ately adjoining the town, stands the celebrated convent of Nossa Sen- hora da Penha, one of the richest in Brazil, dependent on the abbey of St. Bento at Rio de Janeiro. • It is said to possess a wonder-working image of the Madonna, for which reason numerous pilgrims resort thither. At the period of our visit there were only two ecclesiastics on the spot. It is well worth the trouble to ascend the steep eminence in order to enjoy the inexpressibly grand prospect which there offers itself to the view ; it overlooks the wide expanse of the ocean, and on the land side line chains of mountains, and various peaks, with interme- diate valleys, from which the broad river issues in the most pictu- resque manner. The town consists of low clay huts, is unpaved, and evidently going to decay, since the building of Villa de Victoria, half a league farther up the river on the north bank : this is a pretty little place, and has been raised since my departure to the rank of cidade. Espirito Santo was formerly a subordinate government, but was after- wards made a capitania. The Cidade de Nossa Senhora da Victoria is a pretty neat place, with considerable buildings, constructed in the old Portuguese style, with balconies of wooden lattices, paved streets, a tolerably large town-hall, and the Jesuits' convent, occupied by the governor, who has a company of regular troops at his disposal. Besides several convents, there are a church, four chapels, and an hospital. The town is however rather dull, and visitors, being very uncommon, are objects of great curiosity. The coasting-trade is not unimportant ; several vessels are in consequence always lying here, and frigates can sail up to the town. The neighbouring J'azendas produce much sugar, mandiocca flour and rice, bananas, and other articles, which are exported along the coast. Several forts protect the entrance of the fine river Espirito Santo : one directly at the mouth; a second battery built of stone higher up, with eight iron guns ; and still farther up, on the hill between the latter and the 158 STAY AT CAPITANIA, town, a third battery of seventeen or eighteen guns, a few of which are brass. The town is built rather unevenly, on pleasant hills, and the river flowing past it is here every where enclosed within high moun- tains, partly consisting of rocks, which are in many places naked and steep, and covered with creeping plants. The beautiful surface of the broad river is broken by several verdant islands, and the eye, as it follows its course up the country, every where finds an agreeable point of repose in lofty, verdant, wood-covered mountains. On our arrival we took up our abode at Villa Velha do Espirito Santo, because at that place there was good pasturage for our cattle. Thence we went in large boats to Cidade de Victoria, but owing to a strong wind blowing from the sea, and the breadth of the river, not without danger. The governor, to whom we paid our re- spects, received us, to appearance, very politely. We applied to him for quarters in the country, near the town, on which he assigned to us a good convenient house at Barra de Jucu at the mouth of the little river Jucu, about four leagues from the town. This house belonged to Colonel Falcao, commander of the regiment of militia of this district, and also one of the greatest planters in this part of the country. Here I again found news from Europe, for to this town, but no farther, a post comes by land from Rio de Janeiro. While we were employed in perusing the agreeable and long-expected accounts from home, a crowd of people of all colours surrounded us, and made the strangest remarks on our country and the object of our ex- traordinary visit : here too, as every where else, we were taken for English. On our return to Villa Velha, we found some of our people ill of fever, which spread so rapidly, that in a few days most of them were seized with it. This disorder was ascribed to the water : but it is doubtless occasioned jointly by the climate and the provisions. We however soon restored our people with Peruvian bark, and took pos- session, as soon as possible, of our abode at Barra de Jucu, where AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 159 the extremely pure, fresh sea-air soon completed the recovery of the patients. We now made arrangements for remaining in this new abode several months, intending to pass the rainy season there. Our hunters made excursions through the forests far and near. Barra de Juc(i is a small fishing-village, on the river Jucu, which falls into the sea at this place, after taking its course from the great fazendas of Coroaba and Aracatiba, in numerous windings, through the woods. It abounds in fish, and there are many wildly picturesque spots near its banks. The houses of the fishermen at Barra de Jucu are partly scattered ; in the middle of them, near the bridge over the river, is the house of Colonel Falcao. This opulent planter possesses several other fazendas in the neighbourhood, the largest of which, Aracatiba, is about four leagues distant. The colonel was accus- tomed to come hither in the summer season for the benefit of sea- bathing, and was therefore much displeased that the governor had given us his house for our residence ; which we however did not learn till afterwards. He came nevertheless to Barra de Jucu, and had another house in the neighbourhood prepared for his reception, till he could have that in which we resided. The most interesting hunting excursions which we undertook here, to make ourselves acquainted with the surrounding country, led us first, immediately beyond the bridge over the Jucu, into the fine primeval forest which extends to Villa Velha do Espirito Santo. We here met with a pretty kind of sahui, hitherto new to us, (jacchus leucocepha- lus, Geoffrey,) in small troops, which are particularly eager after the nuts of certain wild cocoa-palms ; the round-tailed porcupine (the couy of Azara), and other animals. Among the birds, the most frequent in this forest are the beautiful blue nectarinea cyanea (cer- thia cyanea, Linn.) ; the following kinds of manakin, pipra pareola, erythrocephala and leucocilla ; also a small hitherto non-descript 160 STAY AT CAPITANIA, species, which I shall call strigilata*, a beautiful new species of tan- gara (tanagra elegam\, and an extremely beautiful species of chat- terer (procnias cyanotropus)%, whose plumage changes according to the light. We could always make sure of finding the pretty little manakins on a certain kind of tree, the black berries of which are their favourite food. There are also deer in this forest ; and Colonel Falcao had his hounds brought hither from Aracatiba, to hunt them. But to kill large and rare animals, which avoid the neighbourhood of man, we went to the extensive ancient forest, about two or three leagues distant, in the vicinity of Aracatiba. The road to this place was extremely agreeable : it led first through wide swamps and sandy plains, full of various kinds of marsh plants ; we then ascended hills, where thickets of young cocoa-palms and other beautiful trees afforded a dark shade. A rush-like species of grass covers the open spots, on which the little bright steel-coloured finch (fringilla nitens, Linn.) is very common. Riding along a nar- row path in the woods, I found a large serpent coiled up, which would not move out of the way. My horse started, and I therefore took my pistol loaded with shot and killed the reptile. On examina- tion we found that it was of a harmless kind, and learned that it is known in the country by the name of caninana. It is certainly of the genus coluber. It was not without much persuasion that Colonel Falcao's negro, who accompanied us, could be induced to take the * Pipra strigilata : smaller than pipra erythrocephala ; crown deep red ; upper part of the body olive green ; lower part whitish, striped with reddish brown. t Tanagra elegans ; head deep yellow ; back black, with yellow stripes ; throat and breast a brilliant greenish azure ; belly and sides green. X Procnias cyaiwtropus : if looked at against the light, the whole bird is of a splendid azure ; and turned from the light, it appears of a shining bright green ; wings and throat black; the lower part of the body white. In the Berlin Museum it has received the name of procnias ventralis. AND JOURNEY TO THE KIO DOCE. l6l present on his horse. The great forest of Aracatiba formed an awful wilderness ; the parrots flew away with loud screams, and the voices of the saiiassu monkeys were heard all around. Parasitic plants, some of them of the most extraordinary kinds, interlace the tall gigantic trunks, so as to form an impenetrable thicket : the splendid flowers of the fleshy plants, the drooping festoons of the ferns, which twined round the trees, were now shooting forth with the utmost luxuriance ; young cocoa-palms every where adorn the underwood, especially in damp places ; here and there the cecropia peltata, with its silver grey annulated stems, formed separate thickets. From this solemn gloom we unexpectedly came into an open country, and it caused us an agreeable surprise, when we all at once beheld the large white build- ing of the fazenda de Aracatiba, with its two little towers, situated on a beautiful green level spot at the foot of the lofty Morro de Araca- tiba, a rocky mountain overgrown with wood. This estate has four hundred negro slaves, and very large plantations, especially of sugar, in the neighbourhood. The sons of the colonel reside on separate fazendas not far from this place. Aracatiba is the greatest fazenda that I met with during this journey : the building has an extensive front of two stories, and a church ; the negro huts, with the sugar-mill, and the farm-buildings, lie at the foot of a hill, near the house. About a league off, on a romantic spot upon the river Jucti, entirely surrounded with lofty primeval forests, there is a second fazenda, called Coroaba, which belongs to another proprietor. The governor had commenced the building of a church at St. Agostinho, not far from Coroaba, on which account he was residing on the spot. At this place there is a military post as a check upon the savages ; the soldiers were at this time engaged in making a road to Minas Geraes, and an officer had already undertaken a journey thither, by order of the governor, to open a communication through the woods. The government has Y 162 STAY AT CAPITANIA, settled at St. Agostinho about forty families who came from the Azores, principally from Terceira, St. Michael, and a few from Fayal. These people, who live in great poverty, bitterly complain of their wretched condition ; splendid promises having been made to them, but not performed. We should have been very glad to fix our abode at Coroaba, but the impossibility of finding accommodations there for our numerous train obliged us to remain for the present at Barra de Jucu. Many things of which we stood in great need, and which we ex- pected at Capitania, (so the country about Espirito Santo is called,) had been sent to Caravellas, a circumstance which occasioned our company no small embarrassment. In order to remedy it, Mr. Frey- reiss and myself resolved to go immediately to Caravellas, and arrange matters there. Lightly equipped, and accompanied by some well- armed attendants on horseback, we left Barra de Jucu on the 19th of December : the part of our train which remained behind, went meanwhile to Coroaba to follow their employment there. We might have performed the same journey in a much shorter time by sea ; but a voyage along the coast in small inconvenient vessels, and in stormy tempestuous weather, is not very agreeable. We proceeded to Pedra de Agoa, a single house upon an eminence on the river, in order to have our four saddle and two baggage mules conveyed over the river Espirito Santo. Directly opposite to us, on one of the mountain-ridges upon the other side, we saw the remark- able rock of Jucutucoara. This crag, resembling the Dent de Jaman in the Pays de Vaud, strikes the eye at a distance ; it is placed on gentle verdant eminences, which are partly covered with small thick- ets. Before it, nearer to the river, lies the pleasant fazenda of Rumao ; in front of which the Island of Pigeons (Uha das Pombas) divides the glassy surface of the river. The prospect from the eminence on this side over the beautiful river, where some lanchas and fishing- AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 163 boats were sailing down the stream, was very agreeable. We wished to cross immediately, but unfortunately no boats appeared to convey us over ; we therefore begged the aged inhabitant of Pedra de Agoa to give us a lodging, and passed the night in a small hut, which afforded but little protection against the wind and rain : the good-will of our host however amply indemnified us for these inconveniences. As evening came on, the cattle that had been out grazing began to assemble ; we observed among them a singular sheep, which we learnt on enquiry to be a cross of a ram and a she-goat. The animal greatly resembled its dam ; it was thick, corpulent and round, had soft goat's hair, and the horns turned rather more outwards. The young lambs, that were taken up by the boys, were found to have frequently on the still imperfectly healed navel, a number of maggots, to kill which mercury was rubbed on the place. These maggots are a very common evil in hot countries ; wherever there is a wound, flies are immediately ready to deposit their eggs in it. In Brazil there is another insect which deposits its eggs in the muscular flesh, or under the skin, even of the human body, as has been already mentioned in another place. Our boats arrived the next morning, and we crossed the river, which is nearly a thousand paces broad. Our road lay through a valley, that runs in various windings directly under the eminence on which the Jucutucoara is situated : near at hand we saw the neat white house of a fazenda belonging to a Mr. Pinto. We crossed the little river Muruim, over which there is a wooden bridge that is generally closed by a gate; and after riding through some marshes overgrown with mangroves, we reached the sea-coast. On looking behind us, we now more clearly distinguished the chain of mountains of Espirito Santo, which, so long as the traveller is immediately between the ex- treme points of those eminences, he cannot overlook. Three leagues 164 STAY AT CAPITA XI A, from Capitania we obtained a night's lodging in the little village of Praya Molle. Here upon a verdant plain, very little above the level of the sea, are situated several scattered habitations. In one of these we met with a very friendly reception ; and as all its inmates had much taste for music, we were very agreeably entertained in the evening with music and dancing. The son of our host, who was veiy skilful in the art of making guitars, played, and the other young people danced the baduca, making strange contortions with the body, beat- ing time with their hands, and snapping two fingers of each hand alternately, in imitation of the Spanish castanets. Though the Por- tuguese have a great natural talent for music, yet no instrument is seen in Brazil in the country except the guitar. If a love of music and dancing is general among the country-people, so also is hospi- tality, at least in most parts. We found it so here ; for our hosts exerted themselves to the utmost to amuse us, and make the time pass agreeably. Leaving Praya Molle, we arrived the next morning early at the village of Carapebucu. From this place forwards, woods extend along the sea-coast bordering the creeks and covering the points of land. In these forests, now that the summer was just setting in, numerous butterflies of various kinds, especially ni/mphales, Mere fluttering about. We found here the remarkable bag-shaped nest of a little bird of the tody genus, which always builds near the nests of a cer- tain species of wasps, (marimbondo,) for the purpose, as it is affirmed, of securing itself from the attacks of its enemies. I attempted to approach the nest of the bird, but was prevented by the wasps, which actually made their appearance immediately. In the thickets along the coast, dwell poor detached families, who subsist by fishing, and AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 165 the produce of their plantations. They are mostly negroes, mulattos or other people of colour : there are very few whites among them ; they immediately complain to the traveller of their poverty and dis- tress, which can arise only from idleness and want of industry, for the soil is fertile. Too poor to purchase slaves, and too indolent to work themselves, they prefer starving. Proceeding to the north, you come to a tract where you meet with no more Creoles or mulattos, but Indians in a state of civilisation. Their detached habitations lie scattered in a shadv wood of magnifi- cent forest trees ; dark paths wind from one hut to another ; in the crystal brooks which reflect the beautiful vegetation, you see the naked dark-brown youth, with their coal-black hair, sporting and playing. In this delightful wood, we found some beautiful birds ; the green and gold jacamar (galbula magna) was sitting on low branches near the water, on the watch for insects ; and unknown notes resounded through the solitude. After we had travelled four leagues, we issued from the wood, and beheld before us upon an eminence above the sea the Villa Nova de Almeida. Villa Nova is a large village of civilised Indians, which Mas founded by the Jesuits : it has a large stone church, and contains in its whole district, nine leagues in circumference, about 1200 souls. The in- habitants of the village are chiefly Indians, but there are also some Portuguese and negroes. Many possess houses here, to which they come from their plantations on Sundays and holidays only. In the Jesuits' convent, which now serves for the residence of the priest, there are still some old works of that order, which is a rarity, as the libraries in all the other convents have not been taken care of, but destroyed or dispersed. The Jesuits here formerly gave instruction in the lingoa geral ; their chapel, Dos Reys Magos, is said to have been very beautiful. The place is dull, and seems not to be populous ; much poverty also prevails there. The Indians derive their subsistence 166 STAY AT CAPITANIA, from their plantations of mandiocca and maize; they also export some wood and earthenware, and carry on a fishery, which is not in- considerable, on the sea and the river Saiianha or Dos Reys Magos, which runs past the village. Mr. Sellow, who subsequently visited this place, found an opportunity of witnessing the singular mode of fishing with the branches of the tingi tree, which Condamine mentions as practised in the river of the Amazons*. They cut branches of the tingi tree, bruise them, tie them in bundles, and throw them into the water, especially where it has but little fall ; sometimes a dam is formed of them directly across to stop the fish, which, becoming in- toxicated by the juice mingled with the water, rise to the surface and die, or may be easily taken by the hand. The plants which produce this effect are some varieties of the genus panUinia, and the jacquinia obovata, a shrub with red berries, and reversed oval leaves, which grows in the thickets on the coast, and is therefore called tin guy (tingi) da pray a. We heard much at Villa Nova concerning a marine animal, never before seen there, which had recently been killed by some Indians on the beach with musket shot. It was large, and was said to have had feet resembling human hands. A great quantity of blubber had been obtained from it. The head and hands were sent to the governor. Our endeavours to obtain more particular information respecting this animal were of no avail, and the more so, as even the skeleton had been broken to pieces and boiled, and part of it buried. From all that we could learn, however, it seems to have been a pkoca or manati. The woods traversed by the Saiianha, which in the ancient In- dian language was called Apyaputang, are said to be inhabited by * Condamine's Voyage, p. 156. Vasconcellos also mentions it : according to him, the Indians fished with japicay leaves, with ppo (called timbo putyana) or tinyy, also tiniuiry ; farther with the fruit curaruape, with mango roots, &c.p. 76. See also Krusenstern, I. p. 180. AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 167 Coroados and Puris. We also heard of another tribe, denominated Xipotos, which are reported to inhabit the country higher up, between the river Doce and the Saiianha ; but these statements of the names of different tribes of the aboriginal inhabitants are not to be depended on. Farther on, from the Salianha to the Mucuri, die sea-coast is inhabited almost entirely by single families of In- dians. They speak the Portuguese language only, have exchanged their bow and arrows for the musket ; even their dwellings differ very little from those of the Portuguese settlers; their principal occupations are agriculture and the sea-fishery. To the north of the Salianha, the whole coast is covered with thick woods. In a few hours you come to the river Pyrakaassu (great fish river), as the Indians origi- nally called it. Here at the barra or mouth, is a hamlet of a few houses, which is called Aldea Velha; and rather higher up the river, a considerable village founded by the Jesuits, who collected a great number of Indians on this spot. Their chief subsistence is derived from shell and other fish ; whence great heaps of shells are still found on the bank of the river. Some persons have been inclined to ascribe to them a different origin, but several writers confirm the statement of the savages being great oyster-eaters, and circumstances sufficiently explain the matter ; it cannot therefore be doubted that these ac- cumulations of shells originate from the repasts of the ancient in- habitants of this tract. When, in the sequel, several Portuguese planters settled on the Pyrak'aassu, the Jesuits are said to have taken away part of the Indians who previously dwelt here, and founded with them Villa Nova, in order to keep them apart from the Portu- guese. We reached Aldea Velha in the evening. After turning a point of land that runs into the sea, we found ourselves all at once by the side of the fine broad river, which issues from its wood-covered banks and falls into the sea. Aldea Velha consists of six or seven straw 168 STAY AT CAPITANIA, huts, in a small level valley ; there is only one house of rather better appearance among them, which is at present occupied by the com- mandant of the district, a lieutenant of the garrison of Espirito Santo. In this house we were very kindly received ; the inhabitants were de- lighted in the opportunity of conversing with human beings ; they consider this station, where the officer is fixed for some years, as a kind of exile. The lieutenant stationed here at the time of our visit complained much of want of amusement and of all the comforts of life ; and they are obliged to dispense even with many of its neces- saries in this sequestered spot. Scarcely any provisions are to be had here except mandiocca flour and fish. The inhabitants of Aldea Velha are poor fishermen ; the river however abounds in fish, and has a good barret, so that lanckas (boats) can sail pretty far up it. As this place had nothing that could long detain us, we took leave of our kind host the next day, and crossed the river. The stream was very deep, broad and rapid, and one of the mules we rode nar- rowly escaped drowning, which would have been an irreparable loss in this part of the country. A young Indian in the service of the commandant, who very skilfully managed our canoe, which was tossed about by the waves, was very serviceable on this occasion. In the shallow places near the bank we observed gulls and sea-swallows, and numerous flights of the rynchops nigra (Linn.) which is well known for its singular bill. Beyond the river are extensive woods, in which the plantations of the Indians lie scattered : they cultivate principally maize, mandiocca, and rape, from the seed of which they extract oil. Here we again entered a thick beautiful forest, where the finest butter- flies fluttered on variegated flowers, and the roaring of the surf of the sea struck our ears. The call of the jacupemba or Brazilian turkey, a bird of the pheasant kind, attracted the attention of our hunters ; but as it is very shy, they did not kill any. We soon reached the sea- coast again, and proceeded four leagues farther, till we arrived AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 169 towards evening at the military post of Quartpl do Riacho. The sea forms many inlets in this part, which give the road an unpleasing uniformity, for no sooner have you passed one promontory than another appears in the distance. We found here several kinds of sea-weed (fucits) which the sea throws up, but only a few shells. In some groups of rocks in the sea, the bright purple swallow (hirundo violacea) builds its nest. Upon this coast lie detached dwellings of the Indians at a great distance from each other, and scattered among the thickets. Some of the inhabitants venture in their canoes far out to sea, to catch fish. A small stream, the bottom of which was so soft that our beasts sunk deep into it, detained us a long time : two of our drivers stripping off their clothes sought with our saddle mules, and at last found, a firmer place, and we all got over without accident, though rather wet. It was not dusk when we reached the quartel. Quartel do Riacho is a military post, consisting of one officer and six privates, for the purpose of forwarding orders and keeping up the communication with the parts on the Rio Doce. Upon the sea-shore are two houses, one of which is occupied by the families of some of the soldiers, who derive subsistence from their neighbouring planta- tions. The subaltern officer who commanded here was an intelligent man, and gave us much interesting information. From him we re- ceived more accurate details respecting the war carried on in the woods upon the Rio Doce with the hostile tribe of the Botocudos, as we had now arrived on the frontiers of the wildernesses of that nation. The officer himself had been wounded with an arrow in the shoulder, when he served in one of the stations on the Rio Doce ; but he was now quite recovered of this dangerous wound. The tribe of the Bo- tocudos (so called by the Europeans) roves about in the forests on the banks of the Rio Doce, up to its source in the Capitania of Minas Geraes. These savages are distinguished by their custom of eating human 170 STAY AT CAPITANIA, flesh, and by their warlike spirit : they have hitherto made an obsti- nate resistance to the Portuguese. If they sometimes appeared at one place with all the demonstrations of friendly sentiments, they committed hostilities and excesses at another; and hence there has never been a lasting good understanding with them. Many years ago, a military post of seven soldiers was stationed eight or ten leagues up the Rio Doce, at the spot where the Povoafao of Linhares is now built ; and this post was provided with one piece of cannon to cover the intended new road to Minas. At first the savages were frightened away by it, but when they had gradually become better acquainted with the Europeans and their weapons, their fears sub- sided. They once made a sudden attack on the station, killed one of the soldiers, and would have overtaken and massacred the others, who fled, had they not sought their safety in the river, and escaped in the boat, which happened to be just then coming with the relief. As the savages could not reach them, they filled the cannon with stones, and then retired into their woods. After this event, the late minister of state, Count de Linhares, formally declared war against them, in a well-known proclamation : by his orders, the military stations already established on the Rio Doce were reinforced and increased in number, to secure the settle- ments of the Europeans, and the communication with Minas up the river. Since that time no mercy has been shewn to the Botocudos : they have been extirpated, wherever they have been found, without re- spect to age or sex ; and only now and then, on particular occasions, some very young children have been spared and brought up. This war of extermination was prosecuted with the more inveteracy and cruelty, as it was firmly believed that they killed all their enemies who fell into their hands, and devoured them. When it was farther known that in some places, on the Rio Doce, they had expressed pacific disposi- M 3 Q H AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 171 tions in their manner by clapping their hands, and had then treache- rously killed with their formidable arrows, the Portuguese who had crossed over to them, confiding in these amicable demonstrations, every hope of rinding sentiments of humanity among these savages was totally extinguished. But that this opinion, derogatory to the dignity of human nature, was carried too far, and that the incorrigibility of these people proceeds as much from the manner in which they have been treated, as from their native rudeness, is strikingly evinced in the beneficial effects which the moderate and humane conduct of the governor, Conde dos Arcos, has produced in the capitania of Bahia, among the Botocudos residing on the Rio Grande de Belmonte. The traveller who has just quitted the theatre of this inhuman petty war- fare on the Rio Doce, is particularly struck, and furnished with occa- sion for the most important reflections, when after the lapse of a few weeks he arrives in the district on the Rio Grande, and there sees the inhabitants, in consequence of a peace concluded three or four years ago, living with these very savages on the most friendly footing, which ensures to the latter the desired repose, and to the former security and the greatest advantages. In order to make ourselves acquainted with the remarkable country on the Rio Doce, of which we had heard many interesting particulars at Capitania, we left the Quartel do Riacho early in the morning, accompanied by two soldiers, and crossed the riacho (brook) from which the station has received its name, close to the huts. From this place we had a very fatiguing journey of eight leagues in deep sand, amid the intense heat of December. The soil is a heavy sand mixed with quartz and small flints, ex- tremely fatiguing both to man and beast. For some distance inland the sands are covered with low bushes, especially of the dwarf cocoa- palm ; behind these rise the thick forests, in which, not far from the 172 STAY AT CAPITANIA, sea-beach, lies the Quartel dos Comboyos, where three soldiers are stationed, to keep up the communications. We here found traces of the prodigious sea-turtles that come on shore to deposit their eggs in holes which they dig in the sand. In many places remains of these animals were lying about, such as shells and skeletons, in examining which we were much struck with the large size of the skulls ; I found one which weighed not less than three pounds. The Indians eat the flesh of these turtles, and obtain a large quantity of fat from them : they also make diligent search for their eggs, twelve or sixteen dozen of which are often found in one hole. They are round, white, covered with a leather-like pliable skin, and contain an albumen as clear as water, and a yolk of a fine yellow, which is well tasted though rather fishy. We met some Indian families, who were carrying home whole baskets full of these eggs. The size of the sea turtles may be inferred from the shells we found here, which were five feet in length. At noon, when the heat became very oppressive, our tropa was much exhausted, as we had not any water to quench the burning thirst of the animals, nor even of those of the company who were on foot, and dripping with perspiration. We halted, and sought shelter in the shade of the low bushes ; but here too the ground was so heated, that we found but little refreshment ; our feet indeed rested, and we relieved the animals by taking off their burdens. In this situation we derived great advantage from the experience of our young Indians; who went with some vessels among the bushes, and collected the water from between the leaves of the bromelias. This water is pure and clear soon after rain ; but now when it had not rained for a long time, it was black and dirty ; we even found frogs-spawn and young frogs in it. We strained it through a cloth, mixed it with a little brandy, lemon juice and sugar, and in this way it afforded us a de- licious refreshment. On the bromelia shrubs we frequently met with AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 173 a small yellowish frog*, which like many animals of this kind, pro- duces its young above the ground ; we frequently found its small black larvae. It cannot appear surprising, that reptiles belonging to the earth bring up their young in this country on trees, since in many parts of this quarter of the globe, which abounds in singular phenomena, even the human species live in trees ; for instance, the Guaraunes, of whom an interesting account is given us by Humboldt. After resting for some time we continued our journey till late in the night, and found ourselves at last, by moonlight, in a sandy, flat, open tract near the mouth of the Rio Doce. The two soldiers, whom we had taken as guides, lost their way, and we were obliged, weary as we were, to wait a long time before they found the right track, which took us to the Quartel da Regencia. This is a military post ot five soldiers, stationed at the mouth of the river to forward orders along the coast, to convey travellers over the river, and keep up the communication with the village of Linhares. We passed the night in the tolerably spacious house of the soldiers, in which there were several rooms with wooden tressels, and a tronco -j-. These people fare very ill; fish, mandiocca flour, black beans, and sometimes a little salt meat, are their only food. They are all people of colour, Creoles, Indians, Mamelukes, or Mulattos. The morning had, scarcely dawned, when curiosity impelled us to go and see the Rio Doce, the most considerable river between Rio de Janeiro and Bahia : at this time, the full stream .rolled proudly and majestically to the sea; its vast mass of water flowed in a bed which appeared to us to be twice as wide as the Rhine, in its broadest part. In a few days however it * A new and nondescript species of small frog, hyla Ivteola, of a pale yellowish colour, with a darker stripe through the eye. t The tronco is a military punishment. It consists of a long board, placed upright on its edge, in which are cut a row of round holes ; through these the head of the delinquent is put. The board closes round the neck, and the man is obliged to lie horizontally on the ground. 174 STAY AT CAPITANIA, had fallen a little. It is only in the winter months, principally in December, that it is so considerable : at other times, especially after a long continuance of dry weather, sand-banks appear every where in the middle of it ; but at present no trace of them was to be seen. Its mouth is therefore never accessible ; and large vessels cannot enter it on account of the shoals and sand-banks ; nor even lanchos, except when the water is at the highest. The Rio Doce rises in the capitania of Minas Gera'es, where it is formed by the junction of the Rio Pi- ranga with the Ribeirao do Carmo : for it is after this junction that it assumes the name of the Rio Doce. It runs through a considerable extent of country, and forms several small falls, three of which, suc- ceeding each other at small intervals, are called the Escadinhas. The banks of the beautiful river are covered with thick forests, which are the haunt of a great number of different animals. Here are frequently found the anta or American tapir, two kinds of wild swine, (clico- tyles, Cuvier,) the peccary or caytetu, and the porco a qtiechada branca, (taytetu and tagnicati of Azara,) two species of deer (the gua- zupita and guazubira of Azara), and above seven varieties of the cat kind, among which the spotted ounce (yaguarete, Azara) and the black tiger (yaguarete noir, Azara) are the largest and most dangerous. But the rude savage Botocudo, the aboriginal inhabitant of this country, is far more formidable than all those beasts of prey, and the terror of these impenetrable forests. This part of the country is still very thinly peopled, so that there is still no communication kept up, except along the river. A few weeks ago indeed, a forest- path, here called picade, was opened along the south bank, but it is very far from being completed, and on account of the savages, not to be passed except by such as are well provided with arms. The Conde de Linhares, late minister of state, had particularly directed his at- tention to this fertile and beautiful country. He established new military stations, and built the village, now called after him Linhares, AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 175 eight or ten leagues up the river, at the place where the first military station had formerly been. He sent hither deserters and other crimi- nals, to people the new colony, and these settlements would certainly have prospered in a short time, had not death too soon carried off that active minister. Since that period this district has been entirely neglected, and unless more energetic measures are adopted, will probably soon be completely desolate. We were impatient to sail up the beautiful Rio Doce, in order to make ourselves acquainted, if possible, with the interesting theatre of the war in the forests with the Botocudos ; but owing to the rough- ness of the river, occasioned by a violent wind on the 25th of December, we were advised by our soldiers to defer our departure till the next day. The following morning was warm and calm, and we accordingly embarked at day-break in a long canoe which was rowed by six soldiers. Our party consisted of nine persons, all well armed. In order to ascend the Rio Doce, when it is at its height, four men at least are necessary, who propel the canoe with long poles (varas.) As there are every where shallow places, which in the dry season appear as sand-banks, the poles can always reach them, even when the water is high ; and with the most favourable combination of circumstances it is possible to reach Linhares in one day, but not till late in the evening. The weather was very fine, and when we had become accustomed to the rocking of the narrow canoe, caused by the soldiers walking backwards and forwards to push it along, we found the excursion very agreeable. When it was quite day-light we saw the broad surface of the rapid stream glistening in the morning sun ; the distant banks were so thickly covered with gloomy forests, that in the whole of the long tract which we passed, there was not a single open spot which would have afforded room even for a house. Numerous islands of various sizes and forms rise above the surface of the water ; they are covered with ancient trees of the most luxuriant verdure. 176 STAY AT CAPITANIA, Each has its particular name, and their number is said to increase the farther you ascend. The water of the Rio Doce, when at its height, is turbid and yellowish, and is universally asserted by the inhabitants to generate fevers. It abounds in fish : even the saw-fish (pristis serra) comes up far above Linhares, and into the lugoa of Juparanan, where it is frequently caught. From the forests we heard the cries of numerous monkeys, particu- larly the barbados, the saiiassus, &c. Here it was that we first saw in their wild state the magnificent maccaws (psittacus macao, Linn.) which are among the chief ornaments of the Brazilian forests ; we heard their loud screaming voices, and saw these splendid birds soar- ing above the crowns of the lofty sapucaya trees. We recognised them at a distance by their long tails, and their glowing red plu- mage shone with dazzling splendour in the beams of the unclouded sun. Perroquets, maracanas, maitaccas, tiribas, curicas, camutangas, nandayas, and other species of parrots, flew, loudly screaming, in numerous flocks from bank to bank ; and the large and stately Mus- covy duck (anas muschata, Linn.) alighted on the branch of a cecro- pia, in the margin of the forest on the bank of the river. The black skimmer (rynchops nigra, Linn.) sat motionless and with contracted neck upon the sand-banks : toucans and the p urucuas, (trogon vh'idis, Linn.) uttered their loud cries. These wild animals, and the savage Botocudos, who are now however more rare, are the sole in- habitants of the banks of this river. There are scarcely any settlers ; in two places only a few persons, sufficiently provided with arms for their defence, have fixed themselves. They always carry their guns with them, when they go to their plantations ; and those who have no fire-arms have at least one of the bows called bodoc, to discharge balls and stones. It is but occasionally, and in their roving excursions, that the Botocudos appear in these parts so far down the river. Towards noon we reached the little island called from its shape AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 177 Carapuca (Cap.) Here our weary people took some rest, and we found it absolutely impossible to reacb Linhares this day. To secure our vessel from the rapid current of the river, we ran up between the main and an island, into a narrow channel, where a number of beau- tiful birds, especially parrots, were flying about, and the fine red maccaws produced a singularly striking effect as the setting sun illu- mined their scarlet plumage. The banks of these islands and of the channel Mere for the most part thickly overgrown with the high fan- like reed, the sheath of whose flower is used by the Botocudos for their arrows. When evening approached, our soldiers deliberated whether it would be better to pass the night on the Ilha Comprida (long island), or on one of the others. The first was rejected, because it is divided from the shore by only a narrow and shallow channel, and we should not have been secure against a visit from the savages. We therefore proceeded to the Ilha de Gambin, where the governors used formerly to pass the night when they visited the colony on the Rio Doce. The present governor has not continued these visits, and w r e found the bushes on the shore so thickly grown together, that one of my hunters was obliged to clear a place with his wood-knife, before we could set foot on shore. A large and cheerful fire was soon blazing in an open spot, whence a large owl (cariija) and a Muscovy-duck flew away, affrighted at the unexpected guests. We suffered some inconvenience from the swarms of mosquitoes, but slept quietly till the morning. We left the island very early, proceeded up the river past several other islands, and into a channel between the Ilha Comprida and the north bank of the river. The current was by no means so strong here, but then we met with many fallen trunks of trees and large branches, which we had to clear awav, before we could advance far- ther. The bushes and lofty ancient trees, which border this channel, present the most diversified and magnificent spectacle. Various kinds 2 A 178 STAY AT CAPITANIA of cocoas, especially the elegant palmitto, (in other parts called jissara,) with its tall slender stem, and the small bright green, beau- tiful feathery crown, adorn these dark forests, from the recesses of which the calls of unknown birds strike the ear. Below, close to the water, were some splendid flowers, still new to us, among which were a convolvulus (or a plant of that genus) with a remarkably large white flower, and a plant resembling a bean, of the class diadelphia, with a large deep yellow flower, which twined about the bushes in thick close wreaths. Ajacare, quietly basking in the sun, fled at the sound of our oars. We soon came to several islands, upon which the people of Linhares had made plantations ; for it is only on these islands that they are quite safe from the savages, who have no canoes, and there- fore cannot cross, except where the breadth and depth of the river are inconsiderable. The oflicer, called Guarda Mor, resides in the Ilha do Boi (Ox Island) and the priest of Linhares on the Ilha do Bom Jesus. Towards noon we came in sight of Linhares, and landed on the north bank, after having with great exertion made our way against the rapid current, in doing which we broke two of our poles. When we reached Linhares, we proceeded to the house of En- sign Cardoso da Rosa, who commanded this post on the Rio Doce : he happened to be just then absent in the part of the settlement on the other side of the river, at the fazenda of Bomjardim, m hither we were also invited soon after our arrival. We crossed the broad rapid stream very quickly in a light canoe, which was admirably managed by two negroes of the fazenda, and met with a very friendly and hearty reception in the house of Lieutenant Joao Felippe Calmon, where a cheerful company was assembled. Here we also found the ensign, whom we made acquainted with our views and the object of our journey. We inspected the fazenda, the owner of which has es- tablished the first sugar-works on the Rio Doce. His plantations of sugar-cane, rice, maize, &c. were in a most thriving state ; the man- AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 179 diocca does not succeed so well in these parts. Mr. Calmon has been very serviceable to this country, by his judgment and activity, having encouraged the people by his example to cultivate the ground. With seventeen slaves, (at least this is his present number,) he has cleared a considerable tract of forest, and proved, by the flourishing state of his plantations, that the soil on the banks of this river is ex- tremely fertile, and well adapted to all kinds of crops. We passed one day (December 28th) very agreeably here, both the ensign and the lieutenant exerting themselves to entertain us. Linhares is still a very inconsiderable settlement, notwithstanding the pains, which, as we have above stated, the late minister Count Linhares took for its improvement. By his order the buildings were erected in a square, upon a spot cleared of wood, near the bank of the river, and on a steep cliff of clay. The houses of the place are small, low, covered at top with cocoa or uricanna leaves, of earth and not plastered. It has yet no church, and mass is read in a small house. In the middle of the square formed by the buildings, there is a wooden cross, to form which the head of a pretty large sapucaya tree, that grew there, has merely been lopped off, and a transverse beam nailed to it. The inhabitants have laid out their plantations partly in the wood surrounding the village, partly in the islands in the river. Mr. Calmon was however the first, and is still the only person who has established afazenda and a sugar-house. When he was going to settle here opposite to Linhares, he took thirty or forty armed men, and attacked the Botocudos, who were assembled in a body, resolved to dispute the ground with him. One of these savages was killed ; but it soon appeared that this horde, which numbered 150 bows, could not be driven away by force alone ; another mode was there- fore adopted ; they were threatened in the rear, and by this stratagem induced to retreat. Since that time they have given him no farther molestation during the three years that he has resided here. If this 180 STAY AT CAPITANIA, place had any trade, the various valuable kinds of wood, which these forests produce in abundance, might be turned to as good an account as the fertile soil of his fazenda. Peroba, an excellent timber for ship-building, is indeed considered as crown property, but Mr. Cal- mon obtained permission to build of this timber some large handsome sea-canoes, which he sends to Capitania and other places laden with the produce of his fazciuht, and many valuable kinds of wood which have already been frequently mentioned. In order to protect this settlement in general from the attacks and cruelties of the Botocudos, eight stations have been established, which are pushed forward in different directions into the great forests : they are also at the same time especially destined to protect the commercial intercourse, which it has of late been attempted to open up the river with Minas Geraes. In fact soldiers have already come down from that province, who were in sufficient numbers, well armed and pro- vided with the defensive coat called gibao d'armos. These coats*, some of which are kept at all the stations, are an indispensable covering against the arrows which the savages discharge with great force. They are wide, made of cotton, and thickly lined with several layers of cotton wadding, have a high stiff collar, which covers the neck, and short sleeves that protect the upper part of the arm ; they come down to the knee, but are very inconvenient on account of their weight, especially in hot weather. The strongest arrow, even when discharged near at hand, does not easily penetrate such a coat, and it never has force enough to inflict any serious wound. The people indeed place too much confidence in these coats, for they as- sured us that even a ball would not pierce them. In order to con- vince myself of the truth of the assertion, I directed one of my hunters to fire at one with a rifle at the distance of eighty paces, and the ball penetrated both sides of the coat, which besides was not filled out. It appeared however on farther trials that the largest shot, fired at AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 181 the distance of sixty paces, fell flattened to the ground, without pe- netrating, and that these coats are therefore a sufficient defence against arrows. At Capitania and other places they make this kind of coats of silk ; these are indeed much lighter, but far more expensive. In the last action near Linhares, an uncommonly strong Botocudo discharged an arrow with extraordinary force, and at a short distance, at one of the soldiers. It penetrated the coat, and wounded the wearer but slightly in the side; yet even an arrow that is repelled alwa} T s gives a violent shock. A road has latterly been made from the fazenda of Bomjardim to the Quartel do Riacho ; this road passes by a lagoa, called Lagoa dos Indios*. At that place there is a second station called Quartel d'Aguiar. Some Indian families reside there, and eight Indian soldiers do the duty. The civilised Indians behave well as soldiers against their savage brethren. The latter therefore bear a violent hatred against them, and are said to aim at them first, because they consider them as traitors to their country. Some distance beyond Linhares, in the woods, is the second station of Linhares (the village itself being considered as the first station), with twenty-three soldiers: on the south side of the Rio Doce two stations have been established higher up the river beyond Bomjardim. The station of Anadya con- sists of twelve soldiers; and that of Porto de Souza, which is the most advanced, has twenty men. At Linhares there are eight of the coats described above, at Porto de Souza four, and at Anadya one : the men who wear them are always obliged to make the first attack in case of an action. The commanding officer at Linhares has a very troublesome duty, * After I had been at Linhares three soldiers were murdered on this road by the Boto- cudos, in April 1816 ; a particular account of which event will be given in the sequel. 182 STAY AT CAPITANIA, for he is obliged, without regard to heat or rain, to make a tour to all the posts, which is a journey of ninety leagues, once a month. Mr. Cardoso da Rosa, who has been long stationed here, sends soldiers from the quartets to patrole the woods, for the security of the inhabitants. If savages are met with, the alarm is given by firing two shot in quick succession, upon which signal every one who can handle a gun hurries out. But the savages often attack the planta- tions, and have in this manner already killed many inhabitants of Linhares. A circumstance of this kind happened so lately as August 1816, to the second station of Unbares, where however a very re- solute Mineiro (a native of Minas), a subaltern officer, had the com- mand, and repulsed the savages. The people who now live at Linhares are chiefly soldiers with an ensign, a surgeon and a priest, and a few planters, who derive a sub- sistence from their plantations. The priest, a favourite as we were told of Governor Rubim, at Capitania, assumed in the colony a con- sequence which did not belong to him, and interfered in all affairs, even though they had no concern with his official duties : he was the more feared, because he resided alternately here, and at Villa de Victoria near the governor. This colony, which might easily be made one of the most important places on the East coast, was treated, at the time I was there, in a very harsh and injudicious manner. Thus persons who wished to take a journey, Mere obliged first to ask permission ; no family was allowed to consume more than one bottle of brandy in three months ; and there are many other such restrictions. This settlement is now probably near its end, unless it has since received succour ; for in the sequel of these travels, I shall have occasion to relate what happened to it afterwards. Our stay on the Rio Doce was certainly one of the most interesting parts of my travels in Brazil ; for on this river, which is so rich in AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 183 fine scenery and remarkable productions, the naturalist finds employ- ment for a long time, and the most diversified pleasures. But the fruits of his researches would be more considerable, if he could tra- verse without impediment and without danger, these still unexplored forests. It is said that it is not easy to find more delightful prospects than, for instance, that of the Lagoa de Juparanan* ; an extensive lake not far from Linhares, connected with the north side of the river by a narrow channel. This beautiful lake is mentioned by the early writers. Sebastian Fernandez Tourinho, who first sailed up the Rio Doce in 1572, states that he met with a lake to the westward, which is probably this lagoa ; only the direction of the rivulet falling into the river does not agree, nor does the waterfall ; and the distances also are different. Mr. Freyreiss, who again visited Linhares some months later, communicated to me the following account of his visit to this lagoa, which I give in his own words. " A channel, which is seldom above sixty feet broad, but deep, and about a league and a half in length, leads to the great lake, which abounds in fish. The banks of this channel are still the abode of the Botocudos, formerly called Aymores, who had about the middle of the channel a passage by means of creeping plants, which the Portuguese improperly called a bridge. This bridge was cut through by the Portuguese several years ago, and the savages have not endeavoured to repair it, or make a new one ; deceived by this circumstance, the inhabitants became imprudently incautious, when some Botocudos suddenly appeared before the second station of * The word Jnparanan, or properly Juparand, is not derived from the language of the Botocudos, who inhabit these parts, but from the Lintjoa yerul; and Parana signifies a sea or great water. This lagoa is not marked in Arrowsmith's map. Faden has noted it under its right name, but not placed it in its true situation. 184 STAY AT CAPITANIA, Linhares, on the side of the channel, and shot a soldier with their arrows. This event took place a few days before our arrival, but the body of the man killed had this time not fallen into the hands of the Botocudos. On account of this circumstance and the narrowness of the channel, the settlers on the Rio Doce prefer the night when they go to the lake for the purpose of fishing. The lake, which is sur- rounded by hilly banks, is about seven leagues in length, from south- east to north-west, half a league broad, and from sixteen to eighteen leagues in circumference. Its depth is unequal, but in many places it is from eight to twelve fathoms. This great mass of water is formed by a little river and several streams that run into the lake from the N.N.W. Near Linhares it discharges itself through the above-men- tioned channel into the Rio Doce, but rises considerablv when strong south winds partly prevent it from flowing out by this channel. The bed and the banks of the lake are fine sand, on which ferruginous sand- stone is here and there found. About five leagues from the entrance is a pretty little island of granite, which on account of its distance from the bank is not visited by the savages, and therefore affords a secure retreat to the fishermen." So early as 1662 the Aymores (Botocudos), Puris, and Patachos, were enumerated by Vasconcellos among the tribes of the Tapuyas on the Rio Doce : and though the first are in fact the masters in these parts, the others sometimes extend their excursions into them. The same traveller also observes, very justlv, that some of the Aymores or Botocudos are nearly as white as the Portuguese. The unhappy war which is carried on against the Botocudos on the Rio Doce renders it impossible to get acquainted, in these parts, with those remarkable people ; if you see them here, you must be prepared for an arrow. But further to the north, on the Rio Grande de Bel- monte, the inhabitants live at peace with them, and I therefore defer all my remarks on this interesting tribe of the aboriginal inhabitants to the account of my visit to that part of the country. AND JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. 185 Linhares is a very agreeable residence for the lover of the chace : for at day-break the monkeys come so near to the houses, that you have not to go far in quest of them : parrots assemble in large flocks, and the splendid maccaws are enticed in the cool season by certain kinds of fruit. These large handsome birds generally build their nests every year in the same tree, when they have once found a strong hollow branch or trunk. They are frequently shot : their flesh is eaten ; the quill feathers are used for writing, and by the savages to feather their arrows, or by way of ornament. In these wilds, which are but seldom disturbed, it is not difficult to return home in the evening with a canoe loaded with game ; but in all hunting-ex- cursions it is necessary to be constantly on your guard against the savages. By frequent practice the soldiers of Linhares are well ac- quainted with the manner of pursuing the savages in the forest, but they all confess that the Botocudos are far more expert hunters, and better acquainted with the forest than themselves ; hence the greatest pre- caution is requisite in these engagements and enterprises in the woods. In general the Mineiros (or inhabitants of Minas Geraes) are ac- counted the best hunters of the savages, as they are familiar with this way of life and skirmishing in the woods, and are also a bold and hardy race. Here at Linhares, the last considerable enterprise against the Botocudos was directed last August by the Guarda Mor, who was a Mineiro, banished hither from Minas. We were presented with some of the arms and ornaments of the Botocudos ; and even offered a little child which was brought up at Bomjardim after its mother had been killed in an action. The object of our visit to Linhares having been attained, we took leave of it, to continue our journey northward along the coast. We embarked in a large con- venient canoe, lent to us by Lieutenant Calmon ; and the obliging owner had the politeness to accompany us. In our way down the 2 B 186 JOURNEY TO THE RIO DOCE. river we paid a visit to the Guarda Mor, on the Ilha do Boi, where he has made tine plantations of millet and mandiocca. In his house we soon perceived that he was a Mineiro, for he lived more on millet than on mandiocca flour, which is a characteristic custom of the in- habitants of that province. To reduce millet to flour, they make use of an instrument called a preguiza, or sloth, which Mr. Mawe has described in his Travels. Our canoe, which was very safe and com- modious, provided with an awning, and well supplied with provisions, brought us to the barra of the Rio Doce, to Regencia, in four hours, a distance which had taken us a day and a half, when we went up the stream. CHAPTER VIII. JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE TO CARAVELLAS, TO THE RIVER ALCOBACA, AND BACK TO MORRO DAEAEA ON THE MUCURI. Quartel de Juparanan da Praya — River and Barra of St. Matthew — Mucuri — Villa Vigoza — Caravellas — Ponte do Gentio, on the river Alcobaca — Stay there. After we had passed the night with our friends at the Quartel de Regencia, we with much trouble conveyed our mules the next morn- ing over the river in the great boat. We then followed ourselves, rode in the afternoon, accompanied by the two gentlemen from Lin- hares, two leagues along the dreary sandy coast, and arrived at the Quartel de Monserra, or Juparanan da Praya, where seven soldiers are stationed. Near this Quartel is a long narrow lagoa, which is called Lagoa de Juparanan da Praya, to distinguish it from the much more considerable lake near Linhares. At the time of high water this lagoa has at this part of the coast a communication with the sea by a broad channel, which must be passed in boats; but it was now dry, and our loaded mules crossed it without wetting their feet. The station lies on the sandy beach close to the sea; just behind it the narrow lagoa expands, and beyond are thick forests, in which we could dis- tinguish a great number of wild cocoa-palms. The soldiers have made in the neighbourhood some plantations, where they cultivate mandi- 188 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE occa, maize, and even fine water-melons, sufficient for their own use. They have likewise some boats, and add to their supply of provisions by hunting and fishing. We here met with a very remarkable old man, called Simon, who has lived for many years, quite secluded, in a small house near this station, and has no apprehension of the savages. Though he is very old, he still enjoys uncommon strength and good spirits, and is beloved by all the neighbours. He cultivates his plantations himself, is an ex- perienced hunter and fisherman, and is thoroughly acquainted with the surrounding country. We visited him several times in his little hermitage, and found him, with his limited wants, not only quite contented with his condition, but so good-humoured and merry that his cheerfulness communicated itself to all the company round him. He made us a present of the skin of the great ant-eater (miirmeco- phaga jubata, Linn.), here called tamandua cavallo, and which he had lately killed. At Monserra we obtained other rarities for our collections of natural history ; for instance, the scarabceus hercules, the largest beetle of Brazil, which a soldier had caught and brought to us alive. In the sequel, a man brought us at one time four or five heads of this rare beetle ; and on questioning him respecting the lamentable mutilation of this interesting subject, I learned that the ladies in many places wear these heads strung round their necks by way of ornament. In order to procure the necessary escort through an uninhabited wilderness, eighteen leagues in extent, to St. Matthew's, we requested the ensign our companion, to give us two soldiers, as the papers which we had received from the minister, the Conde d'Aguiar, ex- pressly authorised us to claim this assistance. We had shewn these papers to the governor at Capitania, and requested him to furnish us with the people necessary for the prosecution of our journey. Here- upon we received a letter from him to the ensign at Linhares, in which TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 189 he ordered him to give us a single soldier. Considering however the length and insecurity of the way to St. Matthew's, it appeared to the officer himself very hazardous to expose a single man to the danger of returning alone : our persuasions completely decided him, and we obtained two soldiers for our escort. We were afterwards informed that the governor had, very unreasonably, punished him for this with a long arrest ; and we sincerely regretted having drawn upon this worthy man so unjust and harsh a treatment. After taking leave of the kind friends who had accompanied us thus far, we proceeded the same day six or seven leagues further along the monotonous coast. Our two soldiers, a negro and an Indian, stopped very often to dig in the sand for turtles' eggs, with which they filled their knapsacks. Though this was disagreeable to us, because their stop- ping delayed our progress, we had in the evening every reason to re- joice at it. The tract from the Rio Doce to St. Matthew's, as we have observed before, is an uninhabited dreary wilderness, in the greatest part of which not even fresh water is to be found ; the few places where this indispensable article can be procured, must therefore by no means be passed by, and for this reason it is highly necessary to have a guide well acquainted with the road. Unfortunately neither of our soldiers had ever been this way before. We missed the first watering-place, called Cacimba de S.Joao, but found the second, which is a lagoa, in a small low valley called Piranga, on the road side, at noon, when we had dispersed in all directions in search of water: it afforded some refreshment to us and our cattle. At the place where we stopped for the evening our search for water was how- ever fruitless; none was to be found, and we were. consequently un- able to make use of the provisions which we had brought with us, they being too hard to be eaten without the addition of water. Our only resource Mas to satisfy our hunger with a little dry maize-flour, and the turtles' eggs fortunately collected by the soldiers, which we could 100 journey from the rio dock boil in sea-water. While our people were employed in fetching some, and in picking up drift-wood on the beach, we found to our great surprise, at a short distance from our fire, a prodigious sea-turtle (tcstudo tni/das, Linn.) which was just going to deposit its eggs: nothing could be more welcome to our hungry company ; the animal seemed to have come expressly to provide us with a supper. Our presence did not disturb it ; we could touch it, and even lift it up ; but to do this it required the united strength of four men. Notwith- standing all our exclamations of surprise and our deliberations what to do with it, the creature manifested no sign of uneasiness but a kind of hissing, nearly like the noise made bv the geese when any one ap- proaches their young. It continued to work, as it had commenced, with its fin-like hinder feet, digging in the sand a cylindrical hole from eight to twelve inches broad ; it threw the earth very regularly and dexterously, and as it were keeping time on both sides, and began immediately after to deposit its eggs. One of our two soldiers laid himself all along on the ground near this purveyor of our kitchen, and took the eggs out of the hole as fast as the turtle deposited them ; and in this manner we collected 100 eggs in about ten minutes. We considered whether we should add this fine animal to our collections ; but the great weight of the turtle, which would have required a mule for itself alone, and the difficulty of loading such an awkward burden, made us resolve to spare its life, and to content ourselves with its eggs. Those huge animals, the midas, and the soft-shelled turtle (testudo inydas and coriacea), as well as the testudo caretta, or caua?ma, de- posit their eggs in the sand in the warmest months of the year, par- ticularly in this uninhabited part of the coast, between the Riacho and the Mucuri ; they come on shore for this purpose in the evening twilight, drag their heavy bodies up the sandy coast, dig a hole, in which they deposit their eggs, fill it up with sand, which they tread TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 191 down, and an hour or two after sun-set return to the sea. This was the case with the turtle which had so amply supplied us ; when we came back to the strand a few hours afterwards, it was gone ; it had filled up the hole, and the broad track left by it in the sand shewed that it had returned to its proper element. A single turtle of this kind can furnish an abundant repast with its eggs for a whole company ; for the midas is said to lay at once ten or twelve dozen, and the soft- shelled from eighteen to twenty dozen. These eggs are a very nutri- tious food, and are therefore eagerly sought after on this desert coast by the Indians, and in the neighbourhood of the colony also by the whites. Our frugal supper was soon finished ; we afterwards kindled several small fires between the bushes of dwarf-palms, in order to keep the beasts of prey from our mules. The following morning we found on the sand the fresh prints of the feet of large animals of the cat kind, which had been prowling about during the night. Old Simon assured us that the black ounce or black tiger is not uncommon in those parts : the Portuguese call it tigre or onca preta ; Koster in his Travels also mentions this formidable animal, but calls it felis discolor ; an un- suitable appellation, as the whole animal is really of one colour only. It seems most correct to denominate this species after its native country, as it is found exclusively in Brazil ; even Azara tells us that it is not met with in Paraguay. We conjectured that we heard the howlings of these animals ; but our sleep was not disturbed, and we resumed our journey early the next morning. On the first of January, which in our own country generally comes clothed in ice and snow, we had very warm sunshine as early as seven o'clock in the morning, and at noon an uncommon and intolerable degree of heat. The preceding evening, when we had been so incom- moded by thirst, we had halted, without knowing it, very near fresh water : for we had scarcely rode an hour when we reached the 192 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE Barra seca, the outlet of a lagoa into the sea, which at certain times is so low that the communication is quite cut off, and that close to the beach this spot may be passed dry-shod. At this time however the water was high, and we were obliged to ford this deep rapid channel, which occasioned a long delay. All the beasts of burden were un- loaded ; the Indians and negroes who were acquainted with the water, stripped themselves, and after they had carried the chests upon their heads to the opposite side, we Europeans were also car- ried over. On the other side we found the ruins of the hut of a military station formerly kept up here, near which there was good fresh water. Some Indians had passed the night at this place, probably to look for turtles' eggs and for the sake of fishing, as the Barra seca abounds in fish: in the neighbourhood there are extensive campos (open places cleared of wood), which are very well suited to breeding cattle. The huts of the Indians, made of palm-leaves, were still to be seen. At noon we reached a cavern in which there was a spring of clear fresh water ; a discovery that at this time was invaluable to us. The evening and the following night were again passed in a desert on the coast: the remiria littoralis here formed some grassy spots in the deep sand ; but the dwarf-palms were numerous, and behind them, further inland, lofty forests. Nothing but the tracks of beasts of prey in the sand shewed that living creatures at times visited this spot. We had hardly any water to drink, and consequently scarcely any thing to eat. At the approach of night a strong secure hut of cocoa-leaves, which we had all assisted to construct, was completed. We hoped to re- pose in it after the fatigues of the day, but swarms of moskitoes tor- mented us so, that sleep was out of the question. Unfortunately we could not escape from them into the open air, on account of a heavy shower of rain which poured down. Next morning we found that all our mules had gone back in quest of water to the spring where they TO CARAVELLAS, &.C. 193 had quenched their thirst the preceding day at noon ; and half a day was lost before they could be brought back: luckily the saddle-mules had not gone so far ; we therefore recovered them sooner, and rode on before. In the evening we reached the barra of the St. Matthew, a moderate river, with pleasant banks, clothed with mangrove bushes, and far- ther up with forests. A couple of small vessels lay at anchor on the south bank ; on the north side is the little village called Barra de St. Mattha;us, which consists of twenty-five houses. The river descends from the ancient forests, which are full of free tribes of savages, forms several small cataracts, and is navigable for sumacas about nine leagues up. Its banks are the most productive part of the district, as the ants are said to do but little mischief here ; in the forests there is abundance of jacaranda, vinhatico, putumuju, cergeira, and other useful kinds of wood. It receives several smaller rivers, among which the Rio de Santa Anna, the Rio Preto, or Mariricu, and the St. Do- mingos, are the most considerable. It was now high, as it was flood- tide, and nobody therefore would pay attention to our calling and firing, to fetch us over with a canoe. We wandered about a long time among the bushes and deep sand, and had almost resigned our- selves to the disagreeable necessity of passing the night where we were, without fire or provisions, when a boat, rowed by two negro slaves, came over and took us in. Our train did not arrive till late in the night ; but they were better provided for this bivouac, as they had with them food, fire, and blankets, and there was a fine spring near the sea-coast to quench their thirst. In the little village of Barra de St. Matthaeus, we put up at a venda, the owner of which was called Capitam Regente. Our papers, and the recommendations of the minister, obtained us every where a very good reception. The barra of the river St. Matthew lies, according to Arrowsmith, in 18° 15' ; according to others, in 18° 50'; and even 2 c 194 JOURXEY FROM THE RIO DOCE differing still more. The latter position seems to be the more accurate, since at the spot where that map places the St. Matthew, the river Mucuri must fall into the sea. About eight leagues up is the town of St. Matthew, the situation of which is said not to be very healthy on account of the contiguous marshes. It contains about 100 houses, and has in its district near 3000 inhabitants, both whites and people of colour. As one of the newest towns in the district of Porto Se- guro, it is in a thriving condition. The inhabitants cultivate a great deal of mandiocca, and export annually 60,000 alquieres of flour; and also planks from the neighbouring forests. It is only about eight leagues beyond the town of St. Matthew up the river that cultivated land is met with ; that is, to the station of Galveyas, the last military post established to keep off the savages. About half a league up the river is the Indian village of Santa Anna, which is composed of about twenty Indian families, consisting of seventy persons. Soon after our departure, a Botocudo was killed at Santa Anna. He was an aged man, and More large plugs of wood in the ears and lower lip. Mr. Freyreiss, who visited this part again in the month of Februarv, took the skull of this savage with him, and it is now in the possession of Professor Sparrmann. In the woods on the banks of the river St. Matthew, the uncivilised Indians are very numerous, and they all live in constant warfare with the whites in this part of the country. In the course of the last year seventeen persons were killed by them. The northern bank is haunted by the Patachos, Cumanachos, Machacalis (called by the Portuguese Machacaris, they themselves cannot pronounce the r well), and other tribes, as far as Porto Seguro. The Botocudos also are numerous, and said to be chiefly in possession of the south bank ; they are feared by the other tribes, and are considered as enemies by the rest, who on account of their inferior numbers make common cause against them. The plantations belonging to a fazenda higher up the river TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 195 were frequently robbed by the savages, till the proprietor devised a singular expedient to get rid of these hostile visitors. He loaded an iron cannon, which was at the fazenda, with pieces of old lead and iron, fastened the lock of a musket to it, placed it in the narrow path, bv which the savages always used to come in a column, and laid a piece of wood across the path which was connected with the trigger by means of a string. The savages appeared in the dusk of the evening, and trod on the piece of wood, as had been intended. When the people of the fazenda hastened to the spot to see the result, they found the cannon burst, and thirty Indians killed and mutilated, some still on the spot and others scattered in the woods. The cries of the fugitives are said to have been heard far around. Since this terrible destruction the fazenda is said not to have been again dis- turbed by the savages. In the river St. Matthew, the original Brazilian name of which is Cricare, is found a rare animal, which at present is met with in only very few rivers on the east coast. This is the manati, or peixe boi of the Portuguese. The natural history of this singular animal is still obscure in many points ; it is pretty frequent in this river, but is said sometimes to go into the sea, and along the coast, and then into other rivers ; thus it has been taken, for instance, in the Alcobaca. At St. Matthew, the favourite haunt of the manati is a lagoa or inland water, much overgrown with grass and reeds. The hunting of it is attended with some difficulty. The hunter rows carefully and with- out noise in a small boat among the grass and reeds ; if he sees the animal with its back above the water, as it usually appears when grazing, he approaches cautiously, and throws at it a harpoon fastened to a cord. The manati yields a great quantity of blubber, and its flesh is esteemed. The orbicular bone of the ear is looked upon by the ignorant people as a powerful specific, and sold at a high price. Though I repeatedly made great promises, during my 196 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE three or four months' stay in these parts, with a view to obtain one of these animals, my hopes were disappointed, and I was forced to con- tent myself with the sight of the stuffed manatis, which I saw on my return from Brazil, in the cabinet of Natural History at Lisbon. Besides this singular animal, the river St. Matthew has a great abundance of fish. Many species of a kind called piau, especially that which, from its food is called piaude capim (grass piau) are found at the time of high water, principally on overflowed meadows. Here the civilised Indians row about with their little light canoes, and shoot these fish with arrows. This kind of fish-hunting is met with in many places among the Indians. The bow used for the purpose is from two feet and a half to three feet long, of the size of the bow called bodoc, used for discharging balls ; the arrow, about three feet long, is of reed, and the point of wood or iron, with a barb on each side. About half a league from St. Matthew, the little river Guajintiba falls into the sea. It is usual to embark on it, and to proceed three leagues to the fazenda of As Itaiinas, which belongs to Mr. Marcelino da Cunha, high bailiff" of the district of Porto Seguro. The banks of the little river, which however was now high, are covered with thick bushes ; the most common, especially towards the sea, are the mangroves, the bark of which is useful for tanning hides. The water of this river is dark-brown, like that of most of the little forest streams in Brazil, and it abounds in fish : some fishermen had taken a whole boatful just as we passed. We landed on a desolate and as it seemed abandoned plantation, where the finest ananas grew wild, large, juicy, and aro- matic. Pine-apples fit to eat are not found wild in Brazil, but they are cultivated in abundance in the plantations, and thrive there as luxuriantly as wild plants. A spirituous liquor is here distilled from this fruit ; and that of the anacardium (cashew-nut) is employed for the same purpose. This tree grows every where in the sandy tracts TO CAKAVELLAS, &C. 197 on the east coast of Brazil. In appearance it resembles our apple- tree: it has strong branches, and leaves which stand singly, and therefore affords but little shade; the flower is small, and of a bright reddish colour ; the blackish kidney-shaped fruit grows attached to a fleshy tubercle, of the figure and size of a pear. This part of the fruit is eaten, but it has a rather rough acid taste. The black kernel is roasted, and is then very good, but it must first be peeled. The juice of the fleshy part of the fruit, being diuretic, is very efficacious in venereal complaints and dropsy. Towards evening the journey was the more agreeable, as we were not tormented by the moskitoes, which often spoiled our finest even- ings. Lofty gloomy woods formed romantic groupes on the banks, and the full moon shining in all her splendour, completed the charm- ing picture. As we approached the fazenda, we heard at a distance the drums of the negroes. The negro slaves are fond of retaining the customs of their country as far as lies in their power ; thus, for instance, you see among them all the musical instruments mentioned by tra- vellers in Africa, and among these the drum holds a distinguished rank. Whenever many negroes live together on a fazenda, they celebrate their festivals, paint and dress as in their native country, and perform their national dances. This may be seen, for instance, in Rio de Janeiro, at a place near the city, which is especially appro- priated to the purpose. At the fazenda of As Itaiinas, we met with a young Puri, who was brought up by the bailiff; he already spoke Portuguese, and is said to be of a very gentle disposition. The few words which we under- stood of his native language, soon gained us his confidence. We re- gretted that we had not our young Puri from St. Fidelis with us, he having been left behind on the Jucu. Itaiinas is a grazing farm, with a coral, or inclosure for the cattle, and a miserable hut for some In- dians and negroes, who tend the animals. The owner has collected 198 JOURNEY FItOM THE RIO DOCE some Indian families here, who in time are to form a settlement : they were previously intended to protect the sea-coast against the savages, and Itaunas is therefore properly considered as a military station. Some Indians, who happened to be going the same way as ourselves, accompanied us northwards from Itaunas. They were provided with their fowling-pieces, and perfectly acquainted with the country. We rode through two small streams, the Riacho Doce, and the Rio das Ostras, which are both very inconsiderable, but issuing from a picturesque dark woody back-ground, full of cocoa-palms, form a romantic landscape. A little further on, we came to a spot where hostile savages have often been seen. This place bears the name of Os Lenzoes (the white cloths), because on a rocky point, patches of shining white sand are interspersed with grass, and it therefore appears from the sea, as if white cloths were hung up here. The Patachos, who inhabit these parts, had long behaved peaceably, when one of their countrymen was killed, by which they were provoked to renew hostilities. Near the Rio das Ostras, we accidentally found on the sandy beach near the sea, a jacare about five feet in length, which probably wanted to cross by land from one river to the other, and was surprised by us in its journey ; on the right it had the rocky cliff, on the left the sea, and being unable to get out of the way, remained immovable. When much irritated with a stick, it indeed tried to bite, but it might be attacked without danger. This animal, which is so active and quick when young, appears to be very helpless on shore, when it is old, for it crept away very slowly. After proceeding about two leagues we reached the rivulet of Barra Nova, with a little hamlet of a few houses, which are built on a moderately high but steep eminence. We halted at this place to repose during the noon-day heat; and in the dusk of the evening arrived at the mouth of the Mucuri, not a TO CARAVELLAS, &C. lf)t) very large river, which issues from thick forests ; mangrove bushes on its banks give it a pleasant appearance. Villa de St. Jose do Port Allegre, commonly called De Mucuri, is situated on the north bank of the river near its mouth. It is a small place, consisting of thirty or forty houses, in the middle of which there is a little chapel, and forms a quadrangle, open on the side next to the sea. The houses are small, and almost all of them covered with straw : sheep, swine, and goats feed in the space in the centre. The inhabitants, who are chiefly Indians, are poor, and have no trade ; they sometimes export a little mandiocca-flour, but there are no sugar manufactories here on the river ; only the escrivam of the villa (town clerk) sells some brand v and other necessaries of life. There is also an ecclesiastic here, and two of the inhabitants fill by turns the office oijuiz (judge), as in all the towns in Bra: al. Padre Vigario Mendes, the clergyman of the place, is the only person in these parts who has a pretty considerable fazenda. He has some cows there, which supply him with milk, a great rarity on this coast. Mr. Mendes, to whom we were particularly recommended by the minister, Conde da Barca, received us very politely. The minister possesses considerable tracts of land in these parts on the banks of the Mucuri, and measures were then taking to secure them from the savages. The forests of this country abound in the most valuable kinds of wood. In order to turn them to advantage, it was intended to build a saw-mill ; and a millwright from Thuringia, of the name of Kramer, was commissioned to erect it. Almost all the fine species of wood of the whole east coast are here found together : jacaranda, oiticica, jiquitiba, vinhatico, cedro, caicheta, ipe, peroba, putumuju, pao Brazil, &c. But as this country was still wholly in the possession of the Patachos, and the wild beasts, and it was therefore not possible 200 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE to erect the saw-mill, the minister ordered Mr. Jose Mareelino da Cunha, ouvidor (high bailiff) of the district of Porto Seguro, to re- pair hither, to assemble the necessary hands for establishing a fazenda, to make the plantations requisite for the support of the inhabitants and slaves, and to protect them against the attacks of the Tapuvas. It accidentally happened that Captain Bento Lourenzo Vas de Abreu Lima, an inhabitant of Minas Novas, who with twenty-two armed men had penetrated from the frontiers of the Capitania of Minas Geraes, along the banks of the Mucuri, through the wildernesses, had, just at this time, happily reached the sea-coast. His unexpected ap- pearance in the Villa do Port Allegre, induced the minister to give the bailiff the further order, to furnish that enterprising Mineiro with the people requisite to form a passable road through those forests, in the route which he had taken. I had the pleasure to find this in- teresting man here, and to learn from himself the particulars of his bold and dangerous enterprise. Being employed in looking for pre- cious stones, and continually living in the woods, he resolved to penetrate through those gloomy intricate solitudes down the river, which he conceived to be the St. Matthew. For several years he caused a path to be made at his own expense through the woods ; and when the work was advanced to a certain point, he undertook the journey on foot with twenty-two soldiers and armed volunteers. He fell in with the ahlea of Captain Tome, a celebrated Indian chief, who had collected Indians of different tribes in the forests of the interior, on the Upper Mucuri ; he had previously baptized many of them in this place. The aldea no longer exists, the chief being dead : but on the spot where it stood, there are bananas and other plants growing wild, which are now made use of by the savages in their excursions. After a journey of about fifty days, the Captain succeeded in reaching the sea-coast, when he discovered that he had followed the course of the Mucuri, and not of the St. Matthew, as he had designed. TO CAliAVELLAS, &C. 201 This journey was attended with great hardships. The party were often in want of provisions ; they found no animals to hunt, and had little success in fishing. They then chewed some roots and fruits, or made shift with palmit or wild honey, till a lucky chance threw some animal in their way. Fortunately they met with no Botocudos, who live in the upper part of those woods, but they frequently found their abandoned huts, and even sometimes conjectured that they were observed by those savages. The different Indian soldiers were very useful to the Captain, both as hunters and as a protection against the savages ; for he had among his people Capuchos and others, and even a Botocudo who had been brought up by the Portuguese. They were very near losing all their baggage at the Falls of the Mucuri, four days' journey up the river. They had constructed a raft of trunks of trees, to convey their arms, provisions, clothes, &c. but the raft was carried away by the current, the bushes on the banks brushed off the whole cargo, and it was with the greatest difficulty that they fished up the fire-arms out of the water. On the latter days of this bold and dangerous journey through the forest, the travellers were reduced to absolute famine ; they were already quite exhausted, when they unexpectedly reached the last uninhabited plantation on the river, which belongs to Morro d'Arara, about two days' journey from the Villa de Mucuri. The whole company eagerly devoured the raw mandiocca roots, among which was unluckily a large proportion of mandiocca brava, an unwholesome species *. Violent vomiting, which was the consequence, had weakened the discouraged adventurers still more, when some of their hunters had the good for- tune to kill a large American tapir, which supplied them all with nu- tritious food. The following day they reached the goal of their bold * Even the juice of this kind of mandiocca is pernicious, and kills animals ; for example, sheep; of which Koster(p. 370.) gives an instance. 2 D 202 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE undertaking, and entered Villa de Mucuri, amidst the acclamations and feu x dejoie of the inhabitants. It was now determined to open a road through those forests, in the track fpicadej of the captain : and to this end they waited only the arrival of the ouvidor. By degrees, the woodmen who were ordered for the purpose from St. Matthew's, Vicoza, Porto Seguro, Trancozo, and other places on the east coast, and who were mostly Indians, arrived and were set to work. Between the mountains of Minas Gera'es and the thinly peopled east coast, there are extensive wilds, in which rove many hordes of the aboriginal savage tribes, who will in all probability long remain independent of the Portuguese. Measures are taking to construct roads in different directions through these wilds, in order to facilitate the carriage of the products of Minas to the poorer and thinly peopled coast, and give them a quicker communication with the chief cities and the sea. As the rivers afford the means of the most speedy communication, it has been resolved to make these roads along them. One has been opened on the Mucuri, another on the Rio Grande de Belmonte, a third on the Ilheos, and two others are making on the Espirito Santo, and on the Itapemirim, to Minas. The forests near the Mucuri are chiefly inhabited by Patachos. Botocudos rove but occasionally through them to the coast. Several other tribes of savages reside in these wildernesses : on the frontiers the Maconis, the Malalis, and others, live in fixed settlements. The Ca- puchos, the Cumanachos, Machacalis, and Panhamis, still rove about in the woods. These last four tribes are said to have formed an al- liance with the Patachos, in order that thus united they may be able to oppose the more numerous Botocudos. To judge from the simila- rity of language, manners, and customs, these tribes seem to have a near affinity with each other. Of the Maconis, who live alone, many were baptised twenty years ago, and others by Captain Bento Lou- TO CARAVELLAS,' &C. 203 renzo when he was among them. At present some of them have set- tled on the Mucuri, but another part of them is said to live more to the north, towards the river Belmonte. This tribe has, on the Rio Doce, the reputation of being extremely savage, though, according to other accounts, unjustly. The Malalis, now a very small tribe, re- side far up the Rio Doce, near the military station of Passanha, and have settled near it, under the protection of the Portuguese, for se- curity against their enemies the Botocudos. The languages of these two tribes, some specimens of which will be found in the Appendix to the second volume of these Travels, differ greatlv from those of the other tribes. The five united tribes have in general, as I have said, an affinity in manners and customs. They commonly bore a hole in the lower lip, and put into it a short thin piece of cane, one end of which they dye red with urucu. They cut their hair short in the neck and over the eyes ; some cut it close almost on the whole head. Like all the Tapuyas, they paint their bodies with red and black. They all believe thunder to be the voice of a powerful being, whom they call Tupan ; a word common to many tribes, among others to the Puris, and which was used even by the Tupi tribes on the coast. Near relations never marry, but in other respects they observe no rule, and entirely follow their inclinations. Young females consider it as the highest mark of their favour to young men, if they paint them, for which purpose thev generally carry some urucu about them*. The Patachos have hitherto always behaved in a hostile manner on the Mucuri ; not long since they shot an Indian at the door of his dwelling, on the fazenda of Mr. Joao Antonio. After remaining here ten days, we proceeded on our journey. The night was agreeably cool, and the full moon shone in the most lovely splendour when we quitted the Mucuri : her soft and friendly * Besides the tribes here enumerated, the Corografta Brasilica, t. II. p. 74. mentions some others as inhabiting these parts, but whose names I never heard on the east coast. 204 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE light was reflected on the broad shining surface of the unruffled sea, and indemnified us for the uniformity of the road along the flat sandy coast ; while the great night-swallow hovered over our heads, but unfortunately at an elevation beyond the reach of our fowling- pieces*. It is five leagues from the Mucuri to the river Peruipe ; before you reach the isthmus on the sea-coast, the road leads to Villa Vipoza. Here we missed our way, and came to the mouth of the Peruipe, where we found some scattered fishermen's huts. We were obliged to turn back. It was broad daylight, when we emerged from among thickets into a verdant meadow on the bank of the river, where we saw, under a charming grove of cocoa-palms, the town of Villa Vipoza, consisting of about one hundred houses. A white edifice, distinguished by its size among the low dwellings which surrounded it, was immediately recognised as the camara, or royal building ; we rode up to it, and found the ouviclor in company with the two naval captains, Jose daTrinidade and SilveiraJose Manoel de Araujo, who, as we mentioned before, were commissioned by the government to make an astronomical survey of this coast, and prepare a chart of it. The suite of the ouviclor was of the most motley description ; for be- sides some Portuguese and negro slaves, he had with him ten or twelve young Botocudos of Belmonte, and a young Machacali. The sight of the Botocudos astonished us beyond all expression ; we had never before seen such strange and singularly ugly beings. Their original countenances were farther disfigured by large pieces of wood which they wore in their lower lips and in their ears : the lip is * This bird is a hitherto non-descript species of the genus, which I named caprimulgus cethereus, because it rises to a great height in the air, where it hovers like a falcon. It is 2*2 inches long ; its plumage is a dirty red, with dark brown and blackish spots. The upper small scapular wing feathers form a dark brown spot. A dark brown spotted transverse stripe marks the bottom of the breast. TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 205 thus made to project very much, and the ears of some of them hang like large wings down to their shoulders : their brown bodies were covered with dirt. They were already very familiar with the ouvidor, who had them always in the room with him, in order to gain their confidence more and more. He had some persons who spoke the Botocudo language, and let us hear some specimens of their singing, which resembles an inarticulate howling. Most of these young In- dians had lately had the small-pox : they were still covered all over with marks and scars, which, as their bodies were emaciated by the disease, considerably increased their natural ugliness. The small-pox, which was introduced into these parts by the Eu- ropeans, is extremely fatal to the Indians ; many of their tribes have been wholly exterminated by it. Several of the attendants of the ouvidor had died at Caravellas ; but most of them had recovered, and as I was assured, by means of brandy, which was given them in large quantities. The savages are exceedingly afraid of this disorder. A shocking story was told me of the cruelty of a certain planter. In order to revenge himself on the Tapuyas his neighbours and enemies, he is said to have laid in the woods clothes which had been worn by persons who had died of the small-pox, and many of these savages are reported to have perished miserably in consequence of this in- human proceeding. When the ouvidor set out for the Mucuri, we embarked, in order first to visit Caravellas and the river Alcobaca. The boat glided down between the beautiful green banks of the Peruipe, and where the river falls into the sea to the east, turned into a broad arm, which communicates with the Caravellas. Near the Villa are tall cocoa- palms, which give the landscape a beautiful and original character. The milk or water which is in the fruit, is very flat and ill-tasted in the old nuts that are brought to Europe ; but here they are gathered ' before they are quite ripe, and then this liquor has an agreeable 206 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE sweetish bitter taste, and is extremely cooling and refreshing. In this country many good dishes are prepared from this admirable gift of nature : thus for instance, they scrape the nut and boil it with scarlet beans, to which it gives a very agreeable flavour; they also make excellent preserves of it, with sugar and spices, but which un- fortunately will not bear the voyage to Europe. A cocoa-tree some- times bears a hundred nuts at once, which are valued at about five or six dollars : so that a plantation of three or four hundred of these trees produces a considerable revenue. A healthy tree is sold for 4000 reas, or about a guinea. The wood of the tree is also useful, for it is hard and tough ; the trunk therefore does not easily break in a high wind, but bends and creaks violently. The roots spread hori- zontally under the surface of the earth, and form a thick texture. From the Peruipe, southwards, to Rio de Janeiro, the genuine cocoa- palm (cocos nucifera, Linn.) is extremely rare; but from Vicoza, northwards, especially at Belmonte, Porto Seguro, Caravellas, Ilheos, Bahia, &c. it is very common ; on the whole east coast it bears the name of cocos de Bahia. This tree seems to be particularly fond of salt water, for it thrives best where the sand of the coast is washed by the spray of the sea*. A protuberance which the trunk of this species has when young, at the lower extremity, makes it easy to be known. In going by water to Caravellas, the eye is often charmed with the sight of groves of high cocoa-trees, beneath the dark shade of which the rural habitations make a very picturesque appearance. The bank is entirely covered with mangrove trees (conocarpus and avicennia), the bark of which is of great use in tanning, and is sent for that purpose to Rio de. Janeiro. A tanner of that city keeps a number of slaves on the Caravellas merely to strip off and to dry whole cargoes of mangrove * We find a confirmation of this in Humboldt's Travels, vol. I. TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 207 bark. A large vessel is constantly sailing to and fro to convey this bark, and it is therefore called the casquciro. There are several kinds of mangrove trees ; but for tanning, the bark of the red mangrove (conocarpus racemosa) is preferred : it differs very much, in its lower growth, and its broad oval leaf, from the white mangrove (avicennia tomentosa) which has a narrow longish leaf, bears an egg-shaped woolly seed capsule, about the size of a small plum, and grows more slender and higher. Towards evening our passage became extremely agreeable ; we pro- ceeded from one channel into another, for between Vicoza and Cara- vellas there is a real labyrinth, formed by a multitude of mangrove islands. Among these thickets screamed swarms of parrots, but they were all of the species of the curica ( psittacus ochivcephalus, Linn, or amazonicus, Latham). We saw white herons sitting on the singular roots of the mangrove trees, which shoot out high up the trunk, fall arching into the water, take root in the ground, and thus form per- fect arcades in different directions. A small species of oyster is found in abundance on the bark of these trees, and the particoloured crab aratu (mentioned by Marcgraf) also lives in great numbers upon them. A violent storm, accompanied by torrents of rain, overtook us at this place, and continued till our arrival at Caravellas, which we reached after dark, and where we took up our quarters at the camara, the re- sidence of the ouvidor. Caravellas is the most considerable town in the district of Porto Seguro. It has straight streets intersecting each other at right angles, among which are five or six principal streets and several smaller ones ; but they are all unpaved and overgrown with grass. The most considerable church stands in an open spot near the Casa da Camara. The houses of the town are neatly built, but for the most part of one story only. Caravellas carries on a brisk trade in the productions of the country, especially mandiocca-flour, 208 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE a little cotton, &c. It sometimes exports 54,500 aJquieras of Hour in a year, which, reckoning the alquiera at the moderate rate of five patacks or florins, makes 272,500 florins. This trade brings hither a considerable number of vessels -from Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Ja- neiro, Capitania, and the other ports on the east coast : thirty or fortv small vessels are sometimes lying here at once ; and there are frequent opportunities to go, or send letters by the casqueiro to Rio. The ves- sels of Pernambuco are chief!}' engaged in carrying mandiocca-flour, as this important article is scarce in that part of the countrv, and dry seasons sometimes occasion a real famine there, as Koster has observed. As we intended, after our tour on the Mucuri, where we designed to spend some time, to return to this place, we now stopped only three days, and then set out for the Alcobaca, which flows through the ancient forests to the north of Caravellas. On its banks lies the fazenda of the minister, Conde da Barca, called Ponte do Gentio (bridge of the savages), which we desired to see. We proceeded for some hours up the Caravellas in a boat, and then continued our journey by land. Towards evening we came to the little fazenda de Pindoba, where Mr. Cardoso, the proprietor, very hospitably received us for the night. The country is wild and covered with still unexplored forests, and only here and there a dwelling or a plantation. As our conversation with Mr. Cardoso turned on the country and its natural curiosities, he ordered a stone to be brought, which had been found under ground ; it was a rough sand-stone cut into the form of a small axe. Our host, however, declared it to be a thunder-bolt, which had fallen and penetrated the ground during a tempest ; and he, as well as the other persons present, was highly dissatisfied with our opinion, that it was doubtless an implement made and lost by the savages. The marvellous has always the greatest charms for the uninformed. TO CARAVF.LLAS, &C. 209 At Pindoba we crossed a little forest-stream, mounted the horses lent us by the owners of the neighbouring fazendas, and rode through solitary wildernesses, where woods, thickets, and heaths succeed each other. On the scattered fazendas there are large sheds, in which great quantities of mandiocca-rlour, the chief production of this country, are prepared. These buildings are open on all sides, and consist merely of a roof of reeds or palm-leaves, supported by strong posts, and under which there are many large pans fixed in brick- work, to dry the flour. In an ancient forest of noble tall trees, we were surprised by a strange chorus of a species of birds hitherto new to us. The whole forest re-echoed with their singular loud whistle, which is composed of five or six piercing notes. These noisy tenants of the wood were here assembled in flocks, and as soon as one began to utter his note, all the rest immediately joined in chorus. Our hunters, excited by the most eager curiosity, lost no time in penetrating into the thickets, but, notwithstanding their number, it cost them great trouble before they could shoot any of these screamers. This bird* is of the size of a blackbird, and of a very plain dirty ash grey colour. The Portu- guese on the east coast give it the name of Sebastian ; and in Minas Geraes it is called thrush of the forests. At the end of the wood we came to the house of Senhora Isabella, the owner of large mandiocca plantations, an extremely charitable lady, and beloved on that ac- count in the whole neighbouring country. As she has the reputation of being able to cure various diseases, she is visited by many sick and poor people, whom she either cures, or dismisses with presents * Muscicapa vociferans: ten inches long ; all the upper parts dark ash grey, in some places with a brownish or yellowish tinge ; all the lower parts rather paler ash grey ; breast and throat the darkest ; the tip of the feathers of the lower parts here and there rather yellowish. In the Zoological Museum of Berlin, they have given it the name of mvscicapa ampelina. 2 E 210 JOURNEY FROM THJE RIO DOCE and provisions. She received us very hospitably, and gave us, -when we left her, a small hog and a large duck ; because, as she assured us, we should find nothing to eat at Ponte do Gentio. We soon reached the river Alcobaca, which is here very narrow, and embarked upon it. We proceeded up it for a couple of hours in the cool of the evening, past the fazenda of Mr. Munis Cordeiro ; after which we came to the fazenda of the minister, situated on the north bank. The colour of the river, in which there is abundance of fish and nmny jacares, is dark. Its banks are entirely covered with beautiful thick bushes and woods : in the water grows the aninga (arum Hniferum, Arruda). Ponte do Gentio is a fazenda with a tract of land belonging to it, which the minister has purchased of the heirs of the Captain Mor, Joao da Sylva Santos, and which was formerly in a very flourishing condition. Its late possessor was an enterprising man, who in many expeditions against the savages had shewn that he did not fear them ; but always lived at peace with them on his J'azenda. He was the first who sailed up the river Belmonte to Minas Novas. After his death the estate went to ruin for want of proper attention. Instead of preserving peace with the savages they were provoked. A negro shot in the forest one of the savages of the tribe of the Pata- chos ; this incensed the savages, who, to revenge themselves, attacked the negroes in one of the plantations, and killed three of them with their long arrows. This increased the disorder, and the value of the estate declined in consequence ; the minister bought it for a very small price. Efforts are now making to restore peace with the sa- vages, and improve the state of the fazenda. At present some In- dian families reside here, with six families of Ilhores (inhabitants of the Azore islands), nine Chinese, some negro slaves, and a Portuguese as steward. The Chinese were brought by the government to Rio de Janeiro, to cultivate tea there ; subsequently some of them were sent to Caravellas, and others hither, to be employed as day-labourers ; TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 211 but they are too indolent, and perform none but extremely light work. Thev live together in a small house ; one of them has turned Christian, and has married an Indian woman. They have retained the customs of their country ; they keep its festivals, are fond of all kinds of poultry, and are said not to be very particular in the choice of their provisions. The interior of their reed hut is extremely clean and neat. Their beds, for instance, have fine white curtains, which are draped in a tasteful manner, and fastened up on the sides with very handsome brass hooks. These pretty beds form a strange contrast with the miserable reed hut in which they are placed. The Chinese sleep on a fine rush mat, and have a small round pillow for the head. We saw them eat their rice in the genuine Chinese fashion with two small sticks. They were much pleased when we visited them ; they talked to us, in extremely broken Portuguese, about their dear native country, and how much more comfortable thev were there than in Brazil. They also opened their trunks, in which they carefully preserved some indifferent Chinese porcelain, and a great number of fans of various kinds, which they brought with them for sale. The buildings of the fazenda, with the man- diocca manufactory, are situated in a small hollow near the river be- tween two eminences. On ascending the easternmost of them, on which the village stands, you overlook the country round to a great extent; and as far as the eye can reach, the whole to the most distant horizon is covered without interruption with gloomy forests ; except that on the right bank of the river there appear a few spots upon which human habitations have been erected. We traversed the neighbouring woods with our hunters, and some lazy Mamelukes who lived here. Many kinds of animals were killed ; among which we obtained, for the first time, the common sloth, (bradypus tridactylus, Linn.) for we had hitherto seen none but the sloth with the black collar (bradypus torquatus, Illigeri). 212 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE At this place we were very near having the misfortune to lose Mr. Freyreiss. One morning he went out alone with his fowling-piece, and did not return at the usual time to dinner. Evening came ; it grew darker and darker, and we still looked for him in vain. Our fears for his safety increased every moment ; I therefore made several of our people fire frequently in order to give him a signal : at last we heard a faint report of a shot at a great distance. I immediately ordered the Indians, provided with hurning torches, or rather fire- brands, to hasten to the side from which the sound had been heard. Happily they found our lost companion, and returned with him about midnight. He reached the fazenda very weary and exhausted, and related to us his dangerous adventure. He had proceeded a considerable way upon a forest-path that was not very practicable, and which suddenly ceased. He continued to advance ; and when he thought of returning he had entirely lost the proper direction. He spent the rest of the day in seeking it, and marked the trees in order to know where he had already been ; but all his attempts to find his way were fruitless. At length he ascended a mountain, hoping that by having a wider prospect, he should be able to discover the track, but on every side nothing was to be seen but immense unbroken forests. At length he came to a brook, and waded down it, in the hope of reaching the Alcobaca, and by follow- ing its course to find his way back to the fazenda ; but in this hope he was again disappointed, for the brook soon expanded into a marsh, and was lost. His situation now became in the highest degree alarm- ing. Exhausted with hunger, heated by his fatiguing walk, and wet through with the water of the brook, he sunk down, unable to pro- ceed. But twilight now approached ; he mustered all his strength, and built himself a little hut of palm-leaves. Here he was dreadfully tormented by the mosquitoes ; nor was he less disquieted by the well- TO CARAVELI.AS, (Sec. 213 founded apprehension of savages and wild beasts, and the more so, as for want of the necessary apparatus he could not kindle a fire to keep them off. He had made up his mind to wait for the return of daylight, which however could not offer him any very cheering pro- spects, since he had no hope of finding the right track, unless by some lucky accident ; and he was so ill provided with powder and shot, that he could not have long subsisted by the produce of the chace. In this deplorable situation he at last heard — and who can paint his joy ?-— our firing at Ponte do Gentio. Inspired with new hopes, he sprung up, fired a couple of shot by way of answer, which, from the attention with which we listened in the silence of the night, were for- tunately heard by us. If he had been a little farther off, or behind an eminence, he would not have been able to hear our firing, nor we his ; it would have been impossible for us to find him, and his fate in the frightful wilderness would have been most lamentable, for he had intended to attempt, on the following morning, to seek the way back, exactly in the opposite direction to the fazenda. This circumstance may serve as a proof how necessary it is to em- ploy the greatest precaution, when any one will penetrate alone into these vast solitudes, without being in some measure acquainted with them, or possessing the extraordinary talent of the Indians for finding their way. The steward of Ponte do Gentio, a Portuguese, well ac- quainted with the chace in this country, once lost his way on such an expedition, and wandered about in the woods for seven days ; but as he was provided with a tinder-box, powder and shot, so that he could supply his most urgent wants, he at last succeeded in reaching a plantation on the Alcobaca. Two Indians, who had been sent by the bailiff to follow his track and look for him, arrived soon after him. It is a mistaken notion that provisions are every where to be found in these forests. Notwithstanding the numerous species of wild 214 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE animals that inhabit them, you may often travel davs together with- out seeing a living creature ; and here too experience shews, that more animals always live near the abodes of man, than in the interior of the great forests. Our collections received here some interesting additions ; but our insects, especially the butterflies, were much damaged by the little red ants. We had no means of saving them but bv sprinkling them with snuff, On the 25th of January we left Ponte do Gentio, and returned to the house of Senhora Isabella, where we found the people employed in preparing mandiocca-flour. Our attention was excited by a tame toucan : its droll motions, with its awkward shape and large bill, amused us much. It devoured, with extraordinary avidity, every thing eatable that came in its way, not excepting flesh. It was offered us as a present, but we declined accepting it, because this bird cannot bear our climate. The people obtain here a great quan- tity of honey from a kind of yellow bees without a sting. For this purpose they hang up, under the roof, billets of wood, hollowed out, the ends of which are stopped up with clay, and a small round hole bored in the middle for the bees to enter. This honey is very aroma- tic, but not quite so sweet as the European. Honey mixed with water is used here as a very agreeable cooling beverage. The following day we rode back to Pindoba, and in the evening arrived again at Caravellas. Our business here was finished in two days, and we embarked again for Vipoza in a beautiful moonlight night. Thousands of fire-flies (lampyris, elater, and perhaps other lu- minous insects) flew about the bushes on the bank. When we arrived at the house of the camara at Vicoza, the ouvidors Botocudos Mere still there. What incommoded us, even more than this disagreeable company, was the uninterrupted howling of a dog that had been bitten by a venomous serpent. They gave him the juice of the cardo santo (argemone mexicana), prickly poppy, a yellow-flowering TO CARAVELLAS, &C 215 thistle, which is everywhere common*; but the animal died. The number of poisonous serpents in Brazil is here erroneously supposed to be greater than it really is. Even the inhabitants of the country assert the greater part of the serpent species to be venomous : they know the contrary only of a few kinds ; for instance, the large spe- cies of boa. However there are certainly some venomous species, for example, the green viper, and the jararacca, both of the genus trigonocephalus ; but by far the most terrible are the rattle-snake (crotalus horridus) and the curucucu (lachesis mutus, Daudin, or crotalus mutus, Linn.); the latter, particularly that which grows to the length of seven or eight feet, is found in all parts of Brazil. The rattle-snake, called by the Portuguese cobra cascavella, frequents only the high and dry parts ; in Minas Geraes and in the interior of the Capitania of Bahia, it is pretty common. From Vicoza we returned to the Mucuri, but did not stop long in the town because the ouvidor was already at the spot where they are employed in founding the new fazenda at Morro d'Arara. Mr. Freyreiss had resolved to return from this place to rejoin our tropa at Capitania. I preferred sailing up the Mucuri to the works in the woods, in order to pass some months in those forests. We packed up our baggage, and passed a couple of days, in Mucuri. From this place we made some excursions together on horseback, one of which was to inspect the beginning of the new road, which Captain Bento Lourenzo, with his Mineiros and other workmen, had already begun, and continued for about three leagues. This road begins immediately behind the houses of Port Alegre, and at first intersects marshy mea- dows and open tracts (campos) with hard reed-like grass, in which rude bridges had been made of boughs of trees : farther on it had * Azara undoubtedly alludes to this plant, when he speaks in his Travels, vol. I. p. 132. of a fever being cured by the infusion of a thistle. 216 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE been carried through bushes and thick woods. It was at present in a rough stale, a mere path (picade), and not very broad : here and there too immense trunks of trees were still lying in it. The leagues had been measured with a line, and inscribed on the fronts of the trees, which were barked and cut smooth for the purpose. In some places in the woods we found the huts yet standing in which the troop of workmen had lodged at night. At the last plantation on the river Mucuri, which belongs to Mr. Joao Antonio, the road of the Mineiros approached the bank and the houses erected upon it. We arrived in company with Father Vigario Mendes, and the escrivam of Mucuri ; and found there Captain Bento Lourenzo, who with all his people received us with a feu dejoie, on an eminence on which the dwelling stands. It is the general custom in Brazil, with troops of armed men, and with the soldiers, when strangers visit them in the wildernesses of the interior, especially at the military stations, to fire a feu de joie, for which purpose they charge with more than the usual quantity of powder. We passed some hours very agreeably with the honest captain and the kind owner of the fazenda, Mr. Joao Antonio, and then returned by water to the town. On the morning of the 3d of February we set out for our respective destinations. Mr. Freyreiss crossed the Mucuri in a boat on his return to Capitania ; and I embarked, in company with two other boats, to go up the river. When at a considerable distance, we mutually fired another parting salute of guns and pistols, and soon lost sight of each other. The place chosen for the fazenda and saw- mill of the minister, Conde da Barca, lies about a day and a half's journey up the Mucuri, and is named Morro d'Arara from the number of maccaws (araras) found there. To this place I proceeded, accom- panied by the escrivam of Belmonte, Capitam Simplicio da Sylveira, who had been particularly serviceable, when an attempt was made to negociate a treaty with the Botocudos on the Belmonte. He and TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 217 a young Menian Indian * who accompanied him, spoke the language of those savages. ^.The banks of the Mucuri, every where bordered with thick woods, present, from the frequent windings of the river, which on the whole is narrow, a great diversity of picturesque forest scenery. We had to push forward our boat with much difficulty against the current which was high and rapid, a labour the more fatiguing, as the noon- day sun darted his scorching beams on our heads, and the wood of the boat became so heated that we could scarcely bear to handle it. The green kings-fisher, with the belly of a dirty red, (alcedo bicolor, Linn.) and the beautiful whitish green swallow (kirundo leucoptera) were very frequent here : the latter perches on dry branches and low trees in the water, or hovers over it ; on land it is only found near the banks of rivers. We here saw, on old trunks bending over the water, and on rocks, great numbers of a kind of grey bats-f-, which sit there in the cool during the day : they are distinguished by their projecting nose. From a tree on the. bank we shot the beautiful pigeon, which is called on the east coast pomba troca'es, and near Bahia pomba ver- dadeira ; it is the columba speciosa\ (the scallop-necked pigeon) ot naturalists. In the afternoon we reached the last plantation, belonging to Mr. Joao Antonio, where some days before Captain Bento Lourenzo had saluted us with a, feu dejoie; he had now proceeded, with his people, farther into the forest. When the evening twilight arrived we landed * The Menians, who live at Belmonte, are a degenerated relict of the Cdrtacan Indians, whom we shall have occasion to notice in the sequel. f Vespertilio naso, a new species, with a snout almost like a trunk, which projects a full line beyond the upper jaw. Whole length of the animal two inches four lines. The membrane of the wing very hairy ; external ear narrow and very pointed : the hair on the upper part of the body dark yellowish brown ; on the lower side pale yellowish grey. t Temminck, Histoire Naturelle des Pigeons, et des Gallinacees, vol. I. p. 208. 2 F 218 JOURNEY FROM THE RIO DOCE in the thick forest and kindled our fires. The night was very warm and fine, but, as usual in hot countries, extremely damp. The voices of many birds, those of the cabur6, the choralua, the bacuraa (goat-sucker), and the capueira (perdix guianensis), are heard only at dusk, when they animate these vast and awful solitudes. The ca- bure, in particular, came very near us ; its twittering note sounded from the tree nearest to the fire, which the bird seemed to survey with curi- osity. Our hardy half-naked Indian boatmen immediately lay down without covering, and some of them at a distance from the fire on the damp ground, and slept very soundly. We, on the contrary, wrapped ourselves in our thick blankets, on a bed made of brushwood and cocoa-leaves. Next morning, while breakfast was preparing, a flock of maccaws alighted near us with loud cries. Mariano, one of our people, imme- diately leaped up, took his gun, and cautiously approached the birds : the report echoed majestically through the solitary wilds, and the hunter returned joyful, with the first of those splendid birds that we had shot on this journey. After dinner we embarked again, and landed in the evening on a sand-bank, upon which we kindled a fire. While we were employed in preparing the maccaw for our collection, we saw a large boat full of people rowing towards us. It was Mr. Charles Frazer, an English- man, who possessed an establishment at Comechatiba, on the coast near Porto Seguro, with his attendants : his plan was the same as our own. We passed the night at this place, and set out in the morning together. Towards noon we reached, on the north bank of the Mu- curi, the entrance of a narrow, shady channel, about ten or twelve paces in breadth. This natural channel, which was before impassable from thickly interlaced bushes which hung over it, had been cleared a few days before by command of the ouvidor, and the bushes cut TO CARAVELLAS, &C. 219 away. It is the entrance to a fine and pretty considerable lake called Lagoa d'Arara, which is encompassed all round by woody mountains. It was about a quarter of a league up the lagoa that the ouvidor had just begun to found the establishment of the minister at Morro d'Arara; timber had already been felled, and some huts built. The- ouvidor received us politely, and I immediately made arrangements for remaining some months in this solitary wilderness. CHAPTER IX. STAY AT MOREO d'aRARA, MUCURI, VICOZA, AND CARA- VELLAS, TILL OUR DEPARTURE POR BELMONTE. (From the 5th of February till the 23d July, 1816J Description of our Abode at Morro d'Arara. — Hunting Excursions. — The Mundeos. — Stay at Mucuri, Viqoza, and Caravellas. To form some idea of our mode of life at Mono d'Arara, conceive a wilderness in which a company of men forms a solitary outpost, suffi- ciently provided by nature with the necessaries of life, in abundance of game, fish, and good water ; but at the same time, by its distance from inhabited places, entirely confined to its own resources, and obliged to be constantly on its guard against the savage natives of the forest, by whom it is on every side surrounded. Patachos, and perhaps Botocudos, prowled about us daily, to watch our motions ; for this reason we all went constantly armed ; we numbered between fifty and sixty able-bodied men. The wood on the side of a mountain, on the bank of the lagoa, had already been felled, so that it lay confusedly together like a rude abatis. Twenty- four Indians, who were particularly serviceable for this purpose, went out daily to work ; some of them were furnished with axes, others with a sickle-shaped instrument (fouce) fixed to a long handle; the former cut down the trees, the latter the underwood and young bushes. When a large tree was felled it drew down many STAY AT MOREO d'aRARA, &C. 221 other trees with it to the ground ; because all these forests are inter- laced and twined together by the strongest ligneous climbing plants ; many trunks were broken off by others, and remained standing like colossal pillars : prickly plants, especially the stems of the airi palm, which are covered with thorns, lay every where on the ground, and made these abatis perfectly impenetrable. The oiwidor had caused five or six huts to be built near the lagoa, the roofs of which were covered with uricanna leaves. Four of our Indians, who, like most of their countrymen, were very good hunters, and still better fishermen and boatmen, were sent out every morning for the whole day, to fish, hunt, and examine our mundeos or traps for animals, and they al- ways brought home in the evening, game and abundance of fish, principally piabanhas, tratras, piau, robal, and other species. As soon as all our people were collected together in the evening, we had no cause to fear an open attack of the savages. Against a surprise by night, which they do not readily attempt in dark, but preferably in moonlight nights, we were secured by the vigilance of our dogs. A large dog belonging to the ouvidor distinguished himself above the rest ; he seemed to scent the savages when they prowled about on the mountain, beyond the lagoa. On these occasions he was quite furious, and barked long and without intermission towards the suspi- cious quarter. The Patachos, from their dark lurking places, doubt- less observed us, not without wonder and dissatisfaction, and our hunters had need of great caution not to approach them unguardedly. We often heard these savages imitate the notes of the owls (curuja), of the capueira, and other animals, especially the night-birds ; but our Indians, who were equally skilled in this art, never failed to dis- tinguish the imitation from nature. A person not acquainted with it, would perhaps have attempted to follow the call of the bird, when the arrows of the savages would have shewn him his mistake. When our people danced the baduca by moonlight, and played the guitar 222 STAY AT MORRO d'aRARA, to it, which is always accompanied by clapping of hands ; this clap- ping was repeated by the savages on the other side of the lagoa. The. ouvidor, who on all occasions took much pains to gain the savages, made frequent endeavours, while we were here, to entice them, and called out to them : Schamanih ! (comrade) or Capitam Ney (great chief), &e. but all his endeavours Mere vain; though our Indians, whom we sent out on the watch, frequently perceived by the footsteps of the savages, that they had approached the abatis in the night, and reconnoitred our encampment on all sides. As we ourselves expected one evening to be suddenly attacked, because our dogs were uncommonly uneasy, we were always on our guard, and those who had to fetch water, collect fuel, or do any thing else in the forest, always took care to be well armed. Our collections received large additions, particularly of quadrupeds, at Morro d'Arara, by means of our mimdeos. The Indians are ex- tremely clever in making these traps. For this purpose they choose, in preference, a spot near the bank of a river in the forest. They erect here a long fence of green boughs, which is placed at right angles to the bank, and must be from two feet and a half to three feet high. Every fifteen or twenty paces, a small opening is left, on which three long heavy pieces of wood are set up obliquely, propped up by several small pieces. The small animals, as they go backward and forward according to their custom, on the bank of the river, seek a passage through, and rinding the opening in the hedge, tread upon the foundation which is composed of twigs woven together ; the heavy pieces of wood fall down and kill the animal. It is usual to make thirty, forty, or more of these traps in a line, and game is caught in them daily. Frequently, and especially in dark nights, we found five, six, or more animals at one time. It is however necessary to examine the traps once or twice every day ; because in the great heat, the game caught is soon spoiled or fly-blown. AT MUCURI, VICOZA, AND CARAVELLAS, &C. 223 By direction of the ouvidor, mundeos of this kind had been made in two places near Morro d'Arara : they were our chief means of sub- sistence, for though the people here lived principally on fish, we Europeans always preferred fresh meat. The paca (coelogenys paca), the aguti (dasyprocta aguti), the macuca (tinamus brasiliensis), and the common tatu (tatou noir, Azara), the flesh of which is white, tender, and well flavoured, were particularly welcome to us for our table. One day, having gone out to examine the traps, we were on the lagoa, when the Indian who managed my boat suddenly pointed out to us an anta, which was swimming in the lake, and at- tempting to reach the shore. We fired at it from some distance, but most of the shot missed, till at last, the misshapen animal was wounded, but only slightly, because the shot could not penetrate far through its thick skin. We went on shore and followed the bloody track, but soon forgot it entirely, in consequence of the great danger into which my Indian fell. He came too close to a jararacca* five feet long, which lay hid among the dry leaves : it raised itself up, shewed its formidable teeth, and was going to bite at him, when I killed it by a fortunate shot, and saved the terrified hunter. The Indians, and even the Portuguese hunters, always go barefooted to the chace ; shoes and stockings being in this country dear articles for the countryman, and therefore used only on holidays. They are of course more exposed to the bite of the serpents, which often lie hid among the dry leaves ; and yet such cases are more rare than wonld * The jararacca, which is spoken of in our modern travels, is introduced in the systems under the name of vipera atrox ; but it differs from the viper in the opening in the cheeks, which is found in all the venomous serpents of South America, that I had an opportunity to examine. In the Magazine of the Society of Enquirers into Nature, at Berlin, (3d year) p. 85, there is a description of the jararacca, by IA. H. Tilesius, if this name has the same meaning; at St. Catherine's as on the Continent. The jararaccassu is merely a very large old animal of this kind, which is naturally rather different in colour from younger ones. 224 STAY AT MOERO d'aEARA, be supposed. The horror and fear of serpents felt by the inhabi- tants is excessive ; the common people entertain various and partly ridiculous prejudices respecting their nature: thus for instance, thev believe that there are serpents with two heads ; that others are attracted by light or fire, and that the venomous kinds of these animals spit out their poison when they are going to drink. Some days afterwards I obtained another, quite harmless, but re- markably beautiful serpent*, in the skin of which vermilion, black, and greenish rings, alternate; it has some resemblance in figure to the coral serpent (cobra coraes), but is very different from it. In these solitary wildernesses the chace was our most agreeable, most useful, and indeed only occupation ; and though the insecurity of the forests laid us under many restraints, and obliged us to make it a rule never to go out, except in sufficiently numerous parties, yet we always procured abundance of game. Whenever we went out of our huts in the morning, we heard the loud drum-like voice of the barbados (mycetes) and the hoarse growl of the gigo-f-, another hi- therto nondescript monkey ; the maccaws, which flew loudly scream- ing over our huts, in pairs, threes, or fives, joined in this noisy concert, which re-echoed through the woods; and we were in like manner surrounded by flocks of parrots, of schaiias, maitacas, jurus, (psittacus pulverulentus, Linn.) curicas, and many other kinds. * Coluber formosus, a nondescript species ; 32 inches 7 lines long, including the tail, which is 7 inches : head of a bright orange colour ; iris vermilion ; in the mouth are 76 teeth ; the fore half of the body, with alternate black and pale yellow green transverse stripes ; the hinder alternating with black and broad vermilion stripes. It is an incomparably beautiful animal. f Callithrix melanochir, 35 inches 10 lines long, including the tail, which is 21 inches 10 lines; the hair long, thick, and soft ; face and four feet black ; the hair blackish and whitish mixed, so that it appears ash grey ; back reddish chesnut brown ; the tail is whitish, often nearly white and sometimes yellowish. MUCURI, VICOZA, CARAVELLAS, &C. 225 At the huts, our people were still employed in completing the roofs. The two larger buildings, in which I lived, in company with the ouvidor, the two naval captains, and Kramer, the German mill- wright, were provided with clay- walls, and the roofs were finished. For the latter they used the leaves of the uricanna, a palm which has a small pliable stem : the beautiful large feathered leaves (folia abrupt e pinnata) grow on slender stalks ; several of them are formed into a bundle ; the stalks, which are very long, are then twisted round a lath of cocoa-wood, and bound together under it with a cipo verdadeira (bauhinia), which is long enough to bind one bundle to another. The laths, with the leaves thus attached, are laid over one another in such a manner that two thirds of their breadth are covered. The ridge of the roof is then covered with other leaves, particularly the long cocoa fans, in order to render it quite water- proof. Such a roof, which they very well understand how to make here, is light and secure; care must however be taken to permit smoke sometimes to circulate through it, because otherwise the insects would destroy the dry leaves in the first year. A spacious hut was now erecting for a workshop for the smith ; for on account of the hardness of the different woods which were to be cut and worked, the tools very frequently stood in need of repairs. The smith employed here, was an inhabitant of the country on the Alcobaca, whom the ouvidor, to punish him for some fault, had ordered to be taken from his home by night, and brought hither to work. While the workmen were building the huts, the woodmen cleared the spot where it was proposed to erect the saw-mill. The ouvidor left us, and went for some time with many of his people to Cara- vellas ; our company was consequently much diminished, but we soon received a large accession of numbers. Captain Bento Lourenzo had carried the new road so far with his Mineiros, that he had nearly ap- proached our solitude. The Picadores (people who go before and mark 2 G 226 STAY AT MORRO DAHAEA, upon the trees the direction which the woodmen are to pursue) arrived a day earlier, and announced the coming of their company. The fol- lowing evening the captain arrived with eighty or ninety men, and took up his quarters with us. A great number of people was now collected within this small compass : the sounds of the guitar, the song, and the dance (baduca), were heard till late in the night; large fires illumined the surrounding abatis and the dark forests, and tinged with their red glare the broad surface of the lagoo. The length of the road from Mucuri hither is about seven or eight leagues. The Mineiros had found, near Morrod'Arara, another large lagoa, abound- ing in fish, and in which there are great numbers of jacares ; they had to make a circuit round this lake, and to cross marshes, by which, and similar obstacles, their labour had been much retarded. The various races of men whom the captain had together in his troop, gave to our train a very picturesque and original appearance. Be- sides us Germans and Portuguese, there were in our company ne- groes, Creoles, mulattos, mamelukes, Indians of the coast, a Boto- cudo, a Malali, some Maconis, and Capuchos, all soldiers from Minas Geraes. The captain and his people stopped some days at Morro d'Arara, to have the tools and the locks of their guns repaired by our smith. He made his people continue their work every day : they carried the road past our abatis over the ridge of the mountains, and made a path, or picade, from our head-quarters to the new road, which we used in the sequel for hunting. On the 22d of February the captain's people left our habitations to prosecute their work through the forest. Some of us accompanied them for some distance along the new road into the woods. There we reposed under ancient venerable trees, and were regaled by the Mineiros with cooling beverage. This scene is represented in the annexed engraving. We are seen seated in a circle, while Captain Bento Lourenzo, distinguished from the rest by his MUCURI, VICOZA, CARAVELLAS, &C. 227 large grey beaver hat, prepares the drink, called jacuba, in a cuia. The fowling-pieces rest against the trunks of the trees, some having their locks covered with pattioba leaves, as a protection from the wet. Some Indians" are still employed in felling trees, while they are guarded by Indian soldiers, seated on the provisions wrapped up in pattioba leaves. A negro is showing a monkey which he has shot, and the Mineiros and Indian soldiers are gradually assembling. The captain himself returned once more with us to our habitations, and left us the next day to rejoin his people. We wished him success in the prosecution of his arduous enterprise, which was now exposed to many dangers, as he was going to undertake a tedious labour in. the inmost recesses of the forest, in the approaching rainy season, which generates many diseases. Morro d'Arara now seemed quite deserted, when all our people had returned home in the evening from their work, we did not muster more than twenty-nine persons. This did not diminish our success in procuring game ; for new mundeos had been made, which were very productive. A list of the animals either shot, or taken in the ?mmdeos, in this period of five weeks, will not be misplaced here, as it will afford an idea of the abundance of game in these vast forests : Antas, Tapir us americaniis 3 Deer, $ Guazupita, Azara *- Guazubira 1 2 Wild Swine, Dycoteles labiatus, Cuv. 11 C Barbados (mycetes) 9 Monkeys, < Micos, a nondescript species 14 f Gigos 10 Cuatis, Nasua 10 Tamanduas, Myrmecophaga 2 Lontras, Lutra brasiliensis 2 228 STAY AT MORRO d'aRARA, Iraras, Mustela - - 4 Mbaracayas, Fells partialis - 4 Gattos pintados, Felis tigrina ? 3 Gattos muriscos, Felis yagnarundi - ■ 2 Tatus, Dasypus 30 Pacas, Ctelogenys paca - 19 Cutias, Dasyprocta aguti - 46 ■ EATABLE BIRDS. Mutum, Crax alector, Linn. - 8 Jacutingas, Penelope leucoptera - 5 Jacupembas, Fenelope marail, Linn. 2 Macucas, Magoua, Buffon - 5 Cbororao. Tinamus variegatus, Latham 6 Patos, Anas moschata, Linn. 4 In all, 181 quadrupeds, and 30 large eatable birds. With the monkeys that we killed, many young ones also fell into our hands ; we were however unable to preserve these tender little creatures alive for any length of time, probably because we had not proper food for them. Besides the supplies for our kitchen, our hunting excursions fur- nished me with materials for researches in natural history, and thus the time passed very quickly in this solitude. Among the animals found in these forests, I mention only some hitherto non-descript species; among others, the purple chatterer, or silk-tail*, the sabia- sicca-f, a parrot with a remarkable varying note ; the maitaca with * Ampelis atro-purpurea ; 7 inches 9 lines long ; the plumage of the old birds is dark pur- ple, on the crown inclining to bright red ; quill feathers white. The plumage of the young birds is ash grey, with white quill feathers. f Psittacus cyanogaster ; plumage beautiful dark green ; on the belly an azure blue spot ; the tail rather long : this species is frequently kept in houses on account of its voir \ MUCURI, VICOZA, CAEAVELLAS, &C. 229 a red head*, &c. Of insects, we frequently procured the cerambiv longimamis ; and of the class of reptiles, the wood tortoise, jabuti (testudo tabulata), &c. After an absence of about three weeks the ouvidor returned with some boats and many people. He brought us the melancholy news, that the savages had on the 28th of February murdered five men, women, and children, about a league from Villa do Port Allegre, on Captain Bento Lourenzo's new road. Some other persons, who on perceiving the large compact body of the savages, had quickly thrown themselves into a thicket, were fortunate enough to escape. A man from Mucuri, who was at work on his plantations in the woods near the spot, had heard the lamentable cries of the unhappy victims ; he, and a young man his son, had immediately taken their guns and hastened to the aid of the sufferers ; but before they reached the scene of the murder, the father discharged his piece, on which the savages immediately fled. They found the murdered persons weltering in their blood, without any sign of life, pierced with many arrows, and covered with numerous small wounds inflicted with the points of arrows: a child, which had hid itself behind a bush, had escaped unnoticed, and gave an account of the particulars of the mournful event. As the savages did not retire after this outrage, but still hovered about the plantations of Mucuri, these were abandoned by the owners, who all sought refuge in the town. The ouvidor had immediately given orders for an expedition, and collected armed peo- ple for the purpose from St. Matthew's, Villa Verde, Porte Seguro, and other places, after which he himself returned to Morro d'Arara. He then repaired with ten or fifteen persons to the new road, and remained there two days in the forest, to level a watercourse for the * Psittacus mitratus ; with a short tail 7 inches 8 lines long ; fine bright green with dark blue quill feathers ; the head down to the neck and the eyes scarlet. 230 STAY AT MOREO D'ARARA, minister's saw-mill. The two naval officers who came with him, sailed up the river to take a plan of its course, for two days' journey upwards as far as the falls ; there they found Captain Bento Lourenzo, who had proceeded so far in his work. The ouvidor left Morro d'Arara on the 9th, and returned to the town ; he took away with him such people and arms as he most wanted, in order to employ them against the savages ; but the expedition availed nothing, for the wary Tapuyas were not to be found. I was now left, with the steward of the fazenda, my two German attendants, five negroes, and six or seven Indians, who were slowly to continue the work. As our mundeos did not catch much game in the moonlight nights, we resolved to make new ones^: this was done upon the mountain, on the other side of the new road. Thirty traps, and three pit-falls were prepared. Though the Patachos did us con- siderable injury, by several times taking away the animals caught, and by beating in the cover of a pit- fall, we still caught some game, till the place was disturbed by woodmen, who came from the town to build boats ; the trees they felled were oiticica, jiquitiba, and cedro, which next to the sergeira are the best for boat-building. The month of March had now arrived, and with it the beginning of the cold season, which here sets in with abundance of rain. We had often great heat in the morning, and towards noon violent thunder-storms, which occasionally lasted one or two days, and poured down torrents of rain. In such weather our solitary abode in the little and gloomy valley in the forest, was extremely dreary : vapours rose like thick clouds from the damp woods, and enveloped us so, that we could scarcely see the opposite thicket though so near us. This changeable and damp weather caused many diseases; fevers and head-ache were frequent, and even the native Indians were not exempt from them, so that it was necessary to send several of them to the town. We foreigners suffered particularly; we were MUCUKI, VICOZA, CARAVELLAS, &C. 231 destitute of the requisite medicines, especially Peruvian bark, which is absolutely indispensable for travellers in these hot climates. The fever had also attained the highest degree of violence among the company of Captain Lourenzo; he was himself extremely ill and enfeebled. From lying on the damp ground in the woods, from the want of strong liquors, having no other drink than water, and from the entire want of proper medicines, many of his people were so re- duced that he was likewise obliged to send them to the town. He him- self repaired to Morro d'Arara, where we took care of him for some time, and sent him away in some degree recovered. For ray part, when I perceived that the fever would not leave me, I had recourse to the Peruvian bark*, which I had found here growing on the Mucuri. * This bark consists of pieces from four to six inches long, one and a half to two inches broad, and half au inch (more or less) thick. Most of the pieces are much bent lengthwise, so that the inner side stands up and forms a channel from half to one inch broad, and from one sixth to a quarter of an inch deep. The colour of the outside is dark brown red, mixed with bright reddish spots; the inner side is of a much lighter colour, and has a woody ap- pearance. The external side is wrinkled, veined, and furrowed longitudinally, and also has transverse cracks here and there, much like the Angustura bark. On this side too there are parts higher than the rest of the surface, of a grey and light red colour, which seem as if they were remains of an outer skin ; it is probably a lichen growing on the bark. In breaking it is brittle, and rather shining, and shews no sign of wood or fibres. The whole bark ap- pears on the breaking to consist of only one substance, which towards the outside is dark red, shining, and very resinous ; internallv, pale red, less shining, and but little resinous. It is heavier than water ; the taste is unpleasantly bitter, more astringent than that of the red bark: the powder resembles that of the nib. tinct. only that of the Peruvian bark in- clines to violet, and that of the rub. tinct. is brown; it is not to be compared with that of the red bark. A decoction of this bark is dark red brown; mixed with an infusion of galls, a greyish red brown precipitate is formed, and as strong as that of the other sorts of bark : with muriate of tin, the strongest and thickest precipitate became of a brownish violet red colour; with a decoction of oak bark there was no precipitate, but a combination of both; with acetate of lead, the precipitate was a dirty light brown, inclining to reddish : tartar emetic gave a slight liver-coloured, sulphate of iron a bluish dark grey, and sulphate of copper a greyish brown red precipitate. No satisfactory statements can be given respect- ing the internal use of this bark, as I had not brought a sufficient quantity for the purpose 232 STAY AT MORRO d'aRARA, The pieces given me of this bark, with which the captain had been cured, were peeled off very thick, and still fresh, so that they could not be reduced to powder. We therefore cut them in small pieces, and made a strong decoction, which we drank. The Portuguese, who were used to the climate, received benefit from this remedy ; but we Germans found that it only deferred the fit, which afterwards returned with increased violence. As the want of suitable food was more and more sensibly felt under those distressing circumstances, and I saw that I should never recover my health while I continued to subsist on black beans, and fat or salt meat, to which we were now confined, I resolved to remove to the town, which I accordingly did on the 10th of March. The high winds which prevail on the sea-coast at this season, are far more conducive to health than the damp, close warm air in the forests. Our passage down the Mucuri was very agreeable, as we had no rain. In the town also provisions were scarce, as in- deed there is in general much poverty in these parts ; the people had nothing but mandiocca flour, beans, and sometimes a little fish : we who were ill however had the good fortune to procure suitable food by purchasing some fowls. As the Brasilian bark did not seem to effect our cure, I sent a messenger to the. Villa de St. Matthaeus, who brought me back some genuine Peruvian bark. This, it is true, soon put a stop to the disorder, but it was several weeks before we quite recovered our strength. Mr. Freyreiss came with the rest of our people to the Mucuri at the beginning of May. He had made a short stay at Linhares on the Rio Doce, but had found the state of the settlement there very different from what it was at the period of our visit. The Botocudos, to give to Dr. Bernstein, who undertook the preceding description. The use of it seems to promise greater efficacy in weakness of the stomach than the other kinds of bark. He could not employ it in intermitting fevers. MUCURI, VlfOZA, CARAVELLAS, &C. 233 more bold and fierce than ever, had again shewn themselves in a large body. On the south bank of the river, near the Quartel d'Aguia, on the Lagoa dos Indios, they had murdered three soldiers, and, as some affirmed, devoured them ; an expedition had been dispatched against them from Linhares, comprehending all the people that could be collected (about thirty-eight) : but they met with such a number of savages, that they judged it most prudent to retreat. On one of the Tocayas* alone were found forty men armed with their bows. This issue of the affair had spread a panic at Linhares, and, as Mr. Freyreiss assured us, the inhabitants fled four and eight at a time, lest they should be devoured by these ferocious savages. The fazenda of Lieutenant Calmon was in a very alarming and dangerous situation. The Guarda Mor, who was detained as a prisoner at Linhares, had escaped to St. Matthew's, and the com- mander of the Quartel of Porto de Souza had deserted with six soldiers y &c. so that this settlement in one of the most fertile districts was likely to be soon broken up, unless the government should mean- while adopt more judicious measures. After I had passed some weeks more on the Mucuri with Mr. Freyreiss, to wait for the entire recovery of the sick, we travelled to Villa Vif oza, where we took up our abode in the house of the carnara, whence we made excursions into the neighbouring country. Villa Vicoza is a small village, agreeably situated among cocoa- trees. It carries on some trade in mandiocca-flour, which is exported coastwise. The quantity exported last year is said to have amounted to 9000 alquieres, worth about 9000 crusados. Several of the in- habitants possess small vessels, (lanchas,) in which the produce of • Tocayas are places which the savages prepare in the thickest of the forest to lie in am- bush for their enemies. They generally have several in different places : we shall notice them more particularly in the sequel. 234 STAY AT MOERO d'aRARA, the plantations is exported by sea. A German ship-carpenter lives here ; he was brought hither by an English vessel which was wrecked, and now exercises his profession : he came immediately to visit us ; but he speaks his native language very imperfectly : in this country he was considered as an Englishman. The owners of the vessels (lanchas) are the richest and most respec- table inhabitants here. M. Bernardo da Motta is distinguished among them by his beneficent disposition and integrity. Possessing a knowledge of many of the disorders of the country, and consider- able experience, which he has gradually acquired, he exerts himself to be serviceable to his sick countrymen by his advice, and by sup- plying them with approved remedies. In the hot climate of Brazil the inhabitants are subject to numerous diseases, and especially to various cutaneous disorders, and obstinate fevers, which, when pro- perly treated by able physicians or surgeons, are indeed seldom dan- gerous, but of which many persons die here for want of the necessary assistance or from improper treatment. M. da Motta has endeavoured at Vicoza to remedy this evil as much as possible ; and though he does not possess any profound medical attainments, yet experience has taught him many excellent practical modes of treatment; and from the modesty with which he tries, and adopts every thing- good and useful that is communicated to him by others, his know- ledge and the sphere of his beneficial exertions are continually in- creasing. The greatest kindness that the king could confer on his subjects in Brazil, would be the appointment of able physicians and surgeons in the different parts of the country, and the establishment of good public schools, in order gradually to dispel from among the common people the rude ignorance and the blind superstition, which occasion and diffuse so much misery and mischief. Such schools are wholly wanting. Arrogant ecclesiastics, who are deficient either in energy MUCURI, VICOZA, CARAVELLAS, &C. 235 or inclination to labour for the instruction and education of the peo- ple, actively contribute, on the contrary, to repress sound reason and the exercise of the understanding, and to impede the progress of in- tellectual improvement. With all their rudeness, the common people have a great degree of self-conceit and pride, combined with a total ignorance of the state of the rest of the world; which is probably chiefly. to be ascribed to the pernicious system of entire exclusion from foreign intercourse, which Portugal formerly pursued with re- gard to Brazil. A stranger is here considered as a wonder, or as something only half-human. While he deplores this darkness, the friend of humanity must rejoice in the hopes which the present more enlightened government authorise us to entertain. The river Peruipe, which is moderately broad, forms before it falls into the sea two branches, of which the Barra Velha is stated to lie in the latitude of 18°. Its banks are not inhabited far up, and the military station of Caparica has been established there against the savages. Before its mouth there are sand banks, which render the navigation unsafe. During our stay here, a boat laden with flour was wrecked on them, and four men perished. The celebrated rocky islands called the Abrolhos, which are the terror of navigators, lie nearly between Caravellas and Vicoza, only a few miles from the coast : fishermen sail thither with their boats, stay several days or even weeks, and catch abundance of fish and sea-turtles. These islands are overgrown with low bushes, in which many sea-fowl build their nests, especially the grapiras (halieus forficatus.) The country round Vip oza has fine extensive forests, which at this time were partly inundated by the frequent rains. Noble trees spread a refreshing shade ; in particular we found here many cocoa- palms, the species of which known to the inhabitants, may be seen in the annexed list. In the country on the Mucuri and the Peruipe, the following species of palms are known, all of which have the ex- 236 STAY AT MORRO d'aRARA, ternal habits of the cocoa genus ; but it cannot be positively asserted that they all really belong to it, because we had not an opportunity of examining the flowers of all of them. Botanists will soon procure us more certain information on this subject from accurate observation. A. Species of Palms without thorns. 1. Cocos da Bahia, (cocos nucifera, Linn.) does not grow wild, but cultivated, from the Mucuri, that is from the 18th degree, north- wards to Bahia and Pernambuco, very frequently on the coast ; to the south it is very rare. When young it is distinguished by a pro- tuberance of the trunk, at the bottom, close to the ground. 2. Cocos de Imburi ; with narrow, moderately long leaves, of a silver white below, and shining green above ; it produces a bunch of very hard small nuts, which are eaten only by the savages. 3. Cocos de Pindoba * ; has no stem, but shoots out only beautiful long leaves from the ground; close to the base it has a bunch of eatable nuts. 4. Cocos de Pati ; has a high thick stem, many strong, broad, colossal frondes, and makes a noble appearance; the bunch of fruit is very large, consisting of many hard, small nuts. 5. Cocos Ndaid-assu ; with a tall strong stem, handsome broad feathery leaves, and strong woody rachis ; the pinnulcB are very smooth, even, and not indented, pointed, of a shining dark green above, and of a shining light green below. It has a large bunch of fruit, with many eatable nuts, which are about five inches long. The bunch of fruit is so large that one man cannot carry it. This * In the various kinds of palms here enumerated, the names added to the word cocos are mostly the real ancient denominations, from the language of the Tupinambas and the other kindred Tupi tribes. Thus for instance, a famous chief among them was called Pindobusv, or the great Pindoba palm-tree. See Southey's History, &c. Vol. I. p. 289. and other places. MUCURI, VICOZA, CARAVELLAS, &C. 237 tree is of majestic growth, and the finest of the palms of this country; there were some large noble trees of this kind on the Lagoa d'Arara. 6. Cocos de Palmitto, on the Rio Doce, and in the more southern parts ; northwards on the Mucuri, called Cocos de Jissara. It is the most elegant of all. The stem is very tall and slender ; the crown small, consisting of eight or ten very beautiful bright green leaves, which are thickly feathered, and seem arched like ostrich feathers. Under the crown of leaves, the silver grey stem of the tree has a bright green excrescence three or four feet long, containing the young leaves and flowers, like a pith, which is eaten, and called palmitt. Between the woody part of the stem and the green excres- cence containing the pith, the yellow bunch of flowers breaks out and hangs down. The bunch of fruit is small, with little black nuts, scarcely of the size of a hazel-nut. 7. Cocos de Guriri (the pissando of the Indians.) A dwarf palm, which grows in the sand on the sea-shore : with smooth leaves, but arched like a feather ; the pinnulce are often a little rolled inwards, and at the same time double. Next to the ground it has a spica or spadix, with little nuts on it, which at their root are rather pointed and covered with a sweet yellow red pulp, which is here eaten. 8. Cocos de Piassaba, or Piacaba; one of the most useful, most remarkable, and at the same time most beautiful species ; the fruit is of the size and shape of No. 5, and rather pointed. It begins to appear about Porto Seguro, and from that place northwards becomes more and more frequent, and is most plentiful in the district of Ilheos. Its stem is high and strong, the pinnulce on the leaves stand rather detached, but all the frondes shoot upright, and do not bend down as in the other kinds ; hence this singular palm has the appear- ance of a Turkish plume of herons' feathers. The sheath, when it withers, falls into very long, small woody fibres, which are twisted 238 STAY AT MORRO d'aRARA, into ropes for ships. The solid nut is turned for the purpose of making rosaries. 9- Cocos de Aricuri, or Aracui ; a palm from fifteen to eighteen feet high, which grows in the sand on the sea-coast, in the neigh- bourhood of Alcobapa and Belmonte, with three, four, or more leaves, the footstalks of which have at their root, on both sides, blunt thornlike excrescences. When the frondes fall off, the footstalk re- mains : this forms a very rough short stem. The frwides are beauti- fully arched, of a shining green, and smooth. The bunch of fruit is composed of numerous round stone fruits, of the size of a large plum, which are covered with a fine orange-coloured flesh. Light hats are made of the leaves. B. Species having real thorns. 10. Cocos de Airi asslt ; the great airi palm, (called in some parts of Minas Gerae's brejeuba,) with a trunk only from 20 to 30 feet high, which is of a dark brown colour, and covered all over with dark brown thorns, which stand in rings. The bunch of fruit is com- posed of small, very hard, dark brown nuts, of an oval shape, a little pointed, and of the size of a plum. This palm forms, in places where it abounds, impenetrable thickets : it grows in dry woods. Farther north it does not occur ; I did not meet with it even in the country about Porto Seguro. Hence, while the Puris, the Patachos, and the Botocudos on the Rio Doce, make their bows of the dark brown wood of this tree, the tribes living farther to the north, even the Botocudos on the Rio Grande de Belmonte, and the Patachos on the Rio do Prado, employ for this purpose the Pao d'arco (bow-wood, bignonia.) 11. Cocos de Airi mirim (pronounced miri,) has a slender prickly stem, with leaves close to the ground and on the stem ; the fruit is small, and is eaten by children. 12. Cocos de Tucum ; has a stem fifteen palms high, and grows in marshes ; whereas the airi kinds prefer dry situations. The stem MUCUKI, VICOZA, CARAVELLAS, &C. 239 and leaves are prickly. The fruit is a small black nut, containing an eatable kernel. If the pinnules are broken, delicate green threads appear, which are very strong, and are twisted into twine, which is used to make fine green fishing-nets, and for other purposes. With all the characteristic differences which these various species of palms present to the eye of the botanist, most of them have one general form ; that of the cocos genus, with a slender stem, which in some is thicker above, in others below, and in others again every where equal ; in most kinds it is furnished with raised rings, annu- lated, or rather scaly on the upper part ; the leaves are feathered, like ostrich feathers, gently and beautifully arched, partly with pinnulce that are curled and somewhat rolled up, partly erect ; they are curled, and of a silver colour in the Imburi s gently bent like a feather in the Jissara; rising high, and spreading strong and broad in all directions, and hanging down to the ground in the beautiful lofty Ndaia ; shooting perpendicularly upwards to a great height in the Piassaba, Sec. It appears from what I have said that the country through which I travelled is much poorer in varieties of palms than the regions of the South American continent, situated nearer to the equator, where Humboldt met with a great multiplicity of these magnificent plants, of which we find a most pleasing description in his admirable "Views of Nature." Next to the palm form, comes, in the high regions of the Andes of Peru, that of the arboraceous ferns, (filix,) which we do not find on the east coast of Brazil, though some modern works on that country erroneously place it there. The low species of plants of this family are, on the other hand, very numerous and various, both on the ground and on trees. Among them, the mertensia clichotomo is conspicuous, on the Mucuri, and in the country about Caravellas : it rises pretty high among the trees, and may be known by its growing double. Its smooth bright brown stem is cleared of the pith by the 240 STAY AT MORRO DARARA, negroes, and used for the tobacco pipes, which are called canudo de samambaya. It was not merely in a botanical, but in a zoological view also, that we found the forests about Vicoza interesting. The cold season causing the forest birds to come down in great numbers, from the in- terior to the coast, enabled our hunters to shoot abundance of parrots, especially maitacas, (psittacus menstruus, Linn.) toucans, &c. which served us for food. The flesh of the parrot makes very strong broth, but I no where found any confirmation of what Southey says, that it is used as a medicine. The beautiful dark purple chatterer (ampelis atro-purpurea) was frequent in these forests ; the beautiful blue kiruci or crejoa, (ampelis cotitiga, Linn.) which is distinguished by its splendid blue plumage among all the birds of Brazil, was less frequent on the Mucuri, as also a new species of parrot*, &c. The incomparable plumage of the kirua is employed by the nuns of Bahia, in making their beautiful flowers composed of feathers. The skins of these birds have been sometimes sent in considerable numbers to the capital. Among the smaller birds we may remark the nectarinea cyanea, (certhia cyanea, Linn.) and spiza, to which the general name of cai is given. We procured also some beautiful serpents, among which were several specimens of the jararacca and a skin of the jiboya, (boa constrictor of Daudin,) which does not live in Africa as that writer affirms, but is the most common species of this genus in Brazil. On the 11th of June I left Vicoza, and proceeded to Caravellas, where I waited for the arrival of the Casqueiro from Rio de Janeiro. * Five inches nine lines long ; tail short ; green : the breast, belly, and sides inclining to blue ; the back dark coffee-colour ; rump almost entirely black : two middle tail feathers green, the lower half red, the others a beautiful red, with broad black tips. In the Berlin Museum, this bird is classed by the name of psittacus melanonohu. The chief charac- teristic of this species, but which is only to be distinguished when in a fresh state, is a naked vermilion-coloured skin round the eye. 916 d CHAPTER X. J J0URXEY FROM CARAVELLAS TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. River and Town of Alcobaca. — River and Town do Prado. — The Patachos. — The Machacalis. — Comechatiba. — Rio do Frade. — Trancozo. — Porto Seguro. — Santa Cruz. — Jllogiquicaba. — Belmonte. After we had waited four weeks at Caravellas, the long wished-for Casqueiro at length arrived. It brought us from Rio de Janeiro many things of which we were in need, and took our collections on board, to convey them to our friends in the capital. Captain Bento Lourenzo had also arrived at Caravellas, after having nearly finished his road. He now proceeded to Rio, where, as he subsequently in- formed me, he received an order as a reward for his exertions, to- gether with the appointment of colonel, and inspector of the road on the Mucuri. When we had finished all our business, I set out on my journey northward along the coast; while Mr. Freyreiss, with his people, remained behind on the Mucuri. I left Caravellas on the morning of the 23d of July. Though the coldest season of this climate had set in, the heat this day was oppressive. The inhabitants of these parts were now troubled with frequent coughs, colds, and headaches ; for what they call the cold season, has the same effect on their constitutions, accustomed to the heat, as the first frost in November or December has upon us. 2 i 242 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS Many persons at Caravellas had died of the disorders incident to the change of temperature, while we foreigners experienced less incon- venience from it. The open plain in which Caravellas stands, is encompassed by marshy forests and thickets, in which the plantations of the inhabitants lie scattered. This forest is much pleasanter in the fine season of the year than we now found it; for it appeared much more beautiful when I visited it again, at the commencement of spring, in the month of November. The cheerful song of the sabiah, (turdus nifiventris,) resounded in the dark shade of the cocoa-trees, one of which I accidentally met with here, that had taken root in the hollow trunk of a very large tree, and had already shot up to a considerable height. You ride through this forest to the mouth of the river Caravellas, where about a dozen fishermen's huts form a little hamlet. From the barra or mouth of the river, which is spacious and safe, you follow the flat sandy beach, against which the sea, agitated by the wind, rolled its hoarse dashing waves. On the land side this flat beach is bounded by thick bushes stunted by the wind ; they consist of trees and shrubs, with dark green leaves, resembling those of the laurel, which are partly milky, juicy, and stiff; as the two kinds of clusia, with large beautiful white and rose-coloured flowers, that grow in abundance along the whole strand. Here, as well as on the whole east coast, the shrub known by the name of almecigo, (icica, amyris, aublet,) every part of which is very aromatic, is frequently found. From it exudes a highly odorous gum, which is used for various purposes, especially as pitch or resin for ships, and as a balsam and remedy for wounds. A chief part of the low thickets on the sea-shore consists of the two species of cocoa, the cocos de Gariri and de Aricuri, which grow commonly on the coast, and have been already mentioned in the account of our stay on the Mucuri. The first was now in flower, ;md loaded with unripe fruit ; the other is handsomer, grows from 15 TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 243 to 20 feet high, where the sea-wind does not blow too violently ; but on the coast it is smaller. Its handsome orange-coloured round fruit has a sweetish taste, but is said not to be wholesome. On the flat firm sand, beyond the reach of the foaming surf, crept a beautiful purple bell-flower, (ipomea littoralis,) with long dark-brown shoots, like cords, and thick roundish oval, milky leaves; we found it on most parts of the coast, where it binds the sand. This is also done by the two yellow-flowering plants of the class diadelphia, the one lying down and spreading upon the ground, a new kind of sophora ; the other the guilandina boncluc, Linn., often three or four feet high, with a broad, short, very rough prickly pod. Between these plants the hard strand grass, (remiria littoralis,) grows every where in abundance. Towards evening we came to a rapid stream, which is called the Barra Velha, because it is the old or former mouth of the river Alco- baca, which we reached soon afterwards. These little streams on the sea-coast are often great obstacles to the traveller, as he is liable to be detained by them six or eight hours. We had arrived at the Barra Velha at the unfavourable time; it was much swelled and rapid ; nothing remained therefore but to have the beasts unloaded and to stop here. Farther back in the thicket, a few people lived, but of this circumstance we were not informed till afterwards. Seated be- hind the fallen trunk of an old tree, which sheltered us in some measure from the piercing sea-wind that drifted the fine sand of the coast towards us, we soon kindled a brilliant fire, round which we all lay down upon the blankets and cloaks. We saw here one of the fine man-of-war birds, fpelicanus aquilus, Linn, halieus, Illig.) which are seen on the coast of Brazil flying at a considerable height, four, five, or more together. After taking a very scanty supper, we passed the night on this dreary spot, very insufficiently protected by our cloaks against the sharp piercing wind. We therefore joyfully hailed the 244 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS dawn of day which summoned us to continue our journey ; but it was ten o'clock before the tide had ebbed sufficiently for us to let our mules swim across ; the people carried the baggage over on their heads. From this place we reached in a short time the mouth of the Alco- baca, which is pretty considerable where it discharges itself into the sea. Its banks, near the sea, are covered with thick mangrove bushes, but whicK are soon succeeded by lofty dark forests. Not far from the mouth of the river, and on its northern bank, the Villa de Alcobaca is built on a white sandy plain, which is covered with short grass, low creeping mimosas, white-flowering plumbago, and the beautiful rose-coloured flowers of the vinca rosea. Alcobaca has about two hundred houses and nine hundred inhabitants ; most of the buildings are covered with tiles, and the church is of stone. Here, as well as on the whole coast, some trade is carried on with mandiocca-flour, of which about forty thousand alquieres are said to be annually exported to the larger towns on the coast, and to all those places where the plant does not thrive so well. Some of the vessels called lanchas are employed in the carriage of this article, and bring: back other necessaries from Bahia. These small vessels ascend to a considerable height up the river, that is, to the plantation of Mr. Munis Cordeiro, one of the principal inhabitants of Alcobaca, whose excellent character has obtained him merited reputation among his countrymen. The river Alcobaca, which in the ancient Brazilian language was called Tanian, or Itani'an, (Itanhem,) abounds in fish ; even manatis are said to have been caught there ; its barra has a sandy bottom, with twelve or fourteen palms water, and may be passed by heavily laden sumacas. The sertoes, or the ancient forests on its banks, are inhabited by the savage tribes of the Patachos and Machacaris, whom we have already often mentioned, who from this place and further TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMOXTE. 245; north, visit in a peaceful manner the habitations of the whites, and sometimes offer wax or animals fit for food, in exchange for other necessaries. As these savages had now retired further into the forests, we did not obtain a sight of any of them. The forests on the Alco- baca contain abundance of useful kinds of timber and plants; for in- stance, the Brazil wood, but especially a profusion of jacaranda and vinhatico, which is collected by the civilised Indians, of whom the Villa was originally formed, but who are now for the most part re- placed by whites and negroes. The situation of Alcobaca is healthy, as the sea-breezes constantly purify the air; but these winds and storms, during a great part of the year, are very disagreeable. Five leagues to the north of the Alcobaca, the Rio do Prado falls into the sea ; the aboriginal inhabitants of these parts formerly called it the Sucurucu*. The way along the coast thither is a firm even sand, but against which the sea dashed with great fury, as a high wind caused a heavy surf. In the thick bushes of the guriri and aricuri palms, which stretch along the shore, and are overshadowed by higher trees of the laurel kind, a small species of penelope is very frequent ; it seems to be nearly related to the parraqua, (penelope parr aqua, Timminck.) It is called on the east coast aracuan-]-, and is sought after by the hunter as very good food : in size as well as taste it nearly resembles our pheasants. My spaniel, which constantly hunted in the bushes, found many of these birds, which always rose in pairs with a great noise : it was not easy to fire at them here, as the thicket was too full of prickly plants and too intricate. Towards noon we came to another Barra Velha, an ancient mouth ; 1 * The Corografia Brasilica writes Jacurucu, but the inhabitants of these parts universally pronounce the name Sucurucu. t The aracuan appears at first sight to be the same with the pai-raqua ; but is doubtless a different species, as it is always much smaller, and the colour of its plumage also is some- thing different. It seems to be Humboldt's phasianus garrulus. 246 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS of the Rio do Prado, which our mules however were able to ford loaded, as we arrived just at the time of low water. On the other side there are again mangrove bushes near the river Prado, and the Villa lies on its north bank, on a rather elevated sandy plain. Stretched upon the sand on the bank, we had to wait very long, before some of the inhabitants thought fit to take us over in a boat. A tolerable lodging was assigned to us in the Casa da Camara. The Villa do Prado, which was originally formed of Indians, is less considerable than Alcobac a ; for it has only about fifty or sixty houses, and six hundred inhabitants. The houses are built partly in rows, partly scattered on a white sandy flat. The vinca rosea forms a covering to this hot soil, where our beasts found but very bad and scanty food. This little place is still more destitute of many neces- saries than Alcobaca. Some lanchas keep up a little coasting trade with mandiocca-flour, of which about 8000 alquieres are annually exported, together with some sugar, and other productions of the woods and plantations. The river is tolerably large, abounds in fish, and its barra is not unfavourable to navigation, as loaded sumacas can enter. By order of the government, our countryman, Major Feldner of the engineers, penetrated into the woods, from Villa do Prado, in a north-westerly direction, in order to open a road to Minas Geraes. He quarrelled with the ouvidor, Marcelino da Cunha, who did not support the plan, and as he was totally de- pendant on the arrangements of this person, the whole under- taking failed. Major Feldner was obliged to pass some time upon an island : there he fell sick, and together with his attendants suffered such distress, that they were obliged to kill a dog to satisfy their hunger. A reclaimed Botocudo, named Simam, cured the patient of a violent fever, by a cup of honey which he procured for him. After taking it, a strong perspiration ensued, and the disorder was removed. ' TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 247 The plantations of the inhabitants of Prado lie scattered in the woods on the Sucurucu. These wildernesses contain also great num- bers of animals fit for the chace ; beautiful species of woods and wild fruits. Brazil wood is abundant here ; the shoemakers use it to dye the leather black ; if ashes are added to this colour, it becomes red- dish, (rochoj. Amongst the birds which enliven the woods, near the town, the aracuan above-mentioned is very frequent : toucans and parrots are shot by the inhabitants, in great numbers, and eaten as delicacies on festivals : for in general mandiocca-flour, black beans, salt meat, and at times some fish, are the constant food of the Bra- zilians, to which the traveller must also accustom himself. Among the natural plagues of this country, the principal is the sand flea, (pulex penetrans,) which is here extremely common in the sand on the coast ; even in the houses these insects abound, and it is there- fore necessary, frequently to examine the feet. As a heavy rain came on, and besides, one of our mules had run away, I was obliged to stop two days in this dreary, sandy spot. On the second, however, I was amply indemnified for this unpleasant circumstance ; for, on that day, a company of the savages, with whom I had long wished, in vain, to become acquainted, appeared in the town. They were of the tribe of the Patachos, none of whom I had ever yet seen, and had come down from the woods to the planta- tions but a few days before. They entered the town stark naked, with their arms in their hands, and were immediately surrounded by a crowd of people. They brought large balls of black wax for sale, and we procured a number of bows and arrows of them, in exchange for knives and red handkerchiefs. These savages had nothing striking in their appearance, they were neither painted nor otherwise disfigured: some were short, most of them of the middle size, rather slender make, with large bony faces, and coarse features. But a few of them had handkerchiefs tied round 248 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS them, which had been given them on some former occasion; their leader, who had nothing remarkable in him, (the Portuguese called him captain,) wore a red woollen cap and blue breeches, which he had procured somewhere else. Food was their chief desire ; some flour and cocoa-nuts were given to them ; the latter thev opened very dexterously, with a small axe ; afterwards biting the white kernel out of the hard shell, with their strong teeth : their eagerness in eating was remarkable. In bartering, some of them were very in- telligent. They asked chiefly for knives or hatchets, but one of them immediately got a red handkerchief tied round his neck. A cocoa- nut fixed upon a pole, was set up at the distance of forty paces, and they were desired to shoot at this mark, which they never missed. As nobody could converse with them, they did not stop long, and return- ed to their habitations. To make myself better acquainted with them, I went on the 30th of July,- in a boat, up the river Prado, to the place where the savages - had had their huts, but I did not meet with them, as they had retired to a greater distance. Both the Patachos and Machacaris live here in the forests, on the •banks of the Sucurucu. The. latter have always been more inclined to peace with the whites than the former, with whom an amicable ar- rangement could not be made, till three years ago. But shortly be- fore that time they had surprised in the forest, some inhabitants of Prado, on which occasion the Escrivam (Town clerk) was wounded, and several persons shot. The friendly Machacaris were afterwards employed, to bring about a pacification with the Patachos. In their external appearance, the Patachos resemble the Puris and the Machacaris, only they are taller than the former ; like the latter, they do not disfigure their faces, and wear their hair naturally hanging about the head, only cut off in the neck and on the forehead, though some shave the whole head, leaving merely a small tuft before and .behind. Some of them pierce the lower lip, and the ear, and wear a TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 249 small piece of reed, in the little aperture. The men, like those of all the other tribes on the east coast, carry their knives fastened to a string round their necks ; and they hung the rosaries which were given them, in the same manner. Their skin was of its natural red brown colour, and no where painted. They have a very strange custom of tying up the praeputium with a bind-weed, which gives to the part a very singular appearance. Their weapons are, in the main, the same as those of the other savages ; their bows are, however, larger than those of any of the other tribes ; I measured one of them, and found it to be eight feet nine inches and a half, English measure ; they are made ofairi wood, ( Bignonia). The arrows which they usu- ally carry with them for the chace, are rather short; but they probably make those which they use in war longer, according to the custom of the other tribes. These arrows are tipped with feathers of the arara, mutum, or birds of prey ; and they are pointed with taqua- 1-ussu or uba reed : but no where did I find among the various tribes of the savages the bowstring made of the guts or sinews of animals, as Lindley erroneously states in his Narrative, (p. 22). Every man carries on his back a bag, or sack, made of bast or other materials, which hangs round his neck, and serves to hold various trifles. The women are not painted, any more than the men, and go entirely naked. The huts of these savages differ in their construction from those of the Puris, which have been described above. The stems of young trees, and poles stuck in the ground, are bent at the top, tied together, and a covering of cocoa or pattioba leaves laid on them. These huts are very flat and low ; near each of them there is a sort of grate, consisting of four prongs stuck in the ground, on which are laid four sticks, and these are crossed by others, laid pretty close, for the purpose of roasting or broiling their game. The Patachos in many respects resemble the Machacaris or Machacalis ; their Ian- 2 k '250 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS guages too have some affinity, though in many points they are widely different. Both tribes are said to unite against the Botocudos, and seem partly to treat their prisoners as slaves ; for but lately they offered at Villa do Prado, a Botocudo girl for sale. No well-founded suspicion was ever entertained that these Patachos eat human flesh. The moral character of all these savage tribes is indeed very similar in the prin- cipal features, yet each of them has its peculiarities : thus the Pata- chos are, of all these tribes, the most distrustful and reserved ; their look is always cold and sullen, and it is very seldom that they allow their children to be brought up among the whites, as the other tribes readily do. These savages roam about; their parties appear alter- nately on the Alcobaca, at Prado, Comechatiba, Trancozo, &c. When they visit any place, the inhabitants give them something to eat, and exchange trifling articles with them for wax and other productions of the woods, upon which they return to their wildernesses. Well pleased at having had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with this tribe of the aboriginal inhabitants, I left Villa do Prado, and rode quickly after my beasts of burden and people, who had set out before me. The coast, on leaving Prado, assumes, farther to the north, a different form from what it had before. On the sea side rise high cliffs of clay, of a red and other colours, which has a basis of fer- ruginous, variegated sand-stone : the elevations of this coast are co- vered with wood, and numerous valleys open to the sea; these are overgrown with dark green, gloomy primeval forests, the abode of the Patachos. From all these valleys flow little streams, the barros, or mouths of which, are often very troublesome to the traveller, at the time of high water. Another inconvenience is presented by this coast to the traveller, in the groups of rocks which project immediately from the high cliffs into the sea. At ebb-tide you may ride round these TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMOXTE. 251 rocks on the dry beach ; but at time of flood they cannot be passed, because the waves break furiously against them, and dash their white foam to a great height. A person who happens to be about half way between two of these groups of rocks, under the high steep cliff of the coast, just at the time that the tide is rising, may incur great danger, as it is then impossible to escape the rapid swell of the sea. It is therefore necessary for the traveller to endeavour to obtain from the inhabitants of the country accurate information respecting the time which he ought to choose. He is often obliged to wait six hours, till the return of ebb, if he has once missed the favourable moment; nor is there on the whole coast any way besides this, which keeps close along the sea. Between Prado and Comechatiba, there are such rocks at three different places : at one of them, I myself rode through the waves which came up to my saddle ; ten minutes later I should have had to wait six hours, and been obliged to return to an open spot on the coast. Even then the surf, dashing on the rocks, had a frightful ap- pearance ; we travellers, unacquainted with the road, no longer ventured to push our mules into the furious billows, but a couple of negroes from a neighbouring fazenda rode before through the surf and shewed us the way. After we had happily passed this spot, we hastened to come away from this unsafe narrow strand, exposed to the incursions of the most dreadful of the elements, and gallopped on at full speed. Farther out in the sea several species of mollusca are found on these rocks ; among others, two kinds of sea-urchins, one of which is eaten by the poorer class of inhabitants. The inedible kind is whitish, thickly covered with violet-coloured prickles; the edible black, also covered with long prickles. On all these rocks too there are shell-fish, which afford a purple juice ; they are particularly abundant about Mucuri, Vicoza, Comechatiba, Rio do Frade, &c. Mr. Sellow, in one of his excursions, had occasion to make some ob- servations on this subject; and Mawe also mentions it in his Travels. 252 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS In some of the valleys on the sea-coast, are situated the habitations of different planters ; among others, the residence of Senhor Callisto, who had already shewn me some civilities at Villa do Prado. Ac- companied by two of my people on horseback, I rode quickly to the point of land, which is called Comechatiba, or properly in the old Indian language, Currubichatiba. The full moon was beautifully reflected in the sea, and illumined the solitary huts of some coast Indians, who had been waked out of their sleep by our beasts of burden, which were gone before. At a small distance from these huts lies the fazenda of Caledonia, which was settled here about seven years ago, by Mr. Charles Frazer. This gentleman, who has travelled over a great part of the. globe, purchased about thirty strong negroes, to cultivate this fazenda. The Indians of the surrounding- country worked for him for some years, cleared the fine eminences, which extend along the coast, of their wood, and cultivated the whole. On the sea-coast he planted a great number of cocoa-trees ; the dwelling-house was constructed of clay, and covered with thatch ; and in the same line, many huts were built for the negroes, and a large mandiocca manufactory and magazine erected. The manufactory was now, however, in a very dilapidated state. Eight or ten large earthen pans for drying the flour were, it is true, still there ; but some of them broken. The situation and the soil of this estate are excellent; green hills with thickets rise on the sea-coast, and a large tract of ground was already cleared of the wood. But it seems they did not understand how to keep the negroes in order, for they were in a state of insubor- dination ; they made use of the produce of the plantations for them- selves, and often refused to do the work assigned to them ; instead of which, they employed themselves in hunting in the surrounding woods, or in catching wild animals in their mundeos. Mr. Frazer was at this time at Bahia, and had left a Portuguese from Villa do Prado to look after the fazenda in his absence. The steward received us on TO THE niO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 253 our arrival ; the negroes, who were just then assembled to dance to the music of their drum, immediately nocked round to look at the strangers. The whole room was soon filled with these slaves, who were young, well made, and many of them tall and robust ; but the steward had not authority sufficient to relieve us travellers, weary as we were, from these troublesome visitors. I stopped here a few days, and found an opportunity of visiting in the forest the huts of the Patachos, which had been but lately abandoned by their inhabit- ants : some Indians from Comechatiba conducted me thither. The sea forms at this part a good harbour, which is protected, not indeed from the winds, but against the sea, by a reef of rocks, has good anchorage, and the advantage that its entrance is pointed out to mariners by a mark. The surf casts up on the sandy beach number- less varieties of fucus, corallines, and other zoophytes, but only a few species of conchylia. In the evening twilight, the great vampyre, or guandira, (phyllostomus spectrum,) flew about in great numbers, and may be easily mistaken, when on the wing, for a small owl. Our mules were wounded by some of them, and bled profusely. This pro- pensity of the larger species of bats in the torrid zone, to suck the blood of animals, is thought by the people of Brazil to be common to all the smaller species; but I met with no confirmation of the assertion that they also attack man in the same manner. The In- dians residing here subsist on the produce of their plantations, by hunting, and especially by fishing ; hence they are frequently seen in calm weather at sea in their canoes. They bring back large quantities of fish ; and the shells, skulls and bones of the great turtles, (tarta- rugas,) lie scattered about their habitations. To the north of Comechatiba the sea is again bordered by high steep cliffs and rocks, which at one place project so far into the water, that it is necessary to make a considerable circuit over the heights, on the top of which is a flat that bears the name of Imbassuaba. It is a 254 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS campo entirely surrounded with woods, and produced beautiful grasses and various wild plants, which were new to us, and formed a welcome addition to our collections. Among others, we found on the ground under the shade of the trees, the reindeer moss, (lichen ? , a?igiferinus, Linn.) in abundance. This plant, which in the north is the food of that most useful animal, the reindeer, is widely extended. From this place we soon came again to the sea-coast, and at the distance of a league and a half from Comechatiba, to the little river Cahy, which cannot be passed except at ebb tide. When we reached it, we were almost too late to cross it ; but the negroes and Indians of the fazenda, who were perfectly acquainted with the road and the waters, waded through the stream, and carried our baggage on their heads and shoulders, fortunately without suffering any part of it to get wet, to the opposite bank. The Cahy, which like all these rivers flows from a dark woody valley, is inconsiderable at the time of the ebb, but at high water rapid and rough. Farther to the north, at the distance of three or four leagues, we met with another rather larger river, the Corumbao. On our way the flood rather impeded us, and the oppressive heat rendered it still more fatiguing. The coast was sometimes high and steep, and then again low, covered with dark-green woods of the laurel kind. On the beach we often found the aricuri palm, as well as many beautiful new species of grass and reeds. The small valleys, which open to the sea, are partly filled with beautiful picturesque lakes or lagoas, which, where they could open themselves a passage to the sea, have outlets ; they are generally full of various reedy plants. The tide continued to rise till about noon ; and as the trunks of fallen trees blocked up the road in several places, we were obliged to ride through the advancing surge. In this manner we reached without accident the mouth of the Corumbao, which is said to be in 17° south latitude. At the barra of this little river, the fertile banks of which are stated to produce TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 255 various kinds of fine timber, of which however no use is made, there are several sandy islands, between which the flood now formed con- siderable waves. Its sandy or marshy banks are covered with man- grove bushes, and are at present haunted only by herons, and some species of sand-pipers and gulls, since the Aymores or Botocudos have driven away the inhabitants by their ferocious attacks. Near the river, on the north bank, dwelt at the period of our visit a family from Prado, whom the ouvidor had sent hither to ferry travellers over, and who lived by fishing. But as there is no protection in these solitary wildernesses, they abandoned the place a short time afterwards. I found in their hut a quantity of fish, part of which was just caught ; and we provided ourselves with a supply for supper but had to pay a high price for them. The man took advantage of the hunger which was evident in the looks of the travellers, fatigued with the heat of the day, and demanded for his provisions thrice their value. From this place the country became rather more open ; here great numbers of the five and six-angled cactus grow on the dry sandy heights, and threaten the feet of the beasts with their sharp thorns. A league and a half to the north of Corumbao, the river Cramemoan falls into the sea. As far as that place you traverse a wide plain covered with many reedlike grasses, low aricitri and guriri palms, fine shrubs, &c. among which is a beautiful violet-coloured clittoria, which has a ligneous and upright stem : here and there marshy spots occur. Inland on the left, the eye enjoys a fine and extensive view to the mountains towards Minas Geraes ; nearer in the foreground you distinguish a high mountain, about the fall of the river Prado, called Morro de Pascoal (which Lindley erroneously calls Monte Pascoa,) and which serves as a land-mark to ships at sea : it belongs to the Serra dos Aymores. This plain affords the botanist ample amusement and occupation. 256 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS It was twilight when we reached the little Indian village of Cra- memoan, which was built by order of the ouvidor upon a hill on the river, and is properly intended to serve as a station by the name of Quartel da Cunha, for the security of this part of the country. The Indians were not a little astonished at so uncommon and so late a visit of a loaded tropa in this solitary spot; they immediately crowded round to converse with us, while our people were lighting a fire in a solitary hut. They subsist by their plantations, by fishing in the river and the sea, and make in the forest estoppa and embira, (bast) which they send to Porto Seguro for sale. As powder and ball are scarce and extremely dear on the coast, they partly use in hunting bows and arrows, which they procure from the Patachos in the neigh- bouring forests in exchange for knives. Though these people were placed here by the ouvidor, for the express purpose of assisting travellers to pass the river, they are not satisfied with this destination, and live chiefly on their plantations in the neighbourhood. They are strong and robust, but so indolent, that in bad weather they will rather remain in their huts without provisions, than put themselves to any inconvenience in labouring. The Indians provided us with fish ; we also obtained from them some cakes of mandiocca-flour, of which they had a stock ready made. The various methods of pre- paring mandiocca-flour for food have been transmitted to them from their ancestors, the Tupinambas, and other tribes of the Lingoa geral. The river Cramemoan has on its banks rhizophora, or conocarpus bushes. In the cool of the morning numbers of parrots were heard in the woods, of the species psittacus amazonicus, Latham, or ocroce- phcdus, Linn., which are here called curica : this bird frequents the mangrove bushes on the banks of the rivers where it builds its nest. After we had reached the north bank with our whole tropa, we •proceeded along the sea-coast over the level plain covered with thick bushes, which is bounded in the distance by hills ; but we soon came TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 257 again to high and steep cliffs of clay and sand-stone, which must be ascended, because the violent surf renders the coast inaccessible. You follow a steep path to the top of these barreiras, and find there a dry elevated plain, a campo, which is called Jauassema, or Juassema. On this spot, according to the tradition of the inhabitants, there ex- isted in the early period of the Portuguese establishment a large and populous town of the same name, or Insuacome, but which like S. Amaro, Porto Seguro, and other settlements, was destroyed by the warlike and barbarous nation of cannibals, the Abaquira or Abatyra. This tradition is doubtless founded on the ravages which the Aymores, now the Botocudos, committed in the Capitania of Porto Seguro, when they invaded it in 1560; the account of which we find in Southey's History of Brazil, and in the Corograjia Brasilica. At that time they also ravaged the settlements on the river Ilheos, or St. George, till the governor, Mendo de Sa, drove them back. It is said that pieces of bricks, metals, and similar articles are still found at Jauassema ; they are the oldest memorials of the history of Brazil, for no monuments are met with on this coast more ancient than the time of the first settlement of the Europeans. Its rude inhabitants did not, like the Tultekian and Azteckian nations in Mexico and Peru, leave monuments to engage the attention of posterity after the lapse of thousands of years : for the memory of the rude Tapuya disappears from the earth with his naked body, which his brethren consign to the grave, and it is indifferent to future generations whether a Boto- cudo or a wild beast of the desert formerly lived on any particular spot. At Jauassema I found the piassaba palm, a particular kind, which will be more frequently mentioned in the sequel, distinguished by its large erect leaves; we had not previously seen this tree. Only a few plants were now in flower, but when I visited this part of the country again in November I found many rare and beautiful plants in 2 L l 25Q JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS blossom ; among which was a fine epidendrum with scarlet umbels. This kind grows on all the cliffs on the sea-coast. From this elevated plain the view of the retiring coast and the expansive ocean is sublime, and calculated to dispose the mind of the solitary traveller to serious contemplation. The windings of the coast are traced to the indistinct blue horizon ; the steep red cliffs on the sea-shore alternate with gloomy valleys, which as well as the eminence are covered with dark blackish-green forests : the high waves of the raging ocean roll on with deep and hollow sound ; in the obscure distance, the eye perceives its white foam dashing over the reefs of rocks, and the thundering roar of the eternally beating surf, interrupted by no voice of a living being, resounds majestically through the wide desolate wilds. Profound and awful is the impres- sion which this sublime scene excites, when we reflect on its duration and uniformity, through all the changes of time. We again reached the sea, and towards noon came to a place, where the waves, dashing at high water against the rocks, entirely blocked up the way. It was absolutely impossible to climb over the heights with loaded mules ; we therefore relieved the animals from their burdens, and waited with patience. In the vicinity of a little stream of clear water a fire was made ; blankets and ox-hides pro- tected us in some degree from the cool piercing sea-air, and our frugal dinner was placed in a kettle over the fire. Dark forests en- tirely surrounded the little meadow on which our beasts were grazing : the nectarinea jiaveola, (the black and yellow creeper, certhiajiaveola, Linn.) and the si/lvia trichas, crept and twittered among the bushes. The caracara (falco crotophagus) immediately shewed itself, and settled on the backs of our cattle, in order to pick off the insects. The mules seem to be fond of the visits of this singular bird ; for they stand still when it appears and walks about on their backs. Azara mentions it among the birds of Paraguay by the name of chimachima. TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 259 We staid on this romantic spot of the coast till the full moon rose ; the water had now receded, so that Ave could ride round the rocks. This coast, from Prado to the Rio do Frade, was but lately con- sidered as very dangerous on account of the savages, and nobodv would have ventured to travel here alone. Lindley says the same; but now the people are on friendly terms with the Patachos, and do not fear them: yet as they cannot be wholly trusted, it is always better to travel in a large party. When I travelled this way again in November in the same year, I found, at very low water, extensive banks of sand and calcareous rocks, which stretch far into the sea, and which have probably been chiefly produced by zoophytes. Their surface is divided into regular parallel clefts; in the holes worn in them by the water, live crabs and other marine animals : the surface of these rocky banks is partly covered with a green moss of the nature of byssus. As the tide continued to ebb, we rode round many rocks, which at high water are quite inaccessible, and the broad mirror of the ocean shone beautifully in the light of the moon. In the middle of the night we came to the bank of the Rio do Frade, a small river, which received this name because a Franciscan missionary was drowned in it. Its barra is navigable for large canoes, which can proceed two days journey up the stream, the banks of which are fertile. Twelve leagues to the west appears the Monte Pascoal. Some Indian families are placed on the opposite bank by the ouvidor, in order to convey travellers over; the name of Desta- camcnte, or military station, of Linhares, has been given to this post, though these people are not soldiers. Their plantations lie scattered in the neighbouring thickets, among which they have their proper dwellings, to be in some measure protected against the sea-winds. At this time however they lived in a hut on the sandy plain near the sea-shore, which afforded very indifferent shelter against wind and weather. 26*0 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS Being always accustomed to ride before the party, I alighted at the bank of the river, which is too deep to be forded, and let my mule, which appeared to be very weary, stand still ; but the animal was impatient to get acquainted with the dwellings on the other side, escaped from me, swam immediately across the river, and induced most of the beasts of burden to follow his example. We now found indeed shelter in the huts of the Indians, but from their wretched condition, little accommodation and refreshment after our ride in the night. All round we hung our wet clothes in the sea-wind, which entered the wretched hut on all sides, and then lay down to sleep on ouf blankets spread upon the sand. While we were here suffering not a little from cold, we saw the half-naked inmates of the house lie in their hammocks, where the fire, though constantly kept up, could not possibly warm them. The care of tending the fire was left to the woman, and her son, w ho was grown up, called from time to time to his mother not to neglect her business. The next morning was cool and windy; we packed up our wet clothes, and rode to Trancozo. The ebb being now at the low r est, the sea had left large tracts of flat rocky banks on the coast quite uncovered : some Indians, dwelling dis- persed in the neighbouring thickets, were looking for molluscae to eat. Several kinds of shell-fish were eaten by them, especially the black edible kind of sea-urchin, (echinus). After proceeding three leagues, we came to a place where a small rivulet falls into the sea ; it is usually called Rio de Trancozo ; but in the old Indian language was named Itapitanga, (son of the stones,) probably because it issues from stony mountains : it flows through a pretty deep valley, surrounded by eminences with extensive flat tops. On the south side you per- ceive from the low sea-coast the tops of lofty cocoa-palms, and the roof and cross of the Jesuits convent at Trancozo. Some persons sent before led us by a steep road up to the town, where we took up our quarters for the day in the casa da camara. TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 26l Trancozo is an Indian villa, built in a long square. In the middle is the town-house, and at the end, towards the sea, stands the church, which was formerly a convent of the Jesuits. Since the dissolution of the order, the convent has been demolished, and the library de- stroyed or dispersed. The town had, in the year 1813, about 50 houses, and 500 inhabitants, who are all Indians, many of them of a very dark brown complexion ; very few Portuguese families reside here, and to these belong the priest, the escrivam, and a shopkeeper. Most of the houses were at this time empty, because the inhabitants live on their plantations, and merely come to church on holidays. They export about 1000 alquieres of mandiocca flour, some cotton, and various productions of the forests ; among the latter, are principally boards, gamellas (wooden dishes), and canoes, besides some embira and es- toppel, (bast of two different species of trees). In the year 1813, the produce of these various commodities, was 539,520 reas. The plan- tations of the Indians are in pretty good order ; they cultivate various edible roots, such as batatas, (Spanish potatoes,) mangaranitos, (arum esculentum,) cara, aypi, or sweet mandiocca, &c, and sometimes sell these articles. Fishing is also a main employment of the Indians ; in calm weather they go far out to sea, in their canoes, to fish. On this coast too, they also make corale or camboas, which have been spoken of before. On the eminences at Trancozo some cattle are kept, and the escri- vam, in particular, has a considerable herd ; but the breeding of these animals is attended with very great inconveniences. The campo here affords dry nutritious pasturage, on which the cattle soon grow fat ; but if they are not immediately afterwards put into a cool damp pas- ture, they all die. In order to avoid this danger, the herd is sent from time to time to the Rio do Frade. This change of pasture must be made several times in the year, and is probably the reason that the cows give but a very small quantity of milk. . When I visit- 262 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS ed this place again in November, a large ounce had taken up her abode in the neighbourhood, and daily carried off some of the cattle belonging to the inhabitants of the villa. Mimdeos were made, and the ounce's cub was fortunately killed ; but the animal still prowled about the country, and filled the long nights with her doleful howl- ings. Hereupon the Indians placed some spring guns in a path which she used to take, and attained their object. The ounce was dis- patched, and I purchased the skin at Trancozo, which shewed me that the animal belonged to the variety which is called, in the Sertam of the Capitania of Bahia, by the name of cangussu, and which is dis- tinguished by a greater number of smaller spots. The situation of Trancozo is particularly agreeable : from the end of the steep eminence near the church, we had a grand and exten- sive view of the calm, shining, dark-blue mirror of the ocean ; the junction, which was very evidently to be seen, between the green sea water and the dark-blackish Mater of the river, gave the prospect a particular charm. The proud tops of the lofty cocoa palms waved over the low huts of the Indians, and the whole extent of the surround- ing campo was covered with verdure. All these elevated heaths or flats are intersected by deep dells, some of which are of considerable breadth ; from the middle of the eminences, the whole appears to be a continuous plain ; it is only on the edge that you perceive the dells. At the bottom of the valleys flow little streams, which join the Itapi- tanga. The valley at the foot of the eminence of Trancozo is a fine meadow, diversified with shrubs, in which the beautiful pigeon here called pacctfii or cctfaroba, and in the systems columba rufina, is fre- quently met with. Thickets and high reed-like grass line the banks of the little stream, upon which a lancha was now building. The more distant forests at the back of Trancozo are inhabited by Pata- chos. Father Ignacio, the worthy old priest of the place, told me, that these savages often show themselves in the villa ; they always go TO THE KIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 263 stark naked, and when he tied a handkerchief round the waist of the women, they always instantly pulled it off again. The road from Trancozo to Porto Seguro has little variety ; fazen- das are situated on the flat summits of high cliffs, of a bluish white, red, or violet-coloured substance resembling clay,* and the tops of the cocoa-trees that overshadow them, are seen waving in the wind. You pass the Rio da Barra by a wooden bridge, which deserves to be men- tioned as a rarity; and frequently have to ascend and descend the high cliffs on the coast, because the rocks on the sea-beach are inac- cessible. One of these places was so steep that we were obliged, in de- scending, to unload the beasts, and to let down the chests singly. Upon the sand below on the sea beach we found many specimens of beautiful species of sea-weed, and some conchylia. People were busy in seeking the eatable sea urchins, upon the banks of rocks from which the water had retired. After we had gone three leagues, we issued from a small thicket, and found ourselves on the river Porto Seguro, on the north bank of which the red-tiled roofs of the lower part of the Villa do Porto Seguro, topped by tall cocoa-trees, afford a pleasing prospect. The upper part lies further back on an elevated ridge, and nothing is seen of it but the top of the Jesuits' convent. I immediately crossed the river to the villa, and obtained a lodging in the town-house, in the upper part. Porto Seguro, in rank the first town of the district of Porto Seguro, but yet less considerable than Caravellas, is a place of small import- ance, of 420 houses, built in several detached parts at some distance from each other. The principal part is small, and consists of a few streets overgrown with grass, with houses for the most part low, and of one story, those with two stories being very few in number. Here * This kind of Lithomarga has been spoken of above, between the river Itabapuana and the Itapemirim. 264 JOURNEY FROM CARAV ELLAS is the church, the former Jesuits' convent, now the abode of the pro- fessor of the Latin language, and the town-house, with the prison. The greatest part of the inhabitants have, however, removed from the eminence to another part of the town, nearer to the river, which is called Os Marcos, and is more advantageously situated for trade. This part of the town, which is the most considerable, is situated on the declivity, and is built in a straggling, irregular manner, chiefly consisting of low houses, most of which are surrounded with groves of orange and banana-trees. Here reside the most opulent of the inhabitants, the owners of the vessels engaged in the trade of Porto Seguro. The third part of the town lies close to the mouth of the river ; it is called Potinha, or Ponta d'Area ; and, excepting some vendas, consists for the most part of low scattered houses, inhabited by fishermen, or sea-faring people, and shaded by cocoa-palms. The upper town is generally very desolate and dead ; many houses are even shut up, and dilapidated ; for it is only on Sundays and holi- days that people meet in this upper part, but it is then rendered very lively by the number of well-dressed persons. The Portuguese are very punctual in their attendance at mass, and all are anxious to appear there in their best apparel. People who go almost naked during the week, appear dressed in the neatest manner on Sunday. We must, indeed, do the Brazilians of all classes the justice to say, that cleanliness and neatness in dress are general among them. Immediately above the pretty steep declivity, lies the convent of the Jesuits, a large massy building. I was received here with great hospitality by the professor, Antonio Joaquim Morreira do Pinha : from his windows we enjoyed a fine prospect of the calm surface of the sea ; our eyes followed the vessels as they sailed from us to the remote horizon, and our thoughts accompanied them to our distant native country. On both sides we overlooked a great extent of coast, TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 265 against which the awful ocean, with incessant never-varying motion, 11 • 1 11 V rolls its hollow-sounding waves. In these gloomy apartments of the ancient building, through which the winds whistle, where the Jesuits once exercised their power, we feel with peculiar force the vicissitudes of time. The cells once so animated with busy life, are now desolate, and silent bats harbour in the ancient walls. Of the library, which formerly existed here, not a trace is now left. The river of Porto Seguro, called in the ancient Indian language, Buranhem, has a very good barra, or mouth, covered by a projecting reef of rocks, with a stony bottom ; it is deep, and very advantageous to the commerce of the town, which is by no means inconsiderable. There belong to it about forty of the little two-masted vessels, called lanchas, which go out to catch the gorupa and me?'o, two kinds of sea-fish, and always remain from four to six Weeks at sea ; they then return, each with a cargo of 1500 or 2000 salt fish, of which the town exports from 90 to 100,000 in a year. Some are consumed in the place itself, and the rest sent to Bahia, and other ports. As the fish are sold upon an average at from 160 to 200 reas a-piece, this trade produces a considerable profit to the town. Yet among the 2600 inhabitants, whom it is said to contain, there are very few in easy circumstances, most of them being deficient in the industry requisite to improve their condition. They generally exchange their fish at Bahia, and other places, for various necessaries, and consume a great part of their salt fish themselves, which are therefore their chief subsistence. Hence many persons here are afflicted with the scurvy ; and the traveller, as soon as he enters the town, is im- mediately surrounded by a crowd of poor sickly objects. There is very little agriculture, and but few of the inhabitants possess planta- tions ; so that they procure the chief part of the mandiocca flour 2 M 266 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS which they consume, from Santa Cruz. The convent of St. Bento at Rio has a considerable fazenda in this neighbourhood, which is under the management of a priest. The people of Porto Seguro have the reputation of being good sailors, and as the commercial intercourse with Bahia is very active, there is more frequent opportunity here, than at any other part of the coast, to make a voyage thither. The vessels which are used in this trade, are but small lanchas garupeiras, which sail with great swiftness, even when the wind is not favourable. They carry two small masts, of which the mizen is the shortest ; the mainmast has a broad square sail, the mizen a small triangular one; they can be set in such a manner, that the vessel runs as close as pos- sible to the wind, when others cannot sail at all. The earlier history of Porto Seguro presents many remarkable events. During the Dutch war in Brazil, this place had not above 50 inhabitants, and in the neighbourhood there were three Indian vil- lages. At that time there were only 40 Portuguese on the river Cara- vellas. In the last half of the 17th century, some remains of the Tu- pinambas and Tamoyos united with their enemies, the Aymores, or Botocudos, against the Portuguese. The Tupiniquins were the allies of the latter ; but their enemies were far superior to them, and de- stroyed Porto Seguro, St. Amaro, and Santa Cruz. In the first place, as Southey relates, they surprised the inhabitants at mass. Porto Seguro is said to have been more considerable at that time, than it now is. An allied chief of the Tapuyas, from the Rio S. Antonio, named Tateno, is said to have assisted this town against his country- men, and saved it from entire destruction. Of the Indian villages above-mentioned, none now exists except the Villa Verde, which is situated a short day's journey up the river. It consists entirely of In- dians ; only the priest (padre vigario), and the escrivam, are Portu- guese. Most of the Indians, however, live dispersed on their planta- tions, and visit their houses in the town on Sundays and holidays TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 26? only. Here is a ruined Jesuits' convent, the church of which is, how- ever, still used. The villa has from 40 to 50 houses, aud about 500 inhabitants: it exports about a thousand alquieras of mandiocca flour, and some planks. A little further up, the ouvidor has establish- ed the station of Aguiar, where there are six Indians, who are said already to export 500 alquieras of mandiocca flour. Several small rivers join the Porto Seguro, or Buranhem, which is likewise called the Rio da Caxoeira, and among others is the Patatiba. From this junction to the mouth, which it reaches after a course of about three leagues, it bears the name of Ambas as Agoas. We staid some time at Porto Seguro, in order to make ourselves acquainted with the place and its neighbourhood; and then continued our journey northwards, along the coast, the road along the strand being the only one, and none whatever leading into the country. Our tropa had to ford several little rivers, which, at low water, are quite insignificant, but at flood-tide are impassable. They are known by the names of Rio das Mangues, and Barra de Mutari. The horizon, on the land-side, was bounded by hills covered with dark forests ; and the cocoa-palms rising above them, indicated at a distance the ha- bitations lying concealed in their bosom. The inhabitants of these parts still frequently speak of an attack made upon them about twenty-two years ago, by a couple of French frigates, the crews of which landed for the purpose of plundering the places in this neighbourhood. With a standard carried before them, a numerous and savage troop advanced towards Santa Cruz, but the inhabitants flew to arms, and posted themselves behind the thickets on the sea coast ; their well directed fire killed several of the enemy, and wounded others; upon which the marauders hastily re-embarked, after having first murdered, out of revenge, a single wanderer, who, unsuspicious of harm, was accidentally passing that way. At the shallow, sandy mouth of the Mutari, we found a flock of 268 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS the anas vidua t a of Linneus, a beautiful duck, which we had fre- quently shot more to the south, but had not seen for a considerable time. Though our hunters endeavoured to approach with the utmost caution, they did not succeed in shooting any of these shy birds. On my second visit to this part some months later, I found upon the coast numerous remains of large whales, which indicated a very extensive fishery. Large flocks of carrion vultures (urubu) covered the re- mains, which infected the whole coast to a great extent. The river of Santa Cruz falls into the sea about five leao-ues from Porto Seguro ; it is rather narrower than the latter, but has likewise a good and secure barra, protected by a projecting reef of rocks against the violence of the sea. Santa Cruz is well known as the most ancient settlement of the Portuguese in Brazil. Pedro Alvarez Cabral, landed there on the 3rd of May, 1500, and was amicably re- ceived by the inhabitants. The first mass was read, and the same name given to the country which it still retains ; to the nearest river southward, the name of Porto Seguro was given, on account of its safe harbour. At a subsequent period Santa Cruz was made a parish, which still bears the name of " Freguesia de Nossa Senhora da Bella Cruz." The town of Santa Cruz lies at the mouth of the river, on the south bank ; the church and a part of the town are situated upon an eminence, which is distinguished by a couple of cocoa palms. At the foot of this eminence lies the rest of the town, consisting of low houses, scattered in thickets of orange and banana trees. The people of this town pay more attention to agriculture, than those of Porto Seguro, for it supplies that place with mandiocca-rlour, which is exported also to other parts of the east coast : the inhabit- ants of this town have, however, in general, the reputation of being very indolent, and perform little labour. The garupa fishery employs some ships, but at this time only four lanchas were engaged in it. Santa Cruz is in all respects much less considerable than Porto TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 269 Seguro. It is said to have been formerly much more flourishing, but the most opulent of the inhabitants are dead. The river Santa Cruz rises at the distance of but a few days journey, and issues from two principal sources, which unite and flow to the sea. Those sources are so near to the Rio Grande de Belmonte, that a shot fired not far from them, is said to be heard on the latter river, a little above the Ilha Grande, of which we shall speak in the sequel. The Rio Grande de Belmonte, however, soon afterwards takes rather a southerly course. On the upper part of the Santa Cruz, Botocudos rove about ; but nearer to the coast, this river forms the boundary of their territory, the Patachos and Machacalis ranging over the country on the south bank. The plantations higher up the river were ravaged by the Bo- tocudos not long ago, as was the town, in former times, by the Aba- tyrcis, Aymores, or Botocudos : and only two years ago, the ouvidor found it necessary to establish the station of Aveiros, where there are already some plantations. The country round Santa Cruz is very well adapted to the cultivation of various productions, but the Brazil wood does not grow in such abundance as about Porto Seguro. At Santa Cruz I made my ti'opa immediately cross the river, and took up my abode in the village (povoafao) of St. Andre, situated at a small distance from the river on the north bank. The inhabitants of this place gave us a very hospitable reception, and several sick persons immediately visited us ; for all travelling strangers are here taken for physicians. Many of them had the ague, a disease which frequently occurs here ; and I was fortunately able to furnish them with some genuine Peruvian bark. The dwelling in which we took up our quarters for the night was very agreeably situated: the few habitations of St. Andre, lay scattered in picturesque groves and tufts of cocoa-trees, under which the ground was clothed with the freshest verdure ; where, in the cool of the evening our cattle found repose after a hot journey along the sandy coast. 2?0 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS Among the trees which surrounded the dwelling, was an immense gamelera tree, (jicus,) which spread its gigantic arms horizontally to a great distance, and bore a magnificent crown, on a short very thick trunk ; the stiff oval leaves are broad and dark green, and the twigs contain a milky juice. On the trunk and branches of this tree there was a rich botanical collection; for many kinds of bromelia, a fine cactus, bind-weeds, mosses, and lichens, with many other juicy and leafy plants, were sociably assembled in the most remarkable manner, in the dark shade of this fig-tree. More to the south, on this coast, they give the name of gamelera to a very different kind of tree ; but the gamelera preta, and branca, mentioned by Koster, seem to have an affinity to the tree in question. The wood of the gamelera is used by the savages in some parts to kindle fire, by turn- ing it round in another piece of wood. The anacardium occidentale, Linn, (acaju tree) was also very common here ; its sourish, pear- shaped fruit is frequently eaten; it was now in full blossom. At St. Andre I found some of the inhabitants employed in making thin ropes, which, as soon as they were finished, they rubbed with the fresh juicy bark of the arueira shrub, (schinus molle, Peruvian mastic- tree,) by which they are rendered of a bright dark-brown colour, and very durable in water, as the oily resinous juice of the bark com- pletely covers and penetrates them ; this method is however applied only to tucum ropes, which, when prepared in this manner, fetch a good price at Bahia. Ropes of grawatha (bromelia) or of cotton, are rubbed with mangrove leaves. The juice of the arueira is likewise used by the Indians in diseases of the eyes ; but they take for this purpose only the greenish sap of the young plants. When the unpleasant windy weather had a little abated, I took leave of our host at St. Andre, intending to reach the same day the river Mogiquicaba, which the inhabitants of the country generally call Misquicaba. The beach, as far as that river, is at low water TO THE RIO GEAXDE DE BELMOXTE. 2?1 very fine, and as level as a threshing-floor. Sea-weeds and shells lie scattered on the hard sand, and we found a good specimen of the blue petrel dead on the beach : it had probably perished in the late storms. On all these flat sandy coasts of the east of Brazil, the species of crab abounds, which is called by the Portuguese ciri. This singular ani- mal has a bluish-grey body, and pale-yellowish white feet and belly. It digs itself holes in the soft sand wetted by the surf, as a retreat from impending danger. If any one approaches, it raises itself up, opens its claws, and runs as swiftly as an arrow sideways towards the sea. These crabs are good eating, either roasted or boiled; they have also a medicinal use, for when pounded, their juice is said to be an effectual remedy for the piles. I came to the little river St. Antonio, which, it being then low water, was very shallow at its mouth, but at flood-tide cannot be forded, as it flows into the sea in several arms, and has then large waves. The Botocudos lately committed hostilities higher up on its banks, and murdered all the inhabitants of a house. A young Botocudo, who had been brought up in this family, gave information of the approach of his countrymen ; but no attention was paid to his warning. Beyond the St. Antonio I found on the sand a great number of skeletons of a kind of sea-urchins, (echinus pentaporus,) with five elliptical apertures*. They are extremely fragile; we found them mixed with a great quantity of common shells. The thickets on the coast are in this part surrounded by extensive plots of reeds of the uba species, forming a beautiful fan, above which the long tuft of flowers shoots up. Horses and oxen were feeding on this spot. A fe\n families have settled and founded a little village upon a small rivulet, which bears the name of Barra de Guavii. From this place I soon * Probablv the species designed by Bruguieres, on the 149th plate, tig. 3. and by Rose Hist. Water, de* Vers, Vol. II. pi. 14, fig. 5. 272 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS came to the river Mogiquicaba, which is less considerable than the Santa Cruz. On the south bank, near its mouth, is afazenda be- longing to the ouviclor of this district, on which there is nothing but cattle and some wretched huts. About eighteen negro slaves are here employed, among other occupations, in making cordage for ships from the fibres of the cocos de piassaba, a palm which grows in these parts, and is very common farther to the north. These fibres are said to be taken from the sheath of the leaves ; they are four or five feet long, hard, dry and strong, fall off of themselves, and are gathered up. By a peculiar method they are twisted into ropes, which are very strong and durable in water, but rather rough and unpleasant to the touch ; they are sent in considerable quantities to Bahia, where they are used on board the ships. The fruit of this tree is a longish, pointed, dark-brown nut, about three or four inches in length : I think I have seen it in museums marked with the name of cocos lapi- dea : this tree is not found to the south of Santa Cruz. The country on the Mogiquicaba has not much besides that is remarkable : thick forests cover it far and near, and only a few persons have settled, a little above the fazenda of the ouvidor. The river abounds in fish, and supplies the inhabitants with a great part of their food. Up the stream there are savages in the forests on the banks, but they do not shew themselves at the mouth : they are said to be all Botocudos. At this place is the entrance to the road which has been made on the Belmonte up to Minas ; but it is still very incomplete, and part of it not passable. On the Mogiquicaba we had the pleasure of meeting with milk, of which we had been long deprived. The cows of this country are handsome and fat, but they do not give so much or so good milk as ours in Europe, which is probably owing to the dry sandy soil. Every evening the herds are driven into square inclosures, which are called coral: the calf is immediately separated from the cow, when it TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 273 is intended to milk her the next day. In the hut where we took up our lodging for the night, we found a very old superannuated female negro slave belonging to the ouvidor ; such old women are very fre- quently looked upon by the common people in Brazil as feiticeiras or witches. She had well secured the door of the place where she slept, and appeared highly displeased when we attempted to open her sanc- tuary in order to procure some fire: as we could not possibly pass the night without it, exposed as we were to the piercing cold sea-wind; the closed door of the old woman was therefore opened by force. A plain, five leagues wide, extends from Mogiquicaba to the river Belmonte. About half way is a place where an arm of the river, now dry, formerly discharged itself into the sea ; this spot is still called Barra Velba, or the old mouth. The road along the coast goes over even firm sand, but a nearer path leads through an uniform pasture with short grass, on which here and there stand detached groups of the aricuri and guriri palms. Here my tropa lost its way, and we got entangled among numerous ditches, pools, and marshes, where our baggage was in danger of sinking in. We extricated ourselves however better than we expected, and again came to the sea-coast, where the surf was this day uncommonly violent, and had driven on shore and dashed to pieces a lancha from Belmonte, the crew of which was saved. After a fatiguing and troublesome day's journey in the great heat and on dry burning sands, we descried with great joy in the evening the waving tops of the grove of palms, in which the Villa de Belmonte is situated. It is a small mean-looking place, now partly going to decay, which was settled fifty or sixty years ago with Indians, few of whom however are now there. The town-house, built of wood and clay, was near falling down ; one wall was entirely gone, so that the interior was completely exposed to view. The town forms a square of about sixty houses, with nearly six hundred inhabitants ; at one end stands 2 N 274 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELL AS the church. The dwelling-houses are low clay huts ; the only one of any consequence belongs to the Captain Mor ; that of the ouvidor, in which I had a lodging assigned to me, was no better than the other buildings. The huts for the most part covered with straw, and the irre- gular, unpaved streets, overgrown with grass, make the place look like one of our meaner villages; its only ornament is the number of cocoa- palms in this sandy plain, which every where surround the habitations, and unite their lofty summits into a waving grove. These trees are remarkably productive here ; the people think they render them so, by cutting a hole in the stems of the trees, a little above the surface of the ground. Quite close to the town, the considerable Rio Grande de Belmonte falls into the sea: its mouth is said to be in 15° 40' south latitude. It rises in the high mountain ridges of Minas Geraes, but first receives the name of Rio Grande in Minas Novas, after the junction of the Arapuahv and Jiquitinhonha, the gold and diamond washings of which have been already described by Mawe. At high water this large river is rapid, but its entrance is always bad and dangerous, having here and there sand-banks, which we could see now that it was low water, but which, even at high water, are dangerous to navigation, and have already been the destruction of many lanchas. Belmonte has three or four lanchas, by which a little trade is carried on with Bahia in mandiocca-flour, cotton, rice, and timber. The annual ex- portation is about a thousand alquieras of mandiocca-fiour ; the same of rice, two thousand of millet, and some brandy, though there are only two distilleries here. The banks of the river are fertile, as they are partly inundated. At this time there was a Scotchman here, who car- ried on a pretty extensive trade w ith cotton ; he had just lost almost a whole ship load by the faithless misconduct of a captain. This poor little town has now derived some advantage from the communication which has been opened upon and along the river to Minas Novas, in TO THE RIO GttANDE DE BELMONTE. 275 the Capitania of Minas Geraes, but still the place had scarcely a sufficiency of the necessaries of life, and for money we strangers could have obtained nothing, had not our most urgent wants been supplied by the care of some of our acquaintance among the inhabitants ; from time to time however, the Mineiros bring to this coast in their canoes, provisions and other necessaries, such as millet, bacon, salt- meat, gunpowder, cotton, &c. which partly serve for the supply of Villa de Belmonte, and are partly sent on to Porto Seguro and Bahia. The forests on the Belmonte are the chief abode of the Botocudo tribe, which we have so often mentioned, and on whose account the river was formerly not to be navigated without danger. Some ad- venturers indeed at an earlier period proceeded up the river, in canoes made of barrigudo wood; but the Captain Mor, Joao da Sylva Santos, was the first, who in 1804 ventured to sail up it to Villa do Fanado in Minas Novas. He drew up a detailed account of his expedition, in which he was accompanied by Captain Simplicio Jose da S} T lveira, the escrivam, or town-clerk of Belmonte. By order of the Conde dos Arcos, governor of the Capitania of Bahia, the ouvidor, Marcelino da Cunha, after having previously treated the savages in a reasonable and prudent manner, concluded a treaty with them three years ago, which put an end to all hostilities on both sides. Only a single chief of those tribes named Jonue, who on account of his restless hostile disposition is called by his countrymen Jonue Iakiiam, (the warlike,) has not acquiesced in this agreement : he roves about with his people far up the Belmonte, about the Caxoeira do Inferno, and shoots at the canoes that sail by ; nay he even lives at variance with his countrymen who have made peace with the Por- tuguese. In order to gain the Botocudos, knives, axes and other iron tools, also cloths, caps, handkerchiefs, and other articles were sent to them, and the desired object was .thereby attained. Captain 276 JOURNEY FROM CARAVELLAS Simplicio was particularly active on this occasion : it may be con- sidered as a proof of the good understanding that subsists, that many of the Portuguese already understand something of the language of those savages. The obstacles to be apprehended from the savages being thus re- moved, the Portuguese began to cut a road to Minas Novas, through the great ancient forests on the south bank of the river. It is now quite finished, and would be very serviceable if all that has been boasted of it were really effected. No bridges have been constructed over the deep clefts or ravines of the little forest streams, or corregos, which intersect this road in many places ; on which account loaded mules cannot pass them : it is said too that in various parts of this long journey through continuous forests, poisonous herbs grow, which kill the cattle. Confiding in the report of the excellence of this road, a Mineiro attempted to travel it, with a numerous tropa, laden with cotton, but he lost the greater part of his mules ; it has been asserted indeed that he owed his misfortune, in some measure, to his own imprudence ; but his failure deterred others, so that nobody now frequents the lower part of the road ; the upper part on the contrary is used. I had occasion to convince myself that this road, which if it were in good condition would be of great advantage to this country, does not deserve the commendations that many have bestowed upon it, but something has since been done to improve it. The communica- tion is kept up better by canoes on the river than by this road. Several of them annually come down from Minas with produce, and generally take in return salt and other commodities. It requires about twenty days to reach the first inhabited parts of Minas, in all cases a troublesome voyage, though Mawe seems to have imagined it to be easier than it is. In order to protect this communica- tion against the savages, who are still hostile, several military posts have been established upwards to Minus : they are six in number, TO THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE. 277 the Quartel dos Arcos, Quartel do Salto, Quartel do Estreito, Quartel da Vigia, Quartel de S. Miguel, and of Tucaihos de Lorena. The first is generally called Caxoeirinha, from the little waterfalls formed by rocks in the neighbouring river. The navigation on the river affords some support to the Villa de Belmonte ; the inhabitants, who are all fishermen, are, like most of their countrymen in Brazil, very skilful in the management of their canoes. There is at Belmonte a peculiar race of civilized Indians converted to Christianity, who are distinguished by the name of Menien Indians, but call themselves Camacan. The remains of their ancient language, now greatly corrupted, bear testimony to their real origin, with which they are themselves well acquainted. For- merly they lived higher up the river, till the Paulistas (inhabitants of the Capitania of S. Paulo) expelled them from that place and destroyed many of them. Those who escaped fled to the villa, and settled there. They have gradually abandoned entirely their ancient mode of life, and are now quite reclaimed, having partly intermixed with the negro race, some being employed as soldiers, others as fishermen and planters. A few old people only still understand some words of their ancient language. They are skilful in handi- craft work, and make rush-mats, (esteiras,) straw hats, baskets, fishing-nets, and smaller nets to catch crabs *, &c. They are like- wise good hunters, like all the Indians, but have long since renounced the bow and arrows for the gun. I passed some time at Belmonte in order to rest my people and the cattle, though the country is said not to be very healthy ; fevers and catarrhs are frequent, and the people complained that this year (1816) had been uncommonly sickly. The mosquitoes are a great * This net, called pvca, is a strongly knotted sack, and is drawn by two men along the bottom of the water. 278 JOURNEY .FROM CAKAVELLAS, &C annoyance in this country ; one species, called vincydo, is reckoned particularly troublesome. It is said that in the hot season especiallv, they become so intolerable in the houses, that the inhabitants rlv with their sleeping-mats to the sea-shore, in order to enjoy in the fresh sea-air, some remission from the attacks of these troublesome insects. CHAPTER XI. STAY OX THE RIO GRANDE DE BEL1IOXTE, AND AMONG THE EOTOCUDOS. Quartet dos Arcos. — The Botocudos. — Journey to the Quartel do Salto. — Return to the Quartel dos Arcos. — Combat of the Botocudos. — Journei/ to Caravellas. — The Machacalis on the Rio do Prado. — Return to Belmonte. In order to make myself acquainted with the beautiful and in- teresting wildernesses on the river Belmonte, I resolved to pass some months in the Sertoes, and perhaps even to go up the river as far as Minas. I hired in the town two canoes, manned them with five men, and put on board my people and baggage. On the 17th of August I left Belmonte, as the tide was running up, and sailed through a small side-channel into the river, which is here of considerable breadth, and partly filled with sand-banks. The view of it resembles in many respects that of the Rio Doce, only it is much narrower, being from five to six hundred paces in breadth. Forests, and lofty reeds, of the kind called uba, or canna brava, line the banks, in- terrupted here and there by fazendas and plantations. At the edge of the sand-banks, we saw the black skimmer, (rynchops nigra, Linn.) sitting immovably; and the great carao, (numenius carauna, La- tham,) a beautiful marsh-bird, stalked about there, timidly looking round ; with much trouble we succeeded in killing one of these shy birds. 280 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, At the fazenda of Ipibura, which belongs to the heirs of the late Captain Mor of Belmonte, I halted for a time, to take in some pro- visions requisite for the voyage, and especially to furnish myself with brandy, which is so necessary against fevers. This fazenda has the only sugar-works on the river Belmonte ; it has indeed, stood still for a long time, but, as it seems, is now to be set to work again. They also make here agoa ardente de canna, (common rum). The banks on both sides of the river are beautiful : tall uba reeds here wave in close plots, with a flower resembling a flag, and the leaves spread out like a fan ; over them rises, as the second gradation, a stripe of slen- der cecropia trees, with silvery annulated stems ; the back-ground is formed in a very picturesque manner, by the thick, gloomy forest, the diversified dark green foliage of which rises high behind in close masses. The bank itself is a thick texture of many kinds of plants, where pale blue and bright violet flowering bind-weeds grow luxuriantly, inter- laced together, and beautiful grasses, especially of the cyperus kind, fill up the remaining space. Towards sun-set we landed on a coroa, or sand-bank, near Ipibura, where some people, chiefly Menien Indians, live in scattered dwel- lings. I had here an opportunity to purchase a very beautiful skin of an ounce, lately killed. I should have been glad to have possessed, or at least to have seen, the skeleton of the animal, but the man who had shot it, assured me that he had left it at a great distance in the woods, but that I should find the skull on the Coroa de Timicui, far- ther up the river, where it is likewise usual to halt. Some fishermen who had built their huts at Ipibura gave us eggs of river tortoises, which were quite round, of the size of large cherries, and covered with a hard shining white shell : they have not the disagreeable fishy taste which the eggs of sea turtles have, and are therefore very good eating. The season was now beginning when these eggs are found fresh : they are buried in numbers on all the sand banks, and are AXD AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 281 eagerly sought after by the fishermen.* When night set in, it began to rain violently, and we fled for shelter to some old deserted fisher- mens' huts, in which, however, we were annoyed by numberless fleas, and sand-fleas. Muskitos also tormented us, and nothing but the suf- focating smoke of our fire procured us some respite from their attacks. These insects were the most intolerable on the skirts of the wood, where we saw also the vampyre hovering about. During the night we constantly kept in view our canoes with the baggage; we were consequently all wet through, and had to pass the night in our wet clothes. The following morning we found our great canoe half full of water, and all our baggage wet ; Ave had scarcely been able to keep our fire- arms and powder dry, in the huts. The water was baled out as soon as possible, and, to our general joy, the sun broke through the thick clouds, and warmed and dried our half-benumbed limbs. We then proceeded in good spirits. As we had heard on the Rio Doce the cries of the monkeys, especi- ally the guaribas, and the sauassus, so here, the ancient forests re- sounded with the loud piercing cries of the araras, the anacans, (psitta- cus severus, Lin. ) and many other parrots. On the flat sand-banks, which, the water being low, now appeared in the river that was di- versified with beautiful islands, the yellow-billed tern (sterna Jlavi- rostris) sat in pairs : it hovers in the air, and darts down perpendi- cularly on the fish in the water, and if any person approaches its nest, it pounces down on him as if it would pierce his skull, a design which the inhabitants, in fact, ascribe to it. * These eggs are those of the species of tortoise which we had taken in the Mucuri, with a hook and line. It seems to be a hitherto unknown species, distinguished by two short beards under the chin, and a very flat shell. 2 o 282 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, Towards noon we reached the mouth of the Obu, a small river which falls into the Belmonte ; some distance up the country there is on its banks a small village called by its name, of twelve or fourteen dwellings, where a great deal of mandiocca, rice, and maize, and some sugar-cane is cultivated and brought to the town for sale. There are no sugar works here ; the inhabitants merely press out the juice of the cane between two small rollers, and thus obtain the syrup neces- sary to supply themselves. The mouth of the little river is called Boca d'Obu, and before it lies an island named Ilha da Boca d'Obu. I directed the canoes to lie to at the mouth of this rivulet, in order to procure the flour necessary to supply my people in the sequel of the voyage, and Ave took the opportunity of rambling through the ad- jacent forest. A canoe, laden with flour, happening to come down from Obu, enabled us to accelerate our business ; we purchased of it what we wanted, and again put off from shore. At a broad part of the river, in the corner of a sand-bank, we perceived a flock of ducks of a species that we had not before observed, which were distinguished by a brownish yellow plumage *. When we approached them, the}" flew into the air, described a large circle, and then collected again. We pursued them for a long time in this manner, till they at length sought refuge behind an eminence on the bank. We immediately put a hunter on shore, who cautiously advanced towards them, and killed two at one shot, which afforded us a good supper. We passed the evening on the Coroa .de Piranga, where we dug turtles' eggs out of the sand. In this deep sand the tracks of the tapirs and ounces, which prowl about here by night, crossed each other in all directions. We saw no other living animals than terns, * Anas virgata, a new species, with rusty yellowish plumage ; the whole internal wing black ; first quill-feathers with white shafts ; side feathers of the body with a yellowish white longitudinal stripe ; the total length of the male bird 17 inches 9 lines. AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 283 which in their solicitude for their young, darted down, loudly scream- ing, upon the intruders. We here built ourselves some small huts of cocoa-leaves, in which we passed the night. The next morning we pursued our route, the weather being serene and agreeable. We had never before seen the bank covered with such beautiful and variously interwoven plants. We were particularly struck with a splendid shrub, which has a very close affinity with the trumpet-flower, (Big?io?iia,) with large bright red blossoms, which glowed like fire in the dark shade. Climbing and parasite plants every where covered the lofty ancient trunks with an impenetrable texture ; the young leaves of the sapucaya trees were budding forth, of a delicate rose colour; and close to the bank, where cecropia-trees like girandoles stretched out their branches covered with palmated leaves, waved over the sands the lofty tufts of the carina brava. Near to a deserted plantation we came to the mouth of a small river, the Rio da Salza, or Peruacfi, which unites the Rio Grande with the Rio Pardo. The mouth of the river Belmonte not being very favourable to navigation, a plan has now been formed to render this channel navigable for canoes, by removing all the obstructions, particularly the fallen trunks of trees. In the dry season this channel is said to be very shallow, but when the water is high, sufficiently deep. As we heard the cry of the araras in the neighbouring forests, we could not resist the desire to make chace after them. We landed some of our hunters, and were this time successful. One of the hunters approached them cautiously, and killed two of these large beautiful birds at one shot, the report of which re-echoed majestically through the lofty forest. The hunters were here surprised at the sight of a troop of little sahuis (jacchus penicillatus, Geoffr.), but which, leaping like squirrels through the tops of the trees, hastened away too quickly to be pursued. These little monkeys are very numerous in the Brazilian forests; one of the kinds most known is the simia jac- 284 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, chits of Linneus, which is found already rather further to the North in the country about Bahia. The splendid araras, and other beautiful birds of the same family, adorn these dark woods clothed with every variety of foliage. A flock of twenty or more, such as we saw here, illumined by the bright beams of the sun, perched on a tree of the most brilliant green, is indeed a magnificent sight, which cannot be conceived by those who have not witnessed it. They climb with great dexterity about the luxuriant parasite plants (cipos), and proudly turn their bodies, with their long tails, on all sides to the beams of the sun. They at this time were very frequently about the lower and middle parts of a prickly climbing plant (smilax ? ) here called spinha, of the fruit of which, now ripening, they are very fond, as was proved by its white kernels, which we frequently found in the crops of those we killed. It is therefore easy to shoot them at this season ; whereas, at other times, they seek their food in the sum- mits of the loftiest trees of the forest. Charmed with the success of our first chace of the araras, we re- embarked, and passed the Coroa da Palha, where a small stream, the Riacho da Palha, falls into the river ; and arrived, towards evening, at the Coroa de Timicui, where some old deserted fisher- men's huts afforded us shelter for the night. It was here that I was to find the skull of the beautiful large ounce (i/aguarSte), the skin of which I had bought at Ipibura, and which had been killed in this part of the forest about a week before. A couple of hunters traversing the forest with some dogs in search of deer and other game, accidentally met with the animal not far from the river, and near to a small stream, and drove it, as usually happens, upon the trunk of a tree which lay obliquely, where it was mortally wounded by a ball. It had seized one of the dogs with its paw, when a second ball in the neck laid it dead. I found the skull on the sand-bank near our huts, but un- fortunately it was already much damaged. The eye-teeth had been AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 285 pulled out, to be worn as amulets, the superstition of this country ascribing to them great virtue in the cure or prevention of various diseases. The skin of this ounce was marked in a very beautiful manner ; it measured above five feet in length without the tail, and yet it was not one of the largest of the species. This, and the other large animals of the feline tribe, the black tiger and the cacuaranna, or red ounce, (felis concolor, h'mn.J are not rare in all the woods on the Belmonte ; but they are not much disturbed, because there are no dogs in that part of the country fit for this kind of hunting. The tracks of these voracious animals are found very commonly on all the sandy banks of the river; and during the silence of the night, their harsh, broken howl is frequently heard. Induced by the many tracks of wild animals, I resolved to stop the following day at Timicui, and to have the neighbouring woods ex- amined in all directions. The weather was very favourable, yet we could not secure any quadrupeds, but only eatable birds, among which were a Muscovy duck (anas moschata, Linn.), a jacupemba, or Brazilian turkey, an arara (maccaw), five capueiras (perdix guianensis, Latham, or perdix dentata, Temminck,) which afforded us a good supper. My only remaining spaniel bitch was very useful in hunting the partridges ; she soon found the covey, which flew away in all directions, and settled on the trees, where a sportsman, who has a good eye, easily discerns and shoots them. An opossum (gambd) which, to escape my dog, ran up the trunk of a tree, was pulled down by her, but on account of its disagreeable smell, she cautiously seized it only with the points of her teeth, and shook it to death. The maccaws, as well as other parrots, afforded us a strong broth ; the flesh of the former is coarse, but nourishing, and not unlike beef. When we returned from our hunting excursion in the dusk of the evening, we saw a number of large bats hovering over the surface of 286 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, the water. We loaded our pieces with small shot, and were so for- tunate as to kill some of them. On a close examination it appeared that they were of the species noctilio ; their colour was a uniform rusty red ; whereas others have a yellowish-white stripe down the back. I no where found this handsome bat more common than in this place. Our two people, whom we had left behind on the Coroa for the purpose of cooking, were delighted when they saw the game we brought with us ; they too had found many interesting animals in their neighbourhood ; round the cheerful blazing fire we related to each other the events of the day, while the dark wilderness around us re-echoed with the call of the capueira, the chorahm, and the hacurau, (caprhmdgus). On the 21st we left Timicui early in the morning, and pro- ceeded up the river to a long island, which is called Ilha Grande ; it is thickly covered with lofty primaeval forests, and now uninhabited ; but formerly there was a plantation upon it belonging to the inhabit- ants of Belmonte. Our boats were directly opposite to this island, near the northern bank, when we were surprised by a heavy storm of rain, which so darkened the air that we could scarcely distinguish the adjacent woods. While we lay to, in order to let this violent storm pass over, we suddenly heard the noise of a herd of wild swine near us, which were flying, terrified at our approach. Notwithstanding the heavy rain, two of our boatmen immediately leaped on shore with their guns, followed the track, and in half an hour returned with a hog, (dicotyles labiatus, Cuvier,) which they had shot. Just as they were going to step into the boat with their booty, they perceived a large jararacca among the high grass on the bank, which they immediately killed, and fastened to the canoe. My hunters here happily escaped a great danger, for it was by mere accident that they did not tread upon the serpent as it lay in the grass ; if they had touched it, the reptile would undoubtedly have bitten their naked feet. AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 287 When the storm had passed over we pursued our course. The river is in this part broad and beautiful ; on the bank, there are at intervals sandy flats, on which deserted huts of cocoa-leaves are here and there met with ; these serve the inhabitants of Belmonte for a shelter when they come up the river for the purposes of fishing or hunting. We frequently observed in this part the darter, (plotus,) and the great wild or Muscovy duck ; and of the latter, especially early in the morning, we sometimes saw whole flocks. In the evening we landed on a coroa, in the part called As Barrier as, which is an extremely good place for hunting, and almost the only spot on the lower part of the Belmonte where the large yellowish-grey monkey, called here by the name of the miriqui (ateles), is met with. Before day-break on the 22d we left the coroa, and had already proceeded some distance, when the morning saluted us with its cheer- ful beams. The dashing of our oars and the voices of our boatmen, who were contending for the reward which I had promised to the most diligent of them, animated and disturbed the whole country : flocks of Muscovy ducks, frightened at the noise, flew up before us. On the preceding day we had already perceived before us in the dis- tance a chain of mountains, which we could now distinguish more clearly ; it bears the name of Serra das Guaribas. This chain in- tersects the great forests, from north to south ; it did not seem to be remarkably high, though it was not far distant from us. At the place where we now were, the banks of the river began gradually to rise; mountains covered with dark forests appear on its sides ; fragments of stone and rock announce the neighbourhood of primitive mountains, and the coroas or sand-banks become more rare, in proportion as the bed of the river grows narrower, and the water deeper. The dark shining surface of the river is often contracted be- tween steep mountains, yet it still retains a considerable breadth. We heard and saw on the banks the beautiful araras, and observed to-day 288 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE for the first time, a very remarkable bird, the aniuma or Brazilian crane, (palamedea cornuta, Linn, or horned screamer, Latham,) which is not rare, so far up the river. This beautiful bird, of the size of a large goose, but with longer legs and neck, has on the fore- head a thin horny excrescence, four or five inches long, and at the fore joint of each wing, two strong pointed spurs. It is shv, but soon betrays itself by its loud call, which, though much more sono- rous and stronger, has some resemblance in its modulations to the cry of our wild pigeon, (columba oenas,) but accompanied with some strange guttural notes ; this call sounds through the wilderness, and afforded a new amusement to our hunters. Several of these birds, frightened by the dashing of our oars, flew towards the forest : in their flight they resembled the unibu or carrion vulture, (vultur aura, Linn.) In the afternoon we came to a bend of the river, where we were overtaken by a dreadful tempest, with torrents of rain and furious wind, by which our large covered canoe was violently shaken. It soon passed over, however, and when the sky cleared up, we saw nearly before us the island of Cachoeirinha, on which the Quartel dos Arcos is built. This military post was established two years and a half ago, by M. Marcellino da Cunha, ouvidor of the district, by order of the governor, Conde dos Arcos. At first a destacamento of about sixty men had been stationed three days' journey up the river, at the place called the Salto ; but as the Indian soldiers posted there were very discontented, they were withdrawn to the island of Cacho- eirinha, and Captain Juliano Frz. Leao, commandant of the Quartel of Minas Novas, occupied that place with ten or twelve men, who still form the Quartel do Salto. A few clay-huts, covered with straw, stand on the hither extremity of the island, which is partly cleared of wood, and brought into cultivation. The farther end is still covered with lofty forests. Mandiocca plantations have been formed here, AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 289 and round the buildings have been planted a great number of bananas, and mammao trees, (papaw, carica,) but the fruit frequently serves only to feed the Botocudos, whom the inhabitants willingly allow to take it, in order not to disturb the peaceable footing on which they live with them. Between the island and the north bank, the river is but narrow, and it was at this time so shallow as to be fordable ; the south arm is broader. Padre Farya, a priest from Minas, has lately made there, opposite to the island, considerable plantations of maize, mandiocca, rice, cotton, &c. : he lives quite sequestered ; the road to Minas passes close by his house. The post of Arcos was occupied by an ensign with twenty men ; so many of whom however have deserted, that only about ten remained, chiefly people of colour, Indians, or mulattos. The soldiers fare very badly; their pay is small, and they are obliged to obtain by their own labour all their food, which consists of mandiocca-flour, beans, and salt-meat. The whole stock of powder and ball seldom exceeds a couple of pounds ; and very few of the old muskets are serviceable ; so that in case of an attack, they would be under great embarrass- ment. It is moreover the duty of these soldiers to convey travellers and their goods or baggage up and down the river ; hence they are mostly very expert at this employment, and may be considered as excellent boatmen. Their commandant had gone upon a journey some time before, and had left the command during his absence to a subaltern officer : this latter had punished a Botocudo who had been guilty of some misconduct, which so offended all those of his tribe, who generally reside here in considerable numbers, that they retired together into the woods. When the ensign on his return found the Quartel entirely deserted by the Botocudos, and learned the cause of their withdrawing, he sent a young man of their tribe, named Fran- cisco, who was in his company, after them, to persuade them to return. The Botocudos generally resident in the neighbourhood of the 2 P 290 STAY AT THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, Quartel, consist of four hordes, each of which has its particular chief, whom the Portuguese call Captain : they had all retreated further into the woods, and it was only known that one of them, Captain June, called by the savages Kerengnatnuck, was with his people, three days journey farther up, on the Salto : but whither the three others had retired was not known. The mission of Francisco did not immediately produce the desired effect; and I therefore persuaded the commandant to dispatch after them, for the same purpose, several young Botocudos, who had just returned from Rio de Janeiro, whither the ouvidor had sent them. As I was furnished with recommendations to the commandant, I found myself very comfortable at this quartel. The prime necessaries of life are, indeed, scarce in this wilderness, and the only articles of subsistence are, mandiocca-flour, beans, and salt fish, of a species which is caught in abundance in the river : but on the other hand, the travelling naturalist, accustomed to privations, finds here ample occupation and the most agreeable amusement. We daily made hunt- ing excursions in the forests, which are close to the bank, and returned home in the evening so weary, that we had scarcely time and strength left to note down the observations that we had made. I took advantage of the absence of the Botocudos, to visit and ex- amine the huts they had lately forsaken, which lay at a considerable distance from the river, in the inmost recesses of the wilderness. They consisted merely of leaves of cocoa-palms, which were fixed in the ground, in an oval figure, in such a manner, that their points, meeting at the top, formed a kind of arch. In those huts I found none of the utensils, except large thick stones, with which they are accustomed to break open certain wild cocoa-nuts, which they call ororo. Not far from one of these huts was the grave of a man, which I resolved also to examine. It was situated in a small clear spot, under some tall ancient trees, and was covered over with short thick pieces of wood. ■ AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 291 After these had been removed, we found the pit filled with earth, from which came some single bones. A young Botocudo, who had pointed out the grave, loudly expressed his dissatisfaction when we reached the bones ; the digging was therefore suspended, and we returned for that day to the quartel : but I did not renounce the idea of more minutely exploring this grave. Some days afterwards, I again repaired to the spot, in hopes of ac- complishing my object before the return of the savages. We had pro- vided ourselves, therefore, with a pick-axe, in addition to our fowling- pieces. It was our intention to complete our examination as speedi- ly as possible, but in the narrow serpentine path, between the lofty trees, appeared many interesting birds, which detained us : we shot some of them, and I was just about to pick one up, when I was sud- denly surprised by the short, but harsh tone of a rough voice. I in- stantly turned round, and lo ! close behind me were several Botocu- dos ! naked, and brown like the beasts of the forest, they stood with their great plugs of white wood in their ears and lower lips, and their bows and arrows in their hands. My surprise, I confess, was not small ; had they been inimically disposed, I should have been pierced by their arrows before I could have suspected they were near. As it was, I advanced boldly towards them, and repeated what words I knew of their language : they pressed me, after the manner of the Portuguese, to their bosoms ; clapped me on the shoulder, and pro- nounced in a loud tone, some harsh words ; but particularly on see- ing my double-barrelled gun, they repeatedly exclaimed with asto- nishment, pun uruhu, (several guns). Some women laden with heavy sacks now came up one after ano- ther, surveyed me with equal curiosity, and communicated their re- marks to each other. Both men and women were entirely destitute of clothing : the former were of the middle size, strong, muscular, and well made, yet in general rather slender, but the great plugs of 292 STAY AT THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, wood in their ears and lips disfigured them much : they carried bun- dles of bows and arrows under their arms, and some had also water- vessels made of taquarussu. They wore their hair cropped close, ex- cept a round tuft on the crown of the head ; this was the case even with the young children, a considerable number of whom the mothers carried on their shoulders, or led by the hand. One of my people, named George, who understood something of the language of these savages, had come up in the mean time and en- tered into conversation with them, on which they immediately became extremely familiar. They inquired after their countrymen, whom the ouvidor had sent to Rio, and expressed great joy on hearing that they would find them at the post (destacamente). Their impatience was now so great, that they hurried quickly away. I was heartily glad that we had loitered on the way ; for if the savages, who had to pass close by the grave, had surprised us when engaged in our in- tended examination, their resentment might have involved us in great danger.* I now resolved to defer my purpose till some more favourable op- portunity; and had gone but a few steps, when the leader of the party, Captain June, an old man of rough appearance, but of a good disposition, suddenly met me. He saluted us in the same man- ner as his countrymen; but his appearance was still more extraor- dinary than that of the others, for he wore plugs in his ears and lip four inches and four lines English, in diameter ; he was likewise strong and muscular, but already wrinkled with age. As he had left his wife behind, he carried on his back two heavy sacks, and a great * According to the accounts since received from Mr. Freyreiss from Brazil, my appre- hensions of the consequences of being surprised by the savages, in the act of opening their grave, were ill founded ; for he has since opened several graves, in which opera- tion the Botocudos themselves assisted him. AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 293 bundle of arrows, and reeds for arrows. He panted under his load, and ran quickly away with his body much inclining forwards. His first question likewise was, whether his countrymen had returned from Rio de Janeiro; and the most livelyjoy was expressed in his whole appear- ance, when we answered him in the affirmative. When I soon afterwards returned to the quartel, I found a great number of Botocudos, lying at their ease, in all the rooms of the house. Some were sitting at the fire, and roasting unripe mammao fruit ; others were eating flour which they had received from the com- mandant ; and a great part of them were contemplating with asto- nishment, my people, whose appearance was very singular to them. They were not a little surprised at their white skin, light hair, and blue eyes. They crept through every corner of the house, in quest of provisions, and their appetite was always keen : they climbed up all the mammao trees, and where their fruit shewed by its yellowish green colour that it was beginning to ripen, it was immediately plucked ; nay, many ate it quite unripe, either roasted on the hot coals, or boiled. I immediately began to barter with these savages, giving them knives, red handkerchiefs, glass beads, and other trifles, for their arms, sacks, and other utensils. They manifested a decided preference for every thing that was made of iron ; and, like all the Tapuyas on the east coast, immediately fastened the knives they had obtained, to a string tied round their necks. A very interesting scene was afforded us, by the reception which they gave to their countrymen and relations, the young Botocudos, who had been with the oavidor to Rio, and noAv came in successively. They were welcomed with the greatest cordi- ality ; old Captain June sung a joyful song, and some even affirmed, that they saw him shed tears of joy. It has been asserted that the Botocudos are accustomed, by way of welcome, to smell each others' wrists ; Mr. Sellow among others says, he has observed this practice; 294 STAY AT THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, but though I was long and often among these savages, and frequently- witnessed their interviews with new comers, I never observed, or heard of any thing of the kind. The old Captain and his chief friends had taken up their quarters in a shed, open on all sides, and merely covered with a thatched roof, which was designed for the preparation of mandiocca-flour ; here they had kindled a great fire, near the mandiocca wheel and the great stove for drying the flour, and lay around it involved in thick smoke, on the ashes, which gave to their brown skin a grey appear- ance. The Captain himself frequently rose, roughly demanded an axe and went to fetch fuel: from time to time too, he ventured an attack upon us or the Portuguese to obtain flour, or shook the melon- trees to get their fruit. These Botocudos, who manifest such irreconcileable hostility on the Rio Doce, are so little feared here on the Belmonte, that people have even ventured to go several days' journey with them into the great woods to hunt, and to sleep with them there in their huts : such ex- periments however are not yet very frequent, as the distrust enter- tained of them cannot easily be quite overcome. This mistrust and the fear of putting themselves wholly in their power are not the only circumstances which make the Europeans averse to such ex- cursions in the woods in company with the savages ; to these must be added their great muscular strength, and ability to endure fatigue : for our people always returned quite exhausted from every excursion with the Botocudos. Their muscular strength enables them to go very swiftly in the hottest weather, both up and down hill ; thev penetrate the thickest and most entangled forests ; they wade and swim through every river, if it be not too rapid ; perfectly naked, therefore not incommoded by clothing, never getting into perspiration, carrying only their bow and arrows in their hand, they stoop with facility ; and with their hardened skin, which fears neither thorns nor AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 295 other injury, they creep through the smallest gap in the bushes, and can thus pass over a great extent of ground in a day. My hunters had experience of this their bodily superiority, among others, from a young Botocudo, named Juker'acke: he had learned to be a very good marksman with his gun, and was at the same time uncommonly skilful in the use of the bow. I sometimes sent him with other Boto- cudos into the wood to kill animals ; for a little flour and brandy they willingly hunted a whole day. Juker'acke in particular was very serviceable, as he was agile and shewed much aptness to all bodily exercises. At first my hunters accompanied these people ; but they soon complained that the Botocudos were too swift of foot, and let them hunt alone. We made daily hunting excursions in the neigh- bourhood of the Quartel. When the savages are in these parts, the araras rarely shew themselves, because they are constantly disturbed ; during the short absence of the Botocudos they had returned, and now found formidable enemies in our fowling-pieces. We killed several of those beautiful birds, which were doubly welcome, as the neighbourhood afforded us but little game for our table, and the other provisions at the Quartel were often so sparingly allotted to us, that we almost suffered hunger. Besides hunting we continued also to fish ; soon after our arrival several saw-fish (pristis serra) were taken, which we found very good eating. Only one kind of fish, the crumatan, is here caught in nets ; but several by the line, as robal, piabanha, piau, jundiah (siluriis), cassdo,(squalus?) espadarta (saw- fish), cucurupova, (squalus?) curubi, camurupi, and many other kinds. The crumatan, a soft and very bony fish, is shot by the savages with bow and arrows*. * The principal fishing implements used on the Belmonte, are, besides the cumboa, or the coral, the taraffa, a large round net, which is cast out by one person ; many small kinds of baskets; the puca made of wood split very thin, or reed, rather flat and curved, with an 296 STAY AT THE RIO GRANDE DE BEL3IONTE, The Botocudos, who like to be near the Europeans on account of the advantages they derive from them, have also learned by experi- ence that provisions are sometimes scarce at this station ; some of them had therefore formed plantations of their own. There was such a one on the north bank of the river opposite to the station. At this spot there were some huts, about which the savages had planted banana trees : they however abandoned the huts again, after having buried some of their dead in them, and on their present return they even burned them ; but they still spared the banana trees for the sake of their fruit. Farther up on the Belmonte, in the territory of Minas Novas, there is another spot where some Boto- cudos had made plantations; but from this place too they soon re- tired again in the woods, and the Machacaris have now formed a village or large rancharia there. These instances shew that the Bo- tocudos already begin to make advances towards civilisation, but prove likewise that it will be very difficult for them to renounce their natural roving hunter's life, since they so easily return to it even from plantations which they have themselves made. Nothing but the in- creasing population of the Europeans, and the contraction of their opening in the lower concave part ; the jiquia, a long; conical basket of split cipo branches, held asunder internally by cipo hoops : the ?imsua, like the preceding, but cylindrical, with an opening at both ends, and made of thin slips of the canna brava reed. At the openings of all these, and especially at the two ends of the last mentioned kind, small sharpened sticks are placed conically, pointing inwards in such a manner, that the fish can get in but not out again. These baskets are used especially to catch the great crab, (camarao, ) with brownish- orange and black stripes, which we found likewise in the small forest streams of the interior. This basket is made four or five palms long. They have also drag-nets, which often extend over a considerable space, and which occupy several persons at once in different canoes. Among the fishing tackle we may also mention the ciripoia, which the children throw out in the harbour, and draw up by the lines fastened to it, to catch crabs and shrimps. This net is a sack fastened to a hoop. Lastly, the tapasteiro is a net fastened to a wooden cross, which is dragged along the bottom of the water, likewise to catch crabs and shrimps. The fisherman generally goes up to the middle in water, and always backwards. Round his neck he carries the vessel in which he puts the fish he has caught. AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 297 hunting grounds, can induce them to a gradual change in their mode of life. The Botocudos who now lived under the same roof with us, afforded us the greatest entertainment, and frequently interesting scenes. Thus, the old captain from whom I had purchased his bow and arrows, came to me one day to borrow them, because, as he said, he could not hunt without them. I granted his request, but the appointed time passed over, and my arrows did not make their appearance ; nor did I ever see them in the hands of the savage. I asked him for them in a friendly manner, but in vain. At length I learned that he had hid- den them in the forest, and it was a long time before my serious ex- postulations, supported by the commandant of the Quartel, at last induced him to fetch them and give them up. Hatchets (in their language carapo) and knives have the greatest value in their estima- tion. They use the former especially to split the tough wood of the pao d'arco, (bignonia,) of which they make their bows : they barter their bows and arrows for them both ; yet their appetite is so preponde- rant, that they part with the knife which they have just obtained for a little flour. The island upon which the buildings of the Quartel are situated, is cleared of wood, as we have already observed, only on its hither or lower extremity, where are also the plantations which supply food both for the soldiers and the Botocudos : while the back part, on the contrary, is covered with shrubs (capueira) and forests, through which there are no paths : the same is the case on the neighbouring banks of the river. Except the Minas road on the south bank, you find in the thick forests nothing but narrow paths, which the Botocu- dos or the wild beasts have formed for themselves. We therefore made most of our hunting excursions partly by water in canoes: proceeding a part of the way up or down the river, then landing and penetrating into the woods. Some of these excursions were highly 2 Q 298 STAY AT THE RIO GRANDE DE BEJLMONTE agreeable, particularly those up the river. That place in the river which gives its name to the adjacent country, and is called Cachoei- rinha, deserves particular mention. Going up the stream, it is from half to three quarters of an hour's rowing from the island of the Quartel ; but downwards from the Cachoeirinha to the Quartel a quarter of an hour is sufficient, from the rapidity of the current. Here I found the river confined between two considerable mountains, which were covered with uninterrupted forests. These forests appeared in their greatest beauty, adorned with the hues of spring, partly with young leaves, ash-grey, dark, light, or yellow green, reddish brown, or rose-coloured ; partly arrayed in white, deep yellow, violet, or pink blossoms ; at the foot of these mountains, close to the river, masses of rock, some very large and of singular forms, are the forerunners of the mountain formation of Minas, which appears to begin here, for these blocks are not met with farther down the river. A small island near the shore, wholly composed of pieces of rock, is remarkable for the multitude of birds' nests, with which some short crooked trees are absolutely loaded. The bird which builds these bag-shaped nests of the fibres of the tillandsia, is the japui, (cassiciis or oriolus persicus,) with black and yellow plumage. I did not find it more to the south than Belmonte. These birds are very sociable; like all of the species cassicus, they build bag-shaped nests, which they fasten to a thin twig, and lay two eggs. At this time the nests were deserted, for the breeding season is in November, December, and January. The fishermen make a practice of taking out the young birds to use them as baits. Black orioles flew about the rocks on the river side in small parties ; and the beautiful blood-red tije piranga, (tanagra brasiliensis, Linn.) was very frequent here, as in the thick bushes on the banks of all the rivers. On going up the river you come to a bend in the stream, where the whole channel is so filled with masses of rock that a narrow passage AND AMOXG THE BOTOCUDOS. 299 only is left in the middle for canoes. The stream, darts through rapidly, and then falls smoothly over the rocks; this is the place which is called the Cachoeirinha, or the little fall. The force of the rushing mass of water has hollowed out in the rocks, in the most singular manner, round openings, some of them of surprising regu- larity. I had a large canoe, which was managed by two Botocudos, Juker'acke and Aho, and one of my people; but the current was so rapid here that all these were not able to push the canoe so near to the fall as I wished. In going up the river, the canoes are drawn over this and similar places, but coming down they are guided over them by the soldiers of the Quartels, who are well acquainted with the local circumstances of this country. When the water is high, the boats glide almost without danger and very rapidly over the obsta- cles, which, when the water is low, are often dangerous even for ex- perienced boatmen. At such times, when the cliffs appear as they now did, this place reminds the spectator of similar picturesque scenery in Switzerland. Many interesting species of plants grow here : among others a willow-like shrub, called by the inhabitants ciriba, probably a croton ; it has very tough branches, which best serve for the boatman to hold fast by, when his boat is impelled by a moderate current. This ciriba appears to be the only substitute for the willow genus, on the east coast of Brazil ; at least I did not find a single species of that family in all the part through which I travelled. Here likewise grows a shrub with white tufts of flowers, which exhale a very agreeable per- fume like cloves, and another very pretty plant that appears to have an affinity with the genus scabiosa, and the pink flowers of which adorn the bare grey ancient rocks. Several bignonias overhung the river ; they were loaded with large beautiful violet-coloured flowers which appear before the leaves, and were just opening. No quadrupeds are seen here, nor any birds, except several species 300 STAY AT RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE of house-swallows, which pursue the insects in the cool air over the agitated water. But between the pieces of rocks on the sand, I ob- served the track of the lords of these solitary wildernesses, the Bo- tocudos, which is the more accurately and perfectly impressed, as no deforming shoes cramp their toes. We visited the deserted huts which travelling Mineiros had built here, and then returned to the Quartel. On this excursion we had the satisfaction to shoot a beautiful mi/ua, (plotus anh'mga, Linn.) This bird is very shy ; and in order to secure it, a person must be acquainted with the mode of chasing it, and proceed with great caution. The canoe is suffered to float down along the bank; those on board must not move; the hunter has his gun ready to fire, and keeps his eye fixed on the bird ; as soon as the bird begins to raise his wings, he must fire, for he will not be able to get any nearer to it afterwards. My Botocudos re- mained quite still, I lay dow r n in the fore-part of the canoe and fired ; on which the bird immediately plunged into the river and dived under the canoe ; but Jukeracke very dextrously drew it out. When we arrived again at the station, we found that there was a want of provisions, the fishing having been very unproductive ; we therefore immediately sent off our hunters in two boats down the river. This time they had more success than usual, for in thirty-six hours the five hunters returned in the evening, bringing in the one canoe eleven, and in the other ten, in all twenty-one wild swine, of the species called queixada branca, (dicotyles labiatus, Cuvier) ; they had met in their excursion with fourteen herds of these animals. This may serve to give an idea of the great numbers of wild swine that inhabit the ancient forests of Brazil: the savages pursue these animals ; there is nothing they are so fond of as these swine and monkeys. The arrival of our hunters with the boats so richly laden was very welcome, not only to us hungry Europeans, but still more to the AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 301 assembled crowd of the Botocudos, who with greedy eyes seemed already to devour the booty. They were immediately all in a bustle, aud very urgently offered their services to singe and prepare the swine, if we would give them a part. The savages are in fact ex- tremely dextrous in this operation; young and old fell to work with- out loss of time; they immediately kindled several fires, threw the swine into the flame, quickly singed off the hair, scraped them clean, took out the entrails and washed them in the river; they received the head and the entrails for their pains. The soldiers were then em- ployed to cut up the carcases, to divide them into thin pieces and put them in salt ; by which means we were furnished with provisions for some time. Besides this supply of an urgent want, this excursion had procured many interesting subjects of natural history. My people had shot a Brazilian crane, (palamedea cornuta, Linn.) which it is not easy to kill, by cautiously approaching it on a sand-bank. As it was only lamed in the wing, it was preserved alive for some time and observed. Buffon has given a pretty correct representation of this bird by the name of camichi. Ours was a male, and had a pretty large horn upon the forehead (which the female bird also bears) merely attached to the skin, and therefore moveable. The Botocudos, encouraged by our diligence in hunting, also made excursions into the woods, from which they returned with some deer, agutis, and other animals, which in general they devoured immediately. They roast the flesh, which is called bucaniren or muquiar, and dry at the fire what they do not immediately eat, in order to preserve it. My assistant in hunting, Aho, once shot several animals from a tree, and returned much pleased ; but after such a successful excursion he always good- naturedly shared his game with his countrymen. Many Botocudos had gone into the forest with borrowed axes, to make new bows and arrows, to supply the place of those which they 302 STAY AT RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, had parted with to us. The tapkuru, or pao d'arco, of which they make them, is a very high tree, with hard tough wood, which in Au- gust and September puts forth beautiful brownish red foliage, and then bears large and handsome yellow flowers. Its wood is whitish, but the internal heart is yellow, like sulphur, and it is from this part that the savages on the Belmonte, and in the more northern tracts, make their bows. As this labour is very troublesome, they are much averse to it, and preferred borrowing bows from us ; nay, some of them even attempted to steal them. As I had now full leisure to go farther up the river Belmonte, and make myself acquainted with the zoological productions of the adja- cent forests, I undertook a journey to the Quartel do Salto, which, by land, is about twelve leagues from the Quartel dos Arcos, but by water three days journey, though four men with a canoe, not very heavily laden, must work hard, to perform the voyage in that time. My canoe was pretty light, and had four boatmen, perfectly ac- quainted with the river. I did not leave the Quartel dos Arcos till towards noon ; we therefore passed that day only the above-men- tioned Cachoeirinha, or the lower part of the river. The rocks that here confine the stream, and every where fill the bottom, and over which the river runs foaming, with a moderate fall, for about half a mile, are here great obstacles to the canoes. In passing down this waterfall the canoes are exposed to danger, on account of the rapidity of the current, from the projecting rocks and the various turns of the channels between them. Before we reached the Cachoeirinha, we stopped upon the south bank, in order to cut in the forest some long poles of tough hard wood, which are used to push forward the canoes. We also cut some long cipos ; three or four of these strong ligneous creeping plants were twisted into a rope, (regeira,) which was fastened to the fore-part of the canoe for the purpose of towing it. Thus prepared, we AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 303 commenced the fatiguing passage over the Cachoeirinha. Two boat- men, who sometimes waded up to the middle in water, and sometimes leaped from rock to rock, and occasionally slipped between the blocks of stone up to the neck in water, drew the empty canoe, and the rest of the people shoved behind. Meantime I clambered with my fowl- ing-piece over the rocks on the bank, and shot a swallow of a species which was new to me*; other species, the white and green, and red- throated swallow if, every where flew about in numbers. A kind of fly-catcher (nuiscicapa) also builds among these rocks, with part of the plumage of a rusty red %, which in the Sertam of Bahia is called gibao de couro, or leather jacket. It is found in Minas, and even on the east coast, but more rarely, and every where keeps among the stones, or on the roofs of the houses. Among these rocks on the Belmonte they are often seen sitting on the point of a block, from which they fly perpendicularly upwards after the insects, and then descend to their former place. All the plants lately found on this spot were more fully in blossom, besides several pink or violet- coloured trumpet-flowers, which blossom before the leaves appear, but whose tufts of flowers unfortunately wither and fall off very soon. When my boatmen had surmounted the falls of the Cachoeirinha, the day was already far spent; and we therefore resolved to pass the * Hirundo mclanoleuca, a new species ; with forked tail ; upper part of the body black, lower part, white; a black transverse stripe under the throat. Whole length five inches, four and a half lines. f Hirundo leucoptera and ivgularis ; the latter, with a light rust-coloured throat, and pale, yellowish belly, is probably Azara's Hirondelle d ventre jaundtre. Azara, Voyages, Tom. IV. page 105. I Muscicapa nipestris, a new species ; six inches eleven lines long ; all the upper parts of the plumage, dark grey brown ; the lower, as well as the tail feathers, rusty red ; the latter having broad, dark brown spots ; the feathers of the wings, dark brown, with irregular rusty transverse stripes. 304 STAY AT RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, night upon a sand-bank, on the margin of the stream, a little above the fall. This place is called Rafaseiro. We still enjoyed sunshine when it was already dark in the neighbouring forests ; the hoarse evening notes of the araras announced to the owls and night swal- lows, that the season for their activity was come. As the weather was fine and serene, we passed the night without huts, near a good fire, myself covered with a thick blanket, the boatmen with a straw mat : a large dry ox hide served to lie upon. The following day we continued our voyage. From this place the river has rather less fall, but its general appearance remained the same. The water was shal- low, interrupted by large blocks of granite, which were more nume- rous towards the bank, and were the largest at the edge of the ancient forests, where they lay close together. From these pieces of rock, by which the river is divided into several channels, we may infer its de- scent from the high ridges of Minas. Many of these blocks are mixed with a quantity of mica ; gold too, and even precious stones are found here in all the rivers, particularly in the small streams that fall into them. The water of the Belmonte, which, at the season when the rivers swell, looks yellow and dirty, was now pure and bright, and we were therefore the better able to steer clear of the rocks that lay below the surface. The sides of this valley rise rapidly into hills covered with primeval forests, and the large masses of rock lay in great numbers, extending even into the wood. As many kinds of trees lose their leaves at this season, but the most remain always green, the forest appeared half green and half grey ; towards Minas this appearance is still more striking ; nay, it is said, that in some parts the leaves fall off entirely. The various kinds of young leaves now just budding forth, began to give the landscape new life and beauty. The tapicuru (bignonia) was completely covered with its beautiful brown red leaves, just shooting out ; the summits of the sapucaya (lecytis) appeared AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 305 clothed in the most beautiful pink ; the bougainvilka brasillensis twined round the tops of the trees, which were partly still without leaves, and covered them all over with its dark rose-coloured flowers ; numer- ous varieties also of trumpet-flowers (hignonia), some rising high, some creeping on the ground, were growing in the greatest luxuri- ance, adorned with every variety of rose-coloured, violet, white and yellow blossoms. It would be impossible, at this season, for the best landscape-painter to represent the infinitely diversified tints of colour in the crowns of the gigantic trees composing these great forests ; and, if he could succeed, every person who had not himself seen this country, would consider his performance to be a mere sport of his imagination. In this part of the river, we had, as before, great trou- ble in working our way in the manner above described, between nu- merous rocks, and through currents; and our people who towed the canoe often fell up to their necks in water, yet without letting the rope slip out of their hands. The heat was already great, and numerous swarms of moskitoes tormented us ; but they are said to be far more insupportable when the water is high. On the evening of the second day we again kin- dled our fire on a sandy flat contiguous to the river ; the moon shone in glorious splendor, and promised us fine weather for the following day. The next morning the whole valley, through which the river flows, was enveloped in a thick fog, which, however, was soon dis- pelled. When the atmosphere had cleared, we saw a flock of large swallows, of the swift species (cypsehis), of a hitherto unknown kind, the soot black plumage of which had nothing remarkable in it ; on account of their extremely rapid flight, we were not able to kill any of them. We continued our voyage, passed round some considerable rocky- cliffs, and then came to a remarkably great fall ; which we how- ever surmounted, as we had done the others, by the help of the 2 R 306 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, towing-rope, without unloading the canoe. We soon reached a place where the river flows pretty smoothly, and without much cur- rent. On the north bank there is a high projecting rock, under which there is a kind of cavern ; this place bears the name of Lapa, or cave, of the Mineiros. This cavern, as it is called, is properly speak- ing, only a covered recess, formed by the projection, where travellers are accustomed to pass the night, when the evening surprises them in this place, because their fire is perfectly sheltered from the wind and rain. Beyond this place, the river is straitened between the moun- tains which border it, and large blocks of rock lie on its banks. We stopped for a time near a small stream ( corrego ) ; my boatmen went on shore, in order, as they said, to look for whetstones ; all the stone of this little stream consisted of the various kinds of primitive rocks which occur in Minas, mixed with much mica ; my people, among whom there was an experienced Mineiro, affirmed also, that gold was not unfrequently found here, and that the existence of this metal was indicated with certainty by the appearance of the stone. In the rough bed of this impetuous forest-stream, which descends through uninhabited wildernesses, we found traces of the Tapirs and Capvba- ras, the peaceable inhabitants of these solitudes. The stream supplies them with clear water, even in the rainy season, and the surrounding wilds afford them the most convenient retreats. We passed some other inconsiderable falls, over which it gave us much trouble to get the canoe, on account of the shallowness of the water. Evening came upon us at a narrow part of the river ; we took up our quarters on a sandy flat, upon the bank, between rocks. Two red ounces (onca cucuaramia, fe/is concolor, Linn.) had lately been prowling about here; their tracks were still quite fresh; and we were engaged in examining them, when our attention was drawn to a com- pany of otters, which, while fishing, suffered themselves to be carried by the current down the river. They often raised their heads above water, and snorted aloud ; but they were unfortunately beyond the AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 307 reach of our fire. These otters catch in the rivers a vast quantity of fish, the remains of which are left on the rocks : thus, for instance, I often found in such places the head and bony gills of a kind of silu- rus*, marked with round black spots, on a yellow brown ground : the otter seems to reject these hard paits. Several kinds of animals shewed themselves near our night's quarters. Araras screamed in the forest, and large bats flew high over our heads, in the twilight. Even when the shades of night had completely enveloped the whole scene, we heard the singular unknown voices of owls and night swallows. The following morning we were again involved in thick fog, which, however, was not cold, but only damp. The powerful tropical sun soon pierced the thick veil which covered the valley, and dried us again. We now proceeded to the greatest fall which we had to pass in this voyage: here it was necessary to unload the canoe at a rocky island, and every one lent a hand to lift it over the ledge of rock, three feet high, an operation which was greatly impeded by the water that rushed down. All the baggage had been carried by land to the other end of the island ; but it cost much time and infinite pains before the ca- noe could be brought thither, cleared of the water, reloaded, and got afloat. While my people were busy with the canoe, I cast my eyes acci- dentally on the opposite bank, and to my great astonishment, beheld a stout robust Botocudo, quietly seated there, cross-legged. His name was Jucakemet, and he was well known to my people, who however had not remarked him ; he had been watching us at work without making the least noise. His grey-brown naked body was scarcely * Here called Roncador: to the south of Capitania, this name is given to another kind of fish. I have not had an opportunity of seeing a perfect specimen of the first men- tioned species. 308 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, distinguishable among the grey rocks : hence these savages can very easily approach unperceived, and the soldiers, in other places, who are at war with them, must therefore be extremely cautious. We de- sired this savage, who was sitting there alone, to swim over to us ; but he gave us to understand that the river was too rapid, and that he would return to the Quartel do Salto, which was not far off", and there wait for us. On the north bank also we perceived some Boto- cudos, who were going out a-hunting with one of tbe soldiers of the Quartel : they too refused to come down to us. We rowed past a high rocky cliff of a blackish colour, traversed with veins of yellow quartz, and soon arrived at the landing-place of the Quartel do Salto. A considerable cataract near this military post rendering the river wholly unnavigable, it is necessary to go on shore at this place, and to proceed by land over a mountain ; beyond the Quartel, you may em- bark again in other canoes. I had my baggage landed and carried to the Quartel. The way leads up a steep cliff, where a small shed has been built for the goods going to Minas, which are landed here. On the summit you enter a forest, where bromelia plants covering the ground form an impenetrable thicket : begonias, five or six feet high, with their large leaves*, grow in abundance. Here stood, of colossal circumference, the bombax ventricosa of Arruda, the stem of which is smaller towards the ground, and under the crown, but bellving out in the middle, on which account the Portuguese have given it the name of barrlgudo. There are several kinds of this protuberant bombax ; one has a smooth bark, only a little channelled ; in another, the stem is covered with short, strong, blunt thorns ; the leaves, which stand singly on the thin, and not very branching crown, are palmated. The flowers are large and beautiful, of a whitish colour; as soon as * The begonia genus has verv numerous species in Brazil, some of which grow to a con- siderable height and size. AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 309 they wither, they fall off, and cover the ground under the trees. The large trunk of these trees is filled with a very juicy, soft pith, in which are found the larvae of several large insects, which are sought by the Botocudos, roasted on a wooden spit, and eagerly devoured. If an incision is made in the tree, a quantity of clammy juice, or resin, exudes. In this wilderness a little solitary path led to the hills, where a party of Botocudos resides : many of them often visit this station, and work for a time, if food is given them in return for their labour. The distance to the Quartel by land is about half a league : the way is alternately up and down hill through the forest, which is a great obstacle to the conveyance of goods, which must all be carried on men's shoulders. The Quartel do Salto lies on the river, in a rather broad part of the valley, where the water being low, a naked stony flat appeared, bordering the narrow stream on both sides. The buildings are of clay, covered with large, long pieces of the bark of the pao d'arco. The commandant, a subaltern officer and man of colour, received me well, and gave me a room in one of the buildings. He had only a couple of soldiers here, the rest having gone up to Minas with some boats ; all the rooms left vacant were now filled with Botocudos, who are allowed to make use of them, for the sake of remaining on good terms with them. Here I found Captain June's wife, an old woman, who also went stark naked, and had remained behind when the rest of the company proceeded to the Cachoeirinha. Besides this ugly hag, we found here other very well made Botocudos, some of whom were very handsomely painted after their fashion. Some had left the body of its natural colour, and merely painted the face as low as the mouth, of a bright red, with urucu ; others had painted the whole body black, leaving only the face, hands, and feet 310 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BE1MOXTE, of the natural colour. In the first chapter of the second part Ave shall give a description of the various modes in which these savages are accustomed to paint themselves. Jucakemet had also arrived here : he was one of the tallest Botocu- dos that I had seen, and wore very large pieces of wood in his ears and lower lip. He had lately had a violent quarrel, as we Avere told, with Captain Gipakeiu, the leader of another party, and had even struck him, on which the other discharged an arrow at him, and wounded him slightly in the neck. He shewed us the scar. Jucake- met now carefully avoided that part of the country in which Captain Gipakeiu was ranging about ; he was at the Salto, on the south bank of the river, and the latter on the north bank, in the countrv round the Quartel dos Arcos, engaged in hunting the wild swine in the great forests. The road to Minas runs close to the buildings of this station : from this place, upwards, it is passable and in good condi- tion : but as we have observed before, downwards to Belmonte it cannot be used. A troop of mules, laden with cotton, had come down from Minas a few days before, and had taken salt in return ; an article which is verv scarce in that mountainous country. Some Mineiros, who were here for the purposes of trade, likewise com- plained much of the neglect of this boasted road on the lower parts of the river. When they travel this road, they give to their mules every day a mixture of oil and gunpowder, which they assert to be an excellent remedv against the effects of the unwholesome pasturage that is met with on some parts of the road ; they are also accustomed often to give the animals a little salt. If this road were really as good as it has been represented, a considerable trade would soon be established with Minas, since the conveyance of goods by water from the Salto is attended with many difficulties, and the more so, as they must be all carried with great labour from the landing-place to the Quartel. It would at least be very easy to make a good road from the Salto to AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 311 the landing-place, to convey the goods by means of carts and oxen ; but the industry of the inhabitants of these wildernesses is not equal to such an exertion. It is to be hoped that the general complaints which have of late been made of the bad condition of a great part of this road, will lead at length to a careful survey and thorough repair of it. I remained the following day at the Salto, and set out early in the morning on an excursion to the neighbouring waterfall, the noise of which may be heard at a considerable distance. In order to obtain a view of it, I found it necessary to clamber over large fragments of rocks, irregularly piled on each other. The river, which is compressed into a very narrow channel, rushes roaring and foaming down into the basin below, and spreads around it a cloud of vapour and fine spray : a little lower down it forms a second, more considerable cas- cade over a large ledge of rocks. I experienced here a repetition of the pleasure which I had enjoyed eight years before, in contemplating the far larger waterfalls in Switzerland. Many of the cascades on the Belmonte, especially the Cachoeira do Inferno, have perhaps some resemblance in miniature with the Raudal of Atures, and May- pures, of which Humboldt has given an interesting description in his " Views of Nature," only they are not so crowded together and con- tinuous as in the immense Orinoco. Among the fragments of rocks which are wetted by the spray of the Salto, grow some beautiful kinds of shrubs ; among others, a very pretty narrow-leaved myrtle, which was now in flower. Another object which had induced me to remain here a day longer, was the hope of obtaining a Botocudo skull. At the Quartel dos Arcos I had been prevented from digging up a body for this purpose ; here I was more fortunate. At a short distance from the buildings they had buried in the recesses of the forest, under luxuriant beauti- fully flowering plants, a young Botocudo, between twenty and thirty 312 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMOXTE, : years of age, who was one of the most turbulent warriors of this tribe. Provided with pick-axes we repaired to the grave, and took up the remarkable skull. We observed at the first sight an osteological curiosity: the large piece of wood, worn on the under lip, had not only pushed the lower fore-teeth out of their places, but even pressed together and effaced the alveoli or sockets of the teeth, in this youth- ful skull, which in general happens only to very old people. Azara in his Travels in South America observes, that the skulls of the Ame- ricans decay much sooner than those of Europeans. This does not accord with the testimony of Oviedo, quoted by Southey, (Hist. Bra- zil, I. 631.) that the Spanish swords could make no impression on the American skulls on account of their hardness ; probably both asser- tions are equally unfounded. Though I had taken the greatest care to keep my intention of open- ing the grave secret, the report of it soon spread in the Quartel, and excited a strong sensation among the unenlightened people. Impelled by curiosity, and yet with a secret terror, several of them came to the door of my lodging and desired to see the head, which however I had immediately hidden in my trunk, and endeavoured to send as soon as possible down to the Villa de Belmonte. Yet, as I now ob- served, the Botocudos had taken less offence at this proceeding than the soldiers of the Quartel, several of whom had indeed refused to assist in the operation. After I had obtained my purposes in this In- teresting spot, I returned to the landing-place, and embarked again early in the morning of the second day after my arrival. The passage down the river is very rapid : in one day you reach the island of Cachoeirinha. We now passed without much difficulty over the Cachoeirinha, where we had been obliged to unload as we went up the river. Our canoe was very large ; yet it made much water, because in shooting down the rock the fore part dipped into the water, which was violently agitated by the fall : we were therefore AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 313 all wet, and a little Botocudo whom I had brought with me, shed floods of tears from alarm. Our canoe glided with equal good for- tune down all the other little falls. Near the Lapa dos Mineiros we saw some Botocudos on the southern bank employed in shooting fish with their arrows. One of them, who was the nearest to us, imme- diately beckoned to us with his hand to fetch him off, and give him something to eat. To see him more closely, and to barter with him for his arms, I made the boat steer towards the bank ; but, impelled by his craving appetite, he did not wait for our arrival, plunged up to his neck in the water, and then came partly wading and partly swimming, and holding his weapons above his head, to a mass of rock which lay pretty far in the river, where he remained making signs, which indicated his rude uncurbed impatience. When we ap- proached nearer, we found this Botocudo to be a tall robust man, who in all his gestures betrayed the most marked characteristics of his savage nature. He opened his mouth as wide as he could, and bawled out nimcut (to eat), on which we threw some handfuls of flour into his jaws ; while he was greedily swallowing it, one of my people, who understood a little of the language of these savages, leaped on shore, seized his weapons, and brought them safely on board the canoe, telling us that this man was so savage that we must be on our guard against him ; at the same time he stuck a knife into the point of his oar and presented it to the savage, who seemed to be well satisfied with this exchange; we then quickly pushed off our canoe into the stream. The Botocudo, whose hunger was not yet appeased, did not give up the hope of overtaking us ; he ran a good while along the bank after the canoe, sprang from rock to rock, swam and waded through the water; till at length perceiving that the canoe was too far ahead for him to overtake it, he turned round dis- satisfied, and went back into the forest. A little farther on we met with two other savages, who also conversed with us, and made 2 s 314 STAY OX THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMOXTE, similar claims on our provisions ; we had no inclination however to enter into any parlev with them, and the more so, as we had no time to lose. Towards evening, when our canoe was gliding down the Cachoeirinha, it struck against a rock, and immediately stuck fast. I had before got out, and clambered on foot along the bank, because, not being a good swimmer, I would not expose myself to a ducking against my inclination. I was now very glad that I was only a dis- tant spectator of the shock, which threw all my people in the canoe over one another. The water had got into the boat, and my little Botocudo again began to cry bitterly ; however the canoe was ex- tricated without farther accident, and we reached the Quartel dos Arcos before sunset. On my arrival at the island, I found one of my people ill of the ague, which obliged me to stop some days ; being provided with good Peruvian bark, I soon cured him. I then proceeded with some hunters to the Ilha do Cha\ e, which is several leagues down the river, where, according to the accounts we had received, we were likely to find many anhumas, (Brazilian crane,) and abundance of game in general. In our passage down we killed some araras, and found several beautiful flowering shrubs on the bank; among the thickly interwoven summits of the forest we particularly distinguished the young rose-coloured leaves of the sapucaya tree, and the petrcea -cohibilis, with its long bunches of sky-blue flowers. During a heavy rain we reached towai'ds evening the end of our day's journey, and landed on the sandy island. Towards night the rain abated a little, but a dry and quiet lodging for the night was totally out of the question ; we crept completely drenched into some old ruinous fishermen's huts, the leafy roofs of which had been long gone to decay. We endeavoured to protect ourselves from the rain by some blankets and ox-hides, and kindled a fire to warm and dry ourselves ; but as the rain poured down without ceasing, we could AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 315 scarcely keep it alight, and therefore waited with impatience for the end of this tedious night. The next morning some people were im- mediately dispatched in a boat to the forest to cut fire-wood, palm- leaves, poles, and cipos, that we might build a large roomv hut. The weather became indeed rather more favourable, but as our labour was frequently interrupted by showers of rain, it took us this and the whole of the following day to complete our dwelling. Here I was in the island with four of my people and a Botocudo named Alio, who had accompanied me for the purpose of hunting. Two of these always remained to guard our island and attend to the kitchen, while the others went over to the forest to hunt. One day the canoe had scarcelv put off on such an excursion, when I saw my hunters fire, and then immediatelv turn back. Thev had seen the four legs of some quadruped projecting out of the water, and taken it for a dead swine, but on approaching nearer, they saw an immense serpent, which had twined itself in manv coils round a large capybara and killed it. Thev immediatelv tired two shot at the monster, and the Botocudo discharged an arrow into its body : then, and not before, it quitted its prey, and notwithstanding the wound darted away as if nothing was the matter. My people took up the capybara (cabiai. or thick-nosed tapir), which was quite fresh, having been but just killed, and returned to give me an account of the cir- cumstance. As I much wished to obtain this remarkable serpent, I sent the hunters off again immediatelv to look for it : but all their en- deavours were fruitless. The shot had lost their force in the water, and the arrow was found broken on the bank where the serpent had rubbed it off; being but slightly wounded, it had quickly retreated so far, that to nay great regret it was not to be found again. This reptile, the sucuriuba of the river Belmonte, or the sucuriu, as it is called, in Manas Ger'aes, is the largest kind of serpent in Bra- zil, at least in the above-mentioned countries ; there are many errors 316 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, in the descriptions given of it by naturalists. Daudin has mentioned it by the name of boa anacondo. It is found all over South America, and attains the largest size of any species of this genus, in that part of the world. All the denominations alluding to the abode of the boa serpents in the water, belong to this kind ; for the others never dwell in the water, whereas the sucuriu or sucuriuba lives constantly in and near water, and is therefore really amphibious in the literal sense of the word. This serpent is by no means beautifully marked : its back is of a dark blackish olive, and down it run longitudinally two rows of round black spots, in pairs, which are for the most part pretty regularly disposed. In solitary places unfrequented by man, it attains the prodigious size of twenty or thirty feet, and even more, in length. Daudin, in his Natural History of Reptiles, considers the ser- pent which he assumes to be the genuine boa constrictor, as a native of Africa, but this species, if it is also found in Africa, inhabits every part of Brazil, is there the most common land boa, and every where known by the name of the jiboya. The Belmonte is the southernmost of the rivers on the east coast, in which the sucuriuba occurs; farther to the north it is universally found. Very fabulous stories have been re- lated concerning the way of life of these immense reptiles ; and even in modern times, they have been copied out of old travellers. The accounts also which are given of its sleep in winter are not precise enough. It is said indeed, that they certainly become torpid during the hot season, in the marshy pools of the deserts, but this does not happen in the woody valleys of Brazil, which always abound in water, where they do not live properly in marshes, but in great lakes, ponds that are never dry, rivers and streams, the banks of which are cooled by the shade of the ancient forests. On the day of our unsuccessful pursuit of the serpent, my people killed many interesting birds, among which was a small dark brown ea- gle, with a tuft of feathers at the back of the head, of a species hitherto AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 317 undescribed*, besides some araras, and a great mutum, (crax alector Linn.) which was very welcome to us for our table. The eagle was just going to seize a jupati (opossum), when he was shot; his whole figure indicated boldness and courage : his eye was lively and fiery, and the long feathers on the back of his head gave him a hand- some appearance. As the continuance of the rainy weather often prevented us from hunting, and especially from pursuing the anhumas, I took this op- portunity to pay a visit to the Quartel dos Arcos, where, during my absence, a fresh horde of Botocudos had arrived, whose chief, Marian- giang, was called by the Portuguese Captain Gipakeiu, (the great Captain). It was already towards evening, and I was only a short distance from the station, when I accidentally saw, on a sand-bank, a couple of large tapirs. To make more sure of success, I sent my Botocudo, Alio, round by the wood, to cut off their retreat. When the animals perceived that their retreat was intercepted, they plunged into the water, and endeavoured to reach the opposite bank, but here they were stopped by our canoe. One of the two tapirs, on his return, again reached the sand-bank, and would have received an arrow from my Botocudo, had not the string of his bow happened to break, which gave the animal time to escape. We fired several times at the other, which dived, and then raised its head above the water, • Falco Tyrannus, a new species : male bird, twenty -six inches seven lines long; the fea- thers of the back of the head lengthened and erect ; hinder part of the head and neck, sides of the neck and upper part of the back, covered with white feathers, the tips of which are dark brown, which however lie over each other in such a manner, that the white is covered ; all the rest of the bird, dark brown ; larger covert feathers of the wings marked with a little white ; quill feathers, with some grey brown dark-marbled transverse stripes ; the large broad tail has four whitish transverse stripes, marbled with greyish brown ; feathers of the thighs, legs, lower part of the back, rump, and crissum, dark brown, with narrow white transverse lines ; the feet feathered down to the toes. 318 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, to take breath, but our shot was too light, and the canoe was too heavy to be rowed quickly forward ; we had no balls, and these ani- mals cannot be shot till their heads are seen above water, near the canoe ; then aim must be taken at the ear: the terrified animal lost much blood, but yet it escaped, which it would scarcely have done, if we had had dogs with us. The ease and address with which these crea- tures swim, are very useful to them for evading the hunters who pur- sue them. Though the tapir, a large heavy animal, six or seven feet long, is defended by a very thick hide, yet the Portuguese always kill it with shot, and not with balls : but for this purpose they must absolutely have long rifle guns, and a strong charge of large shot ; these hunters too will fire twelve or sixteen times at an animal with shot, rather than load with ball. That they may be able on their ex- cursions to kill all kinds of animals, the Brazilians always load their guns with shot, and kill in this manner a wild swine, or a tapir, as well as a jacutinga (penelope). The tapir is also hunted for its flesh, and dogs are very useful in the chase of this animal. It is usually found in the morning and evening, in the rivers, where it is fond of bathing, to cool itself. If the animal is severely wounded, and rather exhausted, the Brazilians often attack it swimming, with their knives in their hands, and endeavour to wound it. In this manner they turn to account the custom of their nation always to wear a stiletto, or a knife in their girdles, a custom which is observed even by the priests, and affords occasion to many murders. Having been detained by this unsuccessful attempt, I did not reach the station till late at night ; and early in the morning I was awaked by the newly-arrived Botocudos, who were impatient to become acquainted with the stranger. They knocked violently at my door, which was locked, till I opened it, and immediately loaded me with numerous marks of friendship. Captain Gipakeiu was much pre- possessed in my favour, because he had been told that I was a great admirer of the Botocudos, and burned with impatience to be AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 319 acquainted With him, their great chief. He was of the middle size, but strong and muscular; in his ears and lower lip he wore large pieces of wood ; his face, as low as the mouth, was painted of a bright red ; and he had drawn a black line under the nose, extending from ear to ear, but left his body of its natural colour. Towards the Portuguese he showed himself sincere and well disposed, and there had never been any occasion to complain of his conduct. Though he was not externally distinguished from the other members of his tribe, he enjoyed great consideration among his countrymen, which enabled him at times to be serviceable even to the Portuguese. Once, for example, when the latter first met the Botocudos on friendly terms, another of their chiefs appeared at the Quartel, and importu- nately demanded a great quantity of iron wares. As the station had at that time but a weak garrison, and was surrounded by numerous savages, it was thought advisable to comply with his desires. Soon afterwards Captain Gipakeiu arrived ; the Portuguese complained to him of what had happened, on which he went into the woods, and obliged his countryman to restore the greatest part of the implements. He frequently embraced me in the Portuguese fashion, but our conver- sation was very singular, as neither of us could understand the other ; however, the Captain soon made me comprehend that he was very hungry, and expected me to give him something to eat : to satisfy their unbounded appetite is always the most urgent want of these savages. When I had treated him with mandiocca-flour, and ingratiated myself still more into his favour, he sent to his hut in the forest for some articles for the purpose of bartering ; among these was in particular a short speaking-trumpet, cantschun cocann *, which * Instead of the tail of the armadillo, the more civilised Coroados in Minas Geraes use the horn of an ox for this purpose. 320 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, was made of the tail of the great armadillo (dasi/pus maximus). These savages use it to call their people together in the forests. Opposite to the Quartel, on the other side of the river, lay the banana plantation, which has been mentioned above, as having been made by some Botocudos ; upon it were some deserted huts, in which they had buried the bodies of two women. At this time, on the arrival of the Captain, these huts were burned, as they never again use habitations in which corpses have been interred. A num- ber of new huts were, however, now built on this spot ; life and activity reigned in the shady forest, for the new comers had taken up their abodes not merely on the bank, but much deeper in the wood. On all sides numerous brown youths were seen, some bathing in the river, some making bows and arrows, climbing the trees for fruits, shooting at fish, &c. On all sides men were dispersed in the neigh- bouring forest, calling to each other, gathering wood, or engaged in. other pursuits. It presented a striking picture of a republic of savages forming a new settlement, and the bustle that prevailed among them could not be witnessed without pleasure. When Captain Gipakeiu arrived with his people at the Quartel, each of them carried a couple of long poles, as a challenge to the company of Jucakemet, whom he supposed to be here, but who, as we have said before, prudently kept on the Salto, on the south side of the river. Captain Gipakeiu, with his people, remained for some days near the station, and then retired on the north bank into the forests, to gather the different fruits which were now ripening. This is a custom with all the savages. They know the exact time when every fruit ripens, and cannot be detained when it is at hand. At present it was the season for the cipo, a parasite plant, which they call ntscha *. They tie up the green stalks of this plant in bundles, * This plant is probably a begonia : it climbs up the trunks of the trees. AND AMONG THE JiOTOCUDOS. 321 and take them to their huts ; there they roast them at the fire, and chew them ; they contain a strong nourishing pith, which tastes exactly like our potatoes. When I had attained my object, and gained an acquaintance with the Botocudos who had arrived at the station, I returned to the Ilha do Chave, where my people were expecting me. On a small neigh- bouring island, which was covered with thick hushes, and separated from the main land only by a shallow inconsiderable channel, they had discovered deer, and killed one of them. It was of the species called guazupita by Azara, the most common kind all over Brazil. The Mesh of this animal we found very different from that of ours in Europe ; it is very far from well-flavoured, extremely lean, dry, and of such a coarse grain, that it can scarcely be compared with the flesh of an old cow. However, as the choice of provisions in these solitary wilds is extremely limited, every animal fit to eat was wel- come to us. We remained another week on this island, during which time we had frequent rain ; but my hunters indemnified me for the inconvenience it occasioned, by procuring many interesting additions to my collections. A large owl regularly uttered its loud cry every morning and evening in the twilight. After a long search for it, we at last succeeded in taking it. It seems to belong to a hitherto non- descript species * ; we also killed the great whitish variegated goat- sucker, (caprimulgus grandis, Linn.) whose loud whistle resounds far and wide through the gloomy solitude of these forests, and other beautiful birds, among which I shall mention the black humming- * Stiix pulsatrix, so called from its note, which resembles a knocking ; without ears ; male bird 17 inches 4 lines long ; 44 inches 9 lines broad ; greater part of the plumage of a beautiful light reddish brown grey colour ; a white spot on the throat ; scapular feathers, delicately marbled of a dark colour, the wings and tail the same ; quill-feathers with darker and lighter transverse stripes ; all the under parts of a light yellow, inclining, on the breast and belly, to a rusty reddish yellow. 2 T 322 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, bird with a white tail, which has not yet been described in works on natural history*. Some fine large an h inn as were also killed; these animals chiefly frequent this part of the country ; we heard almost daily their loud concert, and their singular sonorous voice was a sum- mons to my hunters to take their guns. On the 25th of September I left the island, and returned with all my people to the Quartel. On the way we met with a company of Botocudos, who were seated round their fire ; they belonged to the party of Captain Gipakeiu, had waded through the river, which is shallow at this place, and, contrary to their custom, taken up their abode on the south bank. Many of their young people leaped into our boat, to go with us to the station. We had scarcely arrived there when another company of savages came from the south bank ; this was the horde of Captain Jeparack, which I had not yet seen. It was a strange sight to behold all these brown people raising their bows and arrows above their beads, and wading across the river ; the noise made by their passage through the water was heard at a great distance. All these savages carried on their shoulders bundles of poles six or eight feet long, for the purpose of fighting with Captains June and Gipakeiu and their hordes ; but the latter was now at a distance in the forest, and even June, with his troop, was just then absent from the Quartel. The savages ran eagerly through all the rooms in the buildings to look for their adversaries, but not finding them, left their poles standing at the Quartel, as the sign of a challenge, and de- parted again towards evening. During the following days, however, * Trochihis ater, a hitherto undescribed humming-bird, whose plumage is not pretty ; male 5 inches long ; bill slightly curved ; body nearly black, only in some places of a shining grey and copperas colour ; sides under the wings, rump, and tail, white, on the latter a border of a violet colour, the middle feathers varying with dark green and steel-blue. 50 a K 5 pa G2 AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 323 they kept up a constant communication between both banks, as they usually do when the river is low. On the 28th Captain Jeparack again came with a company of his people : this time too they had long poles, and enquired for Captain Gipakeiu, but again in vain : as they, however, constantly remained in the neighbourhood, they at length found an opportunity of gratifying their desire of fighting. Captain June, with his three grown-up sons, and the rest of his men, who sided with Captain Gipakeiu, had accepted the challenge. One Sunday morning, when the weather was most beautifully serene, we saw all the Botocudos of the Quartel, some with their faces painted black, and others red, suddenly break up, and wade through the river to the north bank, all with bundles of poles on their shoulders. Soon afterwards Captain June, with his people, came out of the wood, where a number of women and children had sought refuge in some large huts. Scarcely had the news of the approaching combat become known in the Quartel, when a crowd of spectators, among whom were the soldiers, an ecclesiastic from Minas, and several strangers, whom I also joined, hastened over to the field of battle. Each took for his security a pistol or a knife under his coat, in case the combat should be turned against us. When we landed on the opposite bank, we found all the savages standing close together, and formed a half circle about them. The combat was just beginning. First, the warriors of both parties uttered short rough tones of defiance to each other, walked sullenly round one another like angry dogs, at the same time making ready their poles. Captain Jeparack then came forward, walked about between the men, looked gloomily and directly before him, with wide staring eyes, and sung, with a tremulous voice, a long song, which probably described the affront that he had received. In this manner the adverse parties became more and more inflamed : suddenly, two of them advanced, and pushed one another with the arm on the 324 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BEEMONTE, breast, so that they staggered back, and then began to ply their poles. One first struck with all his might at the other, regardless where the blow fell : his antagonist bore the first attack seriously and calmly, without changing countenance ; he then took his turn, and thus they belaboured each other with severe blows, the marks of which long remained visible in the large wheals on their naked bodies. As there were on the poles many sharp stumps of branches which had been cut off, the effect of the blows was not always con- fined to bruises, but the blood flowed from the heads of many of the combatants. When two of them had thus thrashed each other hand- somely, two more came forward ; and several pair were often seen engaged at once : but they never laid hands on one another. When these combats had continued for some time, they again walked about with a serious look, uttering tones of defiance, till heroic enthusiasm again seized them, and set their poles in motion. Meanwhile, the women also fought valiantly ; amidst continual weeping and howling, they seized each other by the hair, struck with their fists, scratched with their nails, tore the plugs of wood out of each other's ears and lips, and scattered them on the field of battle as trophies. If one threw her adversary down, a third, who stood behind, seized her by the legs, and threw her down likewise, and then they pulled each other about on the ground. The men did not degrade themselves so far as to strike the women of the opposite party, but only pushed them with the ends of their poles, or kicked them on the side, so that they rolled over and over. The lamenta- tions and howlings of the women and children likewise resounded from the neighbouring huts, and heightened the effect of this most singular scene. In this manner the combat continued for about an hour ; when all appeared weary, some of the savages showed their courage and perse- verance, by walking about among the others, uttering their tones of AND AMONG THE BOTOCCDOS. 325 defiance. Captain Jeparack, as the principal person of the offended party, held out to the last ; all seemed fatigued and exhausted, when he, not yet disposed to make peace, Continued to sing his tremulous song, and encouraged his people to renew the combat, till we went up to him, clapped him on the shoulder, and told him that he was a valiant warrior, but that it was now time to make peace ; upon which he at length suddenly quitted the field, and went over to the QuarteL Captain June had not shewn so much energy ; being an old man, he had taken no part in the combat, but constantly remained in the back-ground. All of us then left the field of battle, which was covered with ear- plugs and broken poles, and returned to the Quartel ; where we found our old acquaintance Jukeracke, Medcann, Aho, and others, sadly covered with bruises ; but they showed to what a degree man can harden himself, for none of them paid any regard to his swollen limbs ; but they sat or lay down on their open wounds, and ate with a hearty appetite the flour which the commandant gave them. The bows and arrows of all these savages had stood, during the whole combat, leaning against the neighbouring trees, without their touching them ; but it is said sometimes to have happened, on similar occa- sions, that they have thrown aside the poles, and taken to their arms, for which reason the Portuguese do not much like to have such combats in their neighbourhood. It was not till some time afterwards that I heard the cause of the combat, of which we had been specta- tors. Captain June, with his people, had been hunting on the south bank of the river, in the grounds of Jeparack, and killed some wild swine. This was considered by the latter as a great insult ; for the Botocudos always observe, more or less strictly, the boundaries of a certain hunting-district, beyond which they are in general careful not to trespass : such offences are the usual occasions of their quarrels and wars. Only one combat similar to that here described had ever V ■sr 326 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, occurred before near the Quartel dos Arcos, and it was therefore a peculiarly lucky accident, that afforded me the view of this spectacle during my short stay at this place. It is very rarely that travellers witness such a scene, which is however so important to those who would obtain a thorough knowledge of the savages, and their cha- racter. Not long after my departure from the Quartel, as I was in- formed, another and a still greater combat took place there, on occasion of the return of Captain Gipakeiu, who was a friend and ally of Captain June. As various matters obliged me to return to the Mucuri, I left the island of Cachoeirinha at the end of September, and sailed down the river to Villa de Belmonte. The passage was rather tedious, because the water was at this time low ; but the chace, and the observation of many natural curiosities, rendered it agreeable and entertaining. In the banks of the river, which were now uncovered, we observed the holes made by the extraordinary fish, which Linneus calls loricaria plecostomus (the harness fish) ; here it bears the name of cachimbo, or cachimbao ; in the northern parts, on the river Ilheos, it is called acari, and Marcgraf, who observed it at Pernambuco, describes it by the name of guacani. This fish digs holes of inconsiderable depth in the bank, to protect itself, when it desires to repose, from the violence of the current, at the season when the water is high ; sometimes, as the fishermen assert, it knocks at the bottom of the canoes, which it is said to do with its head, while it is eating the slime and byssus. which usually adhere to the bottom of the vessels. The spring was already far advanced, and we frequently heard in the forests the loud hoarse voice of the mutton (crax alector, Linn. ; peacock pheasant of Guiana,) which resounds through the wilder- ness, and greatly facilitates the chace of this large and beautiful bird. They appear in the greatest numbers about the time when the rivers are rising. We passed two nights on the sand-banks in the river, AXD AMOXG THE BOTOCUDOS. 327 and this afforded us an opportunity of killing some araras, and other fine birds. Near one of these sand-banks, not far from the Boca d'Obu, we met with a great many monkeys (macacos or micos), among which there is a particular kind, with a yellow- breast, here called macaco di bando* . On the 28th of September I reached the Villa de Belmonte. As soon as I had made the necessary preparations for my journey to the Mucuri, I set out ; but the weather being extremely unfavourable, I had to encounter numerous difficulties. I was forced to ride through the Corumbao and the Cahy, which were now much swollen, and then to continue my journey, wet through, along the coast, while the rain poured down in torrents. Some Portuguese travellers, whom we met, informed us, that on their journey they had seen the Pata- chos on the Cahy, but on the other side of the river ; we did not see any of these savages, which was quite as agreeable to us in this solitary place. After undergoing many fatigues, but without encountering any accident of consequence, w r e reached Caravellas and Mucuri, where I passed three weeks with Messrs. Freyreiss and Sellow, who had been my companions in the preceding part of my journey; after which I returned to Belmonte. On my way thither, on the Rio do Prado, or Sucurucu, I had an opportunity of making myself acquainted with the Machacaris, whom I have frequently mentioned. I much wished to visit an aldea, which had been settled, as I was informed, by those savages, farther up the Prado. I therefore proceeded up the river from the fazenda, where I had in vain looked for the Patachos in the month of July. On its banks, it was very easy to * Cebas xanthosternos, a new species : with strong dark brown limbs, and a round tail, large head, dark brown whiskers, brownish body, and yellow breast and throat : whole length 32 inches 8 lines ; of which the tail is 17 inches 7 lines. 328 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMOXTE, distinguish the different strata of sand lying over each other ; and I observed, that about ten feet below the surface, a considerable quantity of water constantly ran out of the strata into the river. This great accumulation of water in the earth affords an easy expla- nation of the rapid rising of the rivers during the rainy seasons in these hot countries : it was now November, the very height of the rainy season in this part of the country, when all the lagoas are full. The banks of the river farther up present very picturesque views ; among these is especially, a spot on the south bank, called Oiteiro (the eminence) ; here, upon gentle elevations, and shaded by cocoa palms, are fazendas, in a most delightful situation. As the summer was now at hand, many beautiful trees and shrubs were in flower on the bank : the visnea, with its silky shining leaves, brown on the under side ; rheiias, with large violet flowers ; the melastoma species, with leaves of a beautiful silvery white on the lower side ; bignonias, which with their splendid flowers climbed round and adorned the shrubs, above which rose the genipaba tree (genipa Americana ) with its large white blossoms. The naturally dark green colour of the Bra- zilian forests was now relieved by the young yellow green, or red shoots; and under all the thickets there was a darker shade, which, was very agreeable in the great heat, but was rendered much less pleasant to the wanderer by the moskitoes which it invited. The banks were covered with a beau tiful flower, a white amarylUs with purple stamina. The surface of the river had now acquired a dark brown colour, from the streams flowing from the forests, marshes, and mountains, and formed a perfect camera obscura, in which the green banks, with their flowers, were reflected in the most beautiful manner. On the surface of the water there were floating islands of pontederia, on which we saw the pretty jassana (parrajacana, Linn.) whose loud AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 329 voice, resembling laughing, we heard at a great distance. I came to a place where a lancha was building; the workmen employed upon it said that the woods on the Sucurucu did not contain much more ship timber ; large trees were indeed to be found there, fit for canoes, but for these, softer kinds of wood may also be employed. On the bank I saw many little*basins, filled with reeds, rushes, grass, and water, which had been inclosed with reeds, in order to catch fish in them. The reed fence is opened when the tide is coming up, to let in the fish ; it is then closed, and the fish are taken out when the tide is down. Towards evening my voyage was very pleasant : the silence which reigned in the vast wilderness that surrounded me, was interrupted, after the grasshopper had ceased chirping, only by the loud and strange voice of the tree frog *, the melancholy whistle of the maiftlalua, (caprimulgus grandh, Linn.) and the loud screams of owls in the dark forests. It was pretty late in the night when I reached the station of Vimieyro, where the dwelling and plantations of Senhor Balancueira, judge of the Villa do Prado, are situated on a high ridge, that extends along the bank of the river. The master of the house was indeed absent, but I found, by his orders, a friendly reception, and a good night's lodging. The sound of music and dancing was heard near the houses of the Indians, about ten families of whom reside here. The next day displayed to my view a magnificent wild landscape. As far as the eye could reach, nothing was to be seen but gloomy dark-green tops of trees, which crowded close together form a vast im- penetrable primeval wilderness, where the rude Patacho and Ma- chacari share the dominion with the ounce and the black tiger. Two flat spots, in the middle of which an eminence rises, indicate the * This is probably the same frog which, at Vicosa and other places, is called sapo marin- hero. 2 u 330 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, places where the two arras of the Sucurucu (the ancient Indian name of the Rio do Prado) descend, the one in a northerly, the other in a southerly direction : the former bears the name of the Rio do Norte, the latter is called Rio do Sul. In the distance is seen the Serra do Joao de Leao, and de St. Andre, which belong to the Serra dos Ay- mores, a chain of mountains, about four days journey from the sea- coast, not far from the fall in the river, where game and fish are said to abound. The Sucurucu soon becomes narrower when you go up towards its sources ; a proof that its course is not very long. Not far from the place where I now was, the two arms join to form the river: farther up all European settlements suddenly cease; for on the Rio do Norte there is none whatever, and on the Rio do Sul only a single one, which is immediately above the junction of the two arms. When I had long enjoyed the beautiful romantic prospect, I went to the bank of the river to the habitations of the Indians. Among these people I found a woman of the tribe of the Machacaris, who perfectly understood the language of the Patachos, which is a very rare circumstance ; for as the latter are of all the savage tribes parti- cularly distrustful and reserved, it is not common for any one not be- longing to their tribe to learn their language. Not far from this spot, but deeper in the recesses of the forest, lies the aldea (village), as it is called, of the Machacaris, which had been frequently mentioned to me, but where only about four families of these people live together in one house. As I was very desirous to make myself acquainted with this tribe also, I went thither with some Indians. The way was very inconvenient, for we had to wade half a league through marshes and water, and to clamber over fallen trunks of trees. I found the savages all dwelling together in a spacious house ; they have lived here about ten years, and are tolerably civilized. Some of them are very friendly and sociable, others on the contrary remained shy and reserved : some speak a little Portuguese, but amongst each AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 331 other they always use their native language. They have plantations of mandiocca, some maize and cotton for their own use. The ouvidor has furnished them with a wheel to grind or bruise the mandiocca roots ; but, according to the custom of their forefathers, they procure a great part of their subsistence by hunting. Bows and arrows are still their usual weapons, but some of them are also well skilled in the use of the gun. The bows of the Machacaris differ from those of the other tribes, a deep furrow being cut lengthwise in the fore part*, where while one arrow is discharged another may lie ready ; so that the second arrow, which the other Indians have to take up from the ground, is at hand to be discharged. I here found a remarkably large handsome bow of pao d'arco, which has a hook on the upper part that is very serviceable to fasten the bow-string. The arrows of this tribe as well as the bows are remarkably well made ; they have a head of hard wood, and at the lower extremity the shaft is consider- ably prolonged beyond the feathers : here too, as among all the tribes of the east coast, three kinds of arrows are in use, which I have already described when treating of the Puris. I found here too the same knotted sacks as among the Patachos, with whom the Macha- caris indeed agree in many particulars. Their make is just the same as that of the Botocudos, but rather more clumsy. They are tall, strong, and broad-shouldered. In general they do not much dis-* figure their bodies, only they tie up the membrum virile with a bind- weed like the Patachos ; most of them also make a small hole in the lower lip, in which they sometimes wear a little piece of cane. They * Far up the river Belmonte, in Miuas Novas, there is an island, where the Machacaris, Panhamis, and other tribes have settled together, and made plantations. The weapons of the Machacaris, which I received from that place, exactly resemble those of the same tribe on the Sucurucu ; I have likewise found these bows and arrows of the Machacaris among the Botocudos. 332 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, let their hair grow, and crop it behind ; and sometimes too they shave their heads like the Patachos. They are said also to build their huts in the same manner. The languages of the two tribes are however different, as will be seen by the specimens which will be annexed to these Travels. They make common cause against the more numerous Botocudos, but they have often had disputes and wars with each other. I obtained weapons from these people in exchange for knives. They regaled me with caiii, the favourite beverage of the Indians in general, who, like all rude people, are very fond of strong liquors. What the root of the jatropha manilwt supplies to the Brazilian, is furnished to the Guaraune by the juice of the mauritia palm, to the South Sea islander by his area, and to the Calmuck by his kumiss. The house of the Machacaris lies in a real wilderness, where the cries of the monkeys and other wild animals are heard close at hand : they have cut down and burned the woods there and made their plan- tations. After a short stay, I returned down the Sucurucu in my canoe. During the oppressive heat of noon, I was charmed with the dark shady paths, leading under lofty trees, and through thickly inter- woven bushes, to the habitations of the Indians, which here lie scat- tered and detached on the bank of the river. Many of these coast Indians work for the Portuguese planters for hire, and at the same time cultivate their own plantations ; others, especially voung men, serve as sailors on board the ships, or lanchas, belonging to the town. In this part we again found very picturesque news, which it would be a great pleasure to see represented by the pencil of an able land- scape painter, to be able to recal them to mind in a more lively man- ner. I saw an old tree hanging over the water, which afforded a real botanical collection. From the top shot forth cactus pendulus, and phyllanthus, the branches of which hung down like ropes ; AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 333 in the middle, caladium and tUlandsia grew luxuriantly from among various mosses, and ferns and other plants sprung up at its hase. The branches of this remarkable tree were loaded with a great num- ber of bag-shaped nests of the guasch, (oriolus hcemorrhous, Linn.) which, like all of that genus, builds in companies. Thus is the active principle of life, diffused every where, and under the most diversified forms, in these tropical climates. In many places small darkly shaded forest streams run into the river, on the banks of which the aninga (arum Vniiferum, Arruda), which we have already mentioned, grows in abundance. Its conical stem, thick below and tapering above, at- tains the height of six or eight feet. At several places there are fazendas, where the wood has been cleared away, and where some cattle are now kept : great numbers of orange trees have also been planted round the buildings. Overtaken by a most violent thunder-shower, I returned to the villa, and then proceeded to Comechatiba. A large boat had lately been cast on shore on this spot, and six persons who were on board, pe- rished : a confirmation of the fact that these coasts are dangerous to navigation ; there are no charts of them, and only light and small coasting vessels are employed. The king is conferring a great benefit on the country, by causing an accurate survey of these coasts to be made. At the fazenda of Caledonia I was received in the most hospitable manner, by Mr. Charles Frazer, and found there, to my great joy, newspapers from Europe. I was obliged to pass a long dreary night on the bank of the river Corumbao, because the ebb was already past. It rained incessantly ; to build a hut was quite out of the question, as we had neither branches nor leaves ; it was as much as wc could do to keep up a miserable fire. The next morning we looked for crabs (cirij, which abound in the river and the neighbouring lagoa. Two species live here, one in the sea, the other in the rivers. 334 STAY ON THE RIO GRANDE DE BELMONTE, We secured a large medusa pelagica, which the sea drove toward the shore ; and extracted from its intestines a small whitish crab, which was still quite alive. We observed a great number of carrion vultures, which often sat all crowded together on one tree : besides these birds, we remarked also gulls, which flew screaming about the mouth of the river, and the sea eagle or osprey, (falco halicl'tos, Linn.) which hovered over the water, eagerly watching for fish. I had often seen this beautiful bird of prey, but it had always been too cautious for my hunters : on my arrival at Belmonte, I found it how- ever, in the collection which my people, who had remained behind, had made in my absence. It resembles in every respect the German osprey, and like many other birds, seems to contradict the assertion, that the animated creation of America has nothing in common with that of the other parts of the globe. On the 28th of December I arrived again at Belmonte, and pro- ceeded to make the necessaty preparations for my further journey northwards, along the coast. During a stay of three months and a half on the Belmonte, our collection of natural history had received a very interesting addition of remarkable objects, which had been ob- tained partly in the forest up the river, and partly near the town, on a large lagoa, called the braco, or the arm, and which, though of no great breadth, extends for several leagues. Great numbers of water- fowl live here, especially ducks, divers, gulls, herons, sand-pipers, storks (tuyuyii, here called jabiruj, &c. My hunters were never in want of fresh game here, while the people in the town were suffering want : the lagoa abounds also in fish, for which reason the inhabitants of this country are generally found occupied in fishing. This water is enclosed on all sides by a campo, or heath, four leagues in ex- tent, where great numbers of cattle are bred. It is said that there were originally some thousands here, but the number is very much reduced. A large ounce (yaguarite), wdiich now haunted the AND AMONG THE BOTOCUDOS. 335 neighbourhood, was very injurious to the herds : it generally sucked the blood only of its prey, without touching the flesh: this was a great hindrance to the chace ; the people had not proper dogs to search out the haunt of this voracious creature, and were therefore obliged to look calmly on, while one or two of the beasts were usually killed every night. END OF THE FIRST PART. LONDON: PRINTED BY S. & R. BENTLEY, DORSET-STREET, FLEET-STREET. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY HENRY COLBURN AND CO. CONDUIT STREET, LONDON. TRAVELS in the INTERIOR of AFRICA, to the SOURCES of the SENEGAL and GAMBIA, undertaken bv order of the French Government, and performed in 1818, by M. G. MOLLIEN. Edited byT. E.BOWDICH, Esq. conductor of the MISSION to ASHANTEE. Printed uniformly with Park's Travels, in 4to. and illustrated with a Map and numerous Plates, price Si. 2s. boards. LETTERS from the COURT of TRIPOLI. 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