A history of the Brazil

by James Henderson

The bow is the weapon common to the male sex, of whatever age they may be: many possess another still more fatal, denominated esgaravatana; it is a reed of chosen wood, with ten to twelve palms of length, formed of two pieces glued together with wax, and firmly bound with thongs made of the bark of plants, whose perfect and equally round orifice has eight lines of diameter, and serves for the envenomed arrows, which are discharged by a puff of the breath. These arrows are not more than a span, and have at the posterior extremity a ball of cotton, equal to the eighth part of the esgaravatana. When they wish to discharge it, (which is said to be very certain, and as swift as the shot of a carbine,) the point is dipped in a thick fluid, composed of the juices of various poisonous plants. Some say that sugar is the only antidote, others that salt will destroy its fatal effects, and that the wound is not mortal if the poison was dry on contaminating the blood; and it is on this account that they carry the venom in a cocoa-nut shell, or gourd, in order to introduce the arrow into it at the moment of discharge. Condamine says, that on wounding a fowl with an arrow that had been envenomed twelve months previously with a composition made by the Ticunas of Peru, it only lived about eight minutes; but there was probably some ingredient in this poison that the Indians we have been speaking of are unacquainted with.

The Jummas also wield a club, barbed at the extremity.

The Araras, who are the most celebrated for making ornaments of feathers, form a black circle round the mouth, and perforate the cartilage of the nose, through which they put a small piece of wood, trimmed with plumes of various colours.

The Parintintins distend the ears very much with round targets, and blacken the upper lip into a half moon form, conceiving that their consequence is thus augmented.

The Muras, perhaps the most numerous among those who have had intercourse with the Portuguese, are the most backward in adopting any species of covering for their bodies, the main portion of both sexes yet appearing in a state of absolute nudity. The men not only ornament their arms and legs, but likewise perforate the nose, ears, and lips, and attach to them pendants of shells, the teeth of the boar, and of other wild quadrupeds. Many of them design various figures upon the skin, not without considerable suffering and much time; others disguise the body with dies, and even with clay and loam, adopting this mode of deforming themselves not so much perhaps with an idea of giving beauty to their persons as that they may thus assume an imposing air, in order to deter their enemies by their uncouth appearance. The women are much attached to their offspring whilst little, and row in the canoes equally with the men, of whom a great many have beards. The superiors have many wives; others but one: they separate from them, however, at their caprice or discretion, and take others. Tuxauha is the title given to the chiefs of the Mura tribe.

The Mundrucus, whose custom is to paint the body black with the die of Jenipapo, are numerous and powerful warriors, and the dread of all the other nations, who give them the appellation of Payquice, which signifies cut off the head, in consequence of their savage custom of cutting off the heads of all their enemies who fall into their power; and they know how to embalm them in such a manner that they retain for many years the same aspect they had when severed from the body. They ornament their rude and miserable cabanas with these horrible trophies: he that can exhibit ten is eligible to the rank of chief of the horde. They are well acquainted with the virtues of various vegetables, with which they cure some dangerous diseases.

Almost all the Mundrucana tribes are at the present time allies of the Portuguese, and some are Christianized. The brutal inhumanity at present of those who rove in the woods, not giving quarter either to age or sex, has compelled the principal part of the other nations to seek for refuge near the povoaçoes of the Portuguese, under whose protection they live secure from the attacks of their ferocious enemy.

Villa Franca, originally Camaru, is a middling town, with some regularity, upon a lake, which communicates with the Amazons and with the Tapajos, from whose margin it is not far distant. It is fifteen miles south-west of Santarem. The church is dedicated to the Assumpçao of Nossa Senhora; and the inhabitants are mostly Indians, cultivating cocoa besides the necessaries of life.

Villanova da Raynha is a town of a similar kind, near the mouth of the Mauhes, in an advantageous situation for increasing. Almost all its inhabitants are Mauhe Indians, who produce the best guarana, which is a composition made from the fruit of a shrub so called, and common in their territory. After being pounded, it is made into rolls like chocolate, and becomes quite hard: they attribute various beneficial effects to the use of it; the most certain, however, is driving away sleep!

Borba is a small town, with wretched houses, well situated upon elevated ground on the right margin of the Madeira, eighty miles from the Amazons and forty above the Furo dos Tuppynambaranas, and is a calling-place for those who navigate towards Matto-Grosso. The church is of St. Antonio, and its population is descended from the aborigines of various nations, with a few Europeans and Mesticos, also some negroes. Besides the common productions they cultivate some tobacco and cocoa; and, with the fishing for the tortoise, they supply the deficiency of cattle, which are at present very few.