The Western Guaranis include the tribes known by the names of Guarayis, Chiriguanos, and Cirionos, the first of which have been converted by the Jesuits. Between the province of the Chiquitos and that of the Moxos there are still some hordes of wild Guarayis. The uncivilized Chiriguanos are barbarians, very formidable to their neighbours. The natives of a hundred and sixty villages of the Andes, comprised between the great Chaco river and that of Mapayo, in the province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, speak the Guarany language in all its purity. The barbarous Cirionos, among whom a dialect of that tongue is in use, dwell to the north of Santa Cruz.
The Eastern Guaranis of Brazil include the Brazilian aborigines. The general language of the country does not seem to differ more from Guarany, than Portuguese does from Spanish. The Caryis, Tameyi, Tapinaquis, Timmimnes, Tabayaris, Tupinambis, Apontis, Tapigoas, and several other tribes occupy the maritime districts situated to the south of the mouth of the Amazon, speaking the Tupi tongue with little or no alteration.
During their voyage to Brazil, of which an account was published in the “Tour du Monde,” in 1868, M. and Madame Agassiz visited many Indian tribes, and examined their habitations in the midst of the woods. We extract a few pages from their description.
“We arrive at the sitio,” writes Madame Agassiz, “and disembark. These dwellings are usually located on the banks of a lake or river, within a stone’s throw of the shore in order that fishing and bathing may be better within reach. But this one was more retired, being placed at the extremity of a pretty by-path winding beneath the trees, and on the summit of a little hill, the slopes of which at the other side plunged into a broad and deep ravine through which flowed a rivulet. The ground beyond rose undulating in uneven lines, on which an eye accustomed to the uniformly flat country of the upper Amazon cannot rest without pleasure. Wait for the time of the rains, and the brook, swollen by the increase of the river, will almost bathe the foot of the house, which, from the top of the little eminence, at present commands the valley and the embanked bed of the tiny stream. Great, consequently, is the difference between the appearance of the same places in the dry and the wet seasons. The residence consists of several buildings, the most remarkable of which is a long open hall in which the brancas (whites) of Manaos and of the neighbourhood dance when they come, as is not infrequent, to spend the night at the sitio, in high festivity.
197.—BRAZILIAN NEGRESSES.
“I learned these particulars from the old Indian lady who did me the honours of the house. A low wall, from three to four feet in height, skirted this shed. At its sides and along the whole length were placed raised wooden seats, and both ends were closed from floor to roof by thick blinds made of glittering palm-leaves, as fine as they were handsome, and of a pretty straw colour. In a corner we found an immense embroidery loom (Penelope’s was doubtless like it), which was occupied at the moment by a hammock of palm fibre, an unfinished work of the ‘senhora dona’, or mistress of the house, who allowed me to see the way in which she used the machine. She squatted herself on a little low bench, in front of the frame, and showed me that the two rows of cross threads were separated by a thick piece of polished wood in the shape of a flat rule. The shuttle is thrown between these two threads and the woof is drawn close by a sharp blow of the thick rule. I was then led to admire some hammocks of various colours and textures which were being arranged for the accommodation of the visitors, and whilst the men set off to bathe in the brook, I went through the rest of the lodge with our hostess and her daughter, a very pretty Indian. The direction of everything devolves on the elder of the two ladies; the master is absent, as he holds a captain’s commission in the army operating against Paraguay.