A history of the Brazil : $b comprising its geography, commerce, colonization, aboriginal inhabitants, &c. &c. &c.Henderson, James
History
A history of the Brazil : $b comprising its geography, commerce, colonization, aboriginal inhabitants, &c. &c. &c.
Henderson, James
Brazil; Brazil -- History -- To 1822
Amongst its rivers may be remarked the Pequequera, well stored with
fish and navigable for the space of twenty miles; the Rio Negro,
little less voluminous, and navigable for an equal distance, and also
abounding with fish; the Bengales; and one called Rio Grande.
The major part of the territory, up to the epoch of its colonization,
was under the dominion of the Coroado Indians, the remains of the
ancient Goytacazes, at present not numerous, and allied to the
conquerors. Their houses are large, constructed of timber and earth;
they are of extraordinary length, covered with grass, or the bark of
trees, with one door only, and without a single window. One of these
rudely-constructed edifices will contain fifty, sometimes eighty,
and even one hundred families. Generally each house constitutes an
aldeia; very rarely two are met with together. Every morning, at
the break of day, on hearing the song of a species of partridge,
called _macuco_, (which sits upon trees during the night,) they
immediately rise, and, although it rains, they go and bathe in the
nearest torrent or lake; for which purpose a signal is made by the
sound of an instrument formed of a cane.
Their marriage ceremonies consist of a species of banquet, at which all
the inhabitants of the aldeia assemble; and generally the whole party
become intoxicated. Immediately on being sensible of the approach of
labour, the women retire into a wood, where they become mothers without
any assistance whatever, and return with their infants, already covered
with the juice of certain herbs, to render them less susceptible of
cold.
These natives inter their dead in a sitting posture. Formerly the
cemeteries of their caciques, or captains, consisted of cylindrical
earthen vases, denominated _cammucis_; some of which have been
recently found, containing bones.
These Indians use the bow and arrow only. The arrow is a species of
cane, with a point of peculiarly hard wood, exposed to the fire till it
acquires the greatest degree of consistency; some, intended for large
animals, are formed at the point like a sword; others triangular and
quadrangular.
A man who returns to the house after an absence of many days does not
say a single word, in compliment, to his family, nor do they receive
him in any other manner than if he had only been to fetch water from
the fountain.
In 1814 the parish of Santissimo Sacramento was created a town, with
the name of St. Pedro de Canta Gallo. Its civil government is conducted
by two ordinary judges, three magistrates, and various minor officers.
It is a middling town, traversed by a current of good water, which
flows to the river Macuco. Its inhabitants, and those of its extensive
district, prefer agriculture to mining, and they cultivate the usual
necessaries of life belonging to the country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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