_November 18th._—One can hardly walk in any direction out of the town without meeting something characteristic of the people and their ways of living. At seven o’clock, to-day, I took my morning walk through the wood near the house to an igarapé, which is the scene of much of the out-of-doors life here,—fishing, washing, bathing, turtle-shooting. As I returned along the little path leading by the side of the stream, two naked Indian boys were shooting fish with bow and arrows from a fallen tree which jutted out into the stream. Like bronze statues they looked, as they stood quiet and watchful, in attitudes full of grace and strength, their bows drawn ready to let the arrow fly the moment they should catch sight of the fish. The Indian boys are wonderfully skilful in this sport, and also in shooting arrows through long blow-pipes (Sarabatanas) to kill birds. This is no bad way of shooting, for the report of the gun startles the game so effectually in these thick forests, that after a few shots the sportsman finds the woods in his immediate neighborhood deserted; whereas the Indian boy creeps stealthily up to the spot from which he takes aim and discharges his noiseless arrow with such precision, that the bird or monkey drops down from among its companions, without their perceiving the cause of its disappearance. While I was watching the boys, a canoe came up the stream, paddled by women, and loaded with fruit and vegetables, on the top of which sat two bright green parrots. Two of the women were old and hideous, very wrinkled and withered, as these people usually are in old age; but the third was the handsomest Indian woman I have ever seen, with a tinge of white blood to be sure, for her skin was fairer and her features more regular than those of the Indians generally. They were coming from their sitio, as I learned afterwards. When they had moored their boat to a tree, the younger woman began to unload, tucking her petticoat about her hips, and wading to and fro with baskets of fruit and vegetables on her head. Her hair was dressed with flowers, as is usual with these women; however scanty their clothing, they seldom forget this ornament.