_December 14th._—At the settlement of Mucaja-Tuba. Mucaja signifies a particular kind of palm, very abundant here; Tuba means a place. Thus we are among the woods of Acrocomia. Yesterday we were to have left Mauhes with the dawn on an excursion to this place, but at the appointed hour a flood of rain, such as is seen only in these latitudes, was pouring down in torrents, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The delay occasioned by this interruption, however, proved a good fortune in the end. By eleven o’clock the storm was over, but the sky continued overcast during the rest of the day. Our way lay up the river Mauhes, past the mouths of nameless streams and lakes,—broad sheets of water, perfectly unknown out of their immediate neighborhood. Night brought us to our destination, and at about eight o’clock we anchored before this little village. As we approached it a light or two was seen glimmering on the shore, and we could not help again wondering what was the feeling of the people who saw and heard for the first time one of these puffing steam monsters. This morning, with a boat-load of goods of all sorts, intended by the President as presents for the Indians, we put off for the shore. Landing on the beach we went at once to the house of the chief, a most respectable looking old man, who stood at the door to receive us. He was an old acquaintance of Major Coutinho, having formerly accompanied him on his exploration of the Rio Madeira. The inhabitants of this village are Mundurucu Indians, one of the most intelligent and kindly disposed of the Amazonian tribes. Although they are too civilized to be considered as illustrating in any way the wild life of the primitive Indians, yet, as it is the first time we have seen one of their isolated settlements, removed from every civilizing influence except the occasional contact of the white man, the visit was especially interesting to us. It is astonishing to see the size and solidity of their houses, with never a nail driven, the frame consisting of rough trunks bound together by withes made of long, elastic sipos, the cordage of the forest. Major Coutinho tells us that they know very well the use of nails in building, and say to one another derisively, when they want another sipo, “Hand me a nail.” The ridge-pole of this chief’s house could not have been less than twenty-five to thirty-eight feet high, and the room was spacious in proportion. Hammocks were hung in the corners, one of which was partitioned off by a low wall of palm-thatch; bows and arrows, guns and oars, hung on the walls or were leaning against them, and adjoining this central apartment was the mandioca kitchen. There were a number of doors and windows in the room, closed by large palm-mats. The house of the chief stood at the head of a line of houses differing from his only in being somewhat smaller; they made one side of an open square, on the opposite side of which was a corresponding row of buildings.