Now this was the way the mother cured her son. Frederick took the story to heart; he laid it up in his memory. When he was tempted to look out for the faults of his companions, and to carry them home, he thought of the adder, and turning away from evil, he looked out for good; and it was not long before he was as successful in finding it as his brother Philip. Resistance to Pain. On one occasion, while some missionaries at South Africa were at dinner in their tent, some of the native chiefs and their wives being present, one of them seeing Mr. Read, a missionary, help himself to cayenne pepper, its red color attracted his attention, and he asked for some of it. On getting the cayenne, he instantly threw a quantity of it upon his tongue, but on feeling its pungency, he shut his eyes, clapped his hand upon his mouth, and holding down his head, endeavored manfully to conceal the pain. When he was able to look up, he slyly touched Mr. Read with his foot to intimate that he should say nothing, but give the same dose to the others present. Another chief next got some, who also instantly felt its powers; but, understanding the joke, as soon as he was able to speak, he asked for some for his wife; and thus it went round, to the great diversion of all present. [Illustration: _Indian children singing._] Sketches of the Manners, Customs, &c., of the Indians of America. CHAPTER XIII. _South America continued.--Discovery of Brazil.--Character of its inhabitants.--Their treachery and cannibalism.--Notice of the first emigrants.--Missionaries.--Teaching the children to sing.--Effect of music on the natives.--Present state of the country.--Personal appearance of the Indians.--Manner of living.--Botucudoes.--Description of this tribe.--General description.--Horses, weapons, ornaments.--Religion.--Remarks._ Brazil was discovered in 1500. The first Spaniard who ventured to cross the equinoctial was Vincent Pinzon. He landed at a point on the coast of Brazil, about twenty miles south of Pernambuco. A fleet was soon after sent out from Portugal, in which sailed that fortunate adventurer, Americus Vespucius, who has given his name to the New World. The Indians of Brazil were real savages, perfidious, cruel, and cannibals, who scarcely appear to have had a noble or generous trait in their characters. The dreadful depravity of these tribes seems to have infused the spirit of the furies into the female heart; and when the women of a nation are rendered ferocious, there is little if any chance that the nation will ever, by their own efforts, become civilized. The following account of the first interview between the Portuguese and the Brazilian Indians is sufficient to show the spirit of the latter.