Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v1.djvu/355

 alliance with the Brazilians, they have given no serious trouble.

The reasons which lead me to think the Múras are merely an offshoot from the Mundurucús, or some other allied section of the widely-spread Tupí nation, and not an originally distinct people, are founded on a general comparison of the different tribes of Amazonian Indians. In the first place, there is no sharply-defined difference between sections of the Indian race, either in physical or moral qualities. They are all very much alike in bodily structure; and, although some are much lower in the scale of culture than others, yet the numerous tribes in this respect form a graduated link from the lowest to the highest. The same customs reappear in tribes who are strongly contrasted in other respects and live very wide apart. The Mauhés, who live in the neighbourhood of the Mundurucús and Múras, have much in common with both; but, according to tradition, they once formed part of the Mundurucú nation. The language of the Múras is entirely different from that of the tribes mentioned; but language is not a sure guide in the filiation of Brazilian tribes; seven or eight different languages being sometimes spoken on the same river, within a distance of 200 or 300 miles. There are certain peculiarities in Indian habits which lead to a quick corruption of language and segregation of dialects. When Indians, men or women, are conversing amongst themselves, they seem to take pleasure in inventing new modes of pronunciation, or in distorting words. It is amusing to notice how the whole party will laugh when the wit of the circle perpetrates a new slang term,