Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/143

 clamation, Hm! hm! Before I finished, from fifty to sixty had assembled; there was no pushing or rudeness, the grown-up women letting the young girls and children stand before them, and all behaved in the most quiet and orderly manner possible.

The great difference in figure, shape of head, and arrangement of features amongst these people struck me forcibly, and showed how little uniformity there is in these respects amongst the Brazilian Indians, even when belonging to the same tribe. The only points in which they all closely resembled each other were the long, thick, straight, jet-black hair, the warm coppery-brown tint of the skin, and the quiet, rather dull, expression of countenance. I saw no countenance so debased in expression as many seen amongst the Múra tribe, and no head of the Mongolian type—broad, with high cheek bones, and oblique position of the eyes—of which single examples occur amongst the semi-civilised canoemen on the river. Many of them had fine oval faces, with rather long and well-formed features, moderately thin lips, and arched forehead. One little girl, about twelve years of age, had quite a European cast of features, and a remarkably slim figure. They were all clean in their persons; the petticoats of the women being made of coarse cotton cloth obtained from traders, and their hair secured in a knot behind by combs made of pieces of bamboo. The old men had their heads closely cropped, with the exception of a long fringe which hung down in front over their foreheads.

The Mundurucús are perhaps the most numerous