Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/207

 tanned by foreign travel. One of them, a charming young girl named Isabel, was quite a blonde, having gray eyes, light brown hair, and fair complexion; yet her grandmother was a tattooed Indian of the Tucúna tribe.

Many of the Ega Indians, including all the domestic servants, are savages who have been brought from the neighbouring rivers; the Japurá, the Issá, and the Solimoens. I saw here individuals of at least sixteen different tribes; most of whom had been bought, when children, of the native chiefs. This species of slave dealing, although forbidden by the laws of Brazil, is winked at by the authorities, because, without it, there would be no means of obtaining servants. They all become their own masters when they grow up, and never show the slightest inclination to return to utter savage life. But the boys generally run away and embark on the canoes of traders; and the girls are often badly treated by their mistresses, the jealous, passionate, and ill-educated Brazilian women. Nearly all the enmities which arise amongst residents at Ega and other places, are caused by disputes about Indian servants. No one who has lived only in old settled countries, where service can be readily bought, can imagine the difficulties and annoyances of a land where the servant class are ignorant of the value of money, and hands cannot be obtained except by coaxing them from the employ of other masters.

Great mortality takes place amongst the poor captive children on their arrival at Ega. It is a singular circumstance, that the Indians residing on the Japurá