Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/255

 hordes were therefore spread over a region 400 miles in length from east to west. It is probable, however, that they have been confounded by the colonists with other neighbouring tribes who tattoo their faces in a similar manner; such as the Jurís, Uáinumás, Shumánas, Araúas, and Tucúnas. The extinct tribe of Yurimaúas, or Sorimóas, from which the river Solimoens derives its name, according to traditions extant at Ega, resembled the Passés in their slender figures and friendly disposition. These tribes (with others lying between them) peopled the banks of the main river and its by-streams from the mouth of the Rio Negro to Peru. True Passés existed in their primitive state on the banks of the Issá, 240 miles to the west of Ega, within the memory of living persons. The only large body of them now extant are located on the Japurá, at a place distant about 150 miles from Ega: the population of this horde, however, does not exceed, from what I could learn, 300 or 400 persons. I think it probable that the lower part of the Japurá and its extensive delta lands formed the original home of this gentle tribe of Indians.

The Passés are always spoken of in this country as the most advanced of all the Indian nations in the Amazons region. I saw altogether about thirty individuals of the tribe, and found them generally distinguishable from other Indians by their lighter colour, sharper features, and more open address. But these points of distinction were not invariable, for I saw individuals of the Jurí and Miránha tribes from the Upper Japurá; of the Catoquínos, who inhabit the banks of the Jurúa, 300 miles from its mouth; and