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His cold and silent gravity, the respect with which he was treated by his attendants, everything denoted him to be a person of importance. He was equipped, however, in the same manner as his Indians. They were all equally naked, armed with bows and arrows, and painted with onoto, which is the colouring fecula of the Bixa orellana.
In Brazil it is called "urucu," whence the French name "rocou;" and the Peruvians have still another designation for it, "achoté." Of course each tribe of Indians calls it by a separate name. The botanic name, Bixa, is the ancient name by which it was known to the Indians of Hayti, for it is found in most parts of tropical America growing wild, although it is also cultivated.
This was a famous plant Bixa orellana Roucou; and that pulp was the well-known annotto dye of commerce. In England and Holland it is used merely, I believe, to color cheeses, but in the Spanish Main to color human beings. The Indian of the Orinoco prefers paint to clothes; and when he has "roucoued" himself from head to foot, considers himself in full dress, whether for war or dancing.
The heart-leaved bixa, or anotta. Log-wood. Although now cultivated in many other tropical countries, the cacao tree is one of the New World's rich gifts, first made known to our ancestors by the venturesome Spaniards, who probably became acquainted with its cultivation early in the sixteenth century, and spread the knowledge derived from the Mexicans and the inhabitants of Central America to their other colonies.
It bore prickly, heart-shaped pods an inch long, filled with seeds coated with a red waxy pulp. This was a famous plant Bixa Orellana, Roucou; and that pulp was the well-known Arnotta dye of commerce. In England and Holland it is used merely, I believe, to colour cheeses; but in the Spanish Main, to colour human beings.
The botanic name, Bixa, is the ancient name by which it was known to the Indians of Hayti, for it is found in most parts of tropical America growing wild, although it is also cultivated. It is an article in great demand among all the Indians of South America, who use it for painting their bodies, and dyeing the cotton cloth of which they make their garments.
Annatto is a colouring principle obtained from the pulpy matter enclosing the seeds of the fruit of a tree, the Bixa orellana, growing in Central and Southern America. The red or orange colour it yields is fugitive, and so its use is limited, being chiefly confined to silk dyeing.
Under the name of kasumba are included two plants yielding materials for dyeing, but very different from each other. The kasumba kling or galuga is the Bixa orellana, or arnotto of the West Indies.
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