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Updated: June 4, 2025
Finally he decorated the little head with bright-colored feathers the Mundurucús were very clever at feather work and fastened the lips together with a string, by which the head was suspended from the eaves of his hut or from the beams of the council house. "It was highly ingenious. The question was whether heads so preserved would be of any use for the study of facial characters.
The Mundurucus are considered to be the most expert workers in feathers of all the South American tribes. It is very difficult, however, to get them to part with the articles, as they seem to have a sort of superstitious regard for them.
The Portuguese made peace with them in the beginning of the present century, the event being brought about by the common cause of quarrel entertained by the two peoples against the hated Muras. They have ever since been firm friends of the whites. It is remarkable how faithfully this friendly feeling has been handed down amongst the Mundurucus, and spread to the remotest of the scattered hordes.
One of the largest semi-civilised tribes inhabiting the banks of the Tapajos are the Mundurucus. They are noted for tattooing their bodies more completely than any other tribe. The whole body is covered with straight lines in diagonal patterns from the mouth downwards, the upper part being left free.
The Pararauates were a tribe of intractable savages, with whom the Mundurucus have been always at war. They had no fixed abode, and of course made no plantations, but passed their lives like the wild beasts, roaming through the forest, guided by the sun; wherever they found themselves at night-time there they slept, slinging their bast hammocks, which are carried by the women, to the trees.
The Mundurucus are perhaps the most numerous and formidable tribe of Indians now surviving in the Amazons region. On the Tapajos alone they can muster, I was told, 2000 fighting men; the total population of the tribe may be about 20,000.
They are not so shrewd, energetic, and masterful as the Mundurucus, but they are more easily taught, because their disposition is more yielding than that of the Mundurucus or any other tribe. We started on our return to Ega at half-past four o'clock in the afternoon. Our generous entertainers loaded us with presents.
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