he general name of Tapuyos--from a once powerful nation of
that name, existing towards the southern part of the Brazilian coast,
and driven northward by still fiercer hordes.

Though less cruel, and frequently sparing the lives of their captives,
they had the strange custom of eating a portion of their dead relatives,
as the last mark of affection. Many of the Brazilian tribes were
reclaimed from their more barbarous practices by the Portuguese
missionaries, who from their numerous dialects formed the language now
generally in use--the Tupi, Guarani, or lingua Geral. The remoter
tribes, however, seeing the way the milder races have been oppressed by
unscrupulous traders, and hunted down by government officials to be
taken as soldiers, resolutely defend their territories from all
strangers, and retain the ferocity and cannibalism of their forefathers.

THE ACAWOIOS.

It is pleasing to read of a tribe described by McClintock as superior in
domestic virtues to most of their countrymen. The Acawoios, or Kaphons,
though warlike, differ from other tribes in many points. Polygamy is
not permitted before a suitable age. The women are virtuous, and
attentive both in sickness and old age. After a birth, the mother is
relieved even from the labour of preparing food for her husband, that
she may attend to her child. They are cleanly, hospitable, and
generous, and passionately fond of their children. They seldom talk
above a whisper among themselves, and however intoxicated--which they
sometimes become--never quarrel; nay, more, an angry look is never
discernible. They use tobacco; not chewing it, however, but simply
keeping it between the lips, for the purpose of appeasing hunger and
preserving their teeth. They live towards the head-waters of the
Essequibo. On the whole, a more orderly and peaceably-disposed people
can scarcely be found anywhere.

The customs of the fierce tribes, though differing in some respects,
agree in many others. They are in general indolent, and find clothing
unnecessary; they have little to provide beyond their daily food, and
thus spend much of their time in their hammocks, leaving the women to
labour in the plantations and attend to their domestic concerns. They
are, perhaps, more apathetic in manner than reality, having great
control over their feelings. Like the whole race, their senses are
extremely acute, and kept in constant exercise by following game or
tracking an enemy through