Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v1.djvu/191

beaches, describes a gentle curve inwards. The broad reach of the Pará in front of this coast is called the Bahia, or bay of Marajó. The coast and the interior of the land are peopled by civilised Indians and Mamelucos, with a mixture of free negroes and mulattos. They are poor, for the waters are not abundant in fish, and they are dependent for a livelihood solely on their small plantations, and the scanty supply of game found in the woods. The district was originally peopled by various tribes of Indians, of whom the principal were the Tupinambás and Nhengahíbas. Like all the coast tribes, whether inhabiting the banks of the Amazons or the sea-shore between Pará and Bahia, they were far more advanced in civilisation than the hordes scattered through the interior of the country, some of which still remain in the wild state, between the Amazons and the Plata. There are three villages on the coast of Carnapijó, and several planters' houses, formerly the centres of flourishing estates, which have now relapsed into forest in consequence of the scarcity of labour and diminished enterprise. One of the largest of these establishments is called Caripí: at the time of which I am speaking it belonged to a Scotch gentleman, Mr. Campbell, who had married the daughter of a large Brazilian proprietor. Most of the occasional English and American visitors to Pará had made some stay at Caripí, and it had obtained quite a reputation for the number and beauty of the birds and insects found there; I therefore applied for and obtained permission to spend two or three months at the place. The distance from Pará was about 23 miles, round by the