The Parecis Indians, whom we met here, were exceedingly interesting.  They were to all appearance an unusually cheerful, good-humored, pleasant-natured people.  Their teeth were bad; otherwise they appeared strong and vigorous, and there were plenty of children.  The colonel was received as a valued friend and as a leader who was to be followed and obeyed.  He is raising them by degrees—­the only way by which to make the rise permanent.  In this village he has got them to substitute for the flimsy Indian cabins houses of the type usual among the poorer field laborers and back-country dwellers in Brazil.  These houses have roofs of palm thatch, steeply pitched.  They are usually open at the sides, consisting merely of a framework of timbers, with a wall at the back; but some have the ordinary four walls, of erect palm-logs.  The hammocks are slung in the houses, and the cooking is also done in them, with pots placed on small open fires, or occasionally in a kind of clay oven.  The big gourds for water, and the wicker baskets, are placed on the ground, or hung on the poles.

The men had adopted, and were wearing, shirts and trousers, but the women had made little change in their clothing.  A few wore print dresses, but obviously only for ornament.  Most of them, especially the girls and young married women, wore nothing but a loin-cloth in addition to bead necklaces and bracelets.  The nursing mothers—­and almost all the mothers were nursing—­sometimes carried the child slung against their side of hip, seated in a cloth belt, or sling, which went over the opposite shoulder of the mother.  The women seemed to be well treated, although polygamy is practised.  The children were loved by every one; they were petted by both men and women, and they behaved well to one another, the boys not seeming to bully the girls or the smaller boys.  Most of the children were naked, but the girls early wore the loin-cloth; and some, both of the little boys and the little girls, wore colored print garments, to the evident pride of themselves and their parents.  In each house there were several families, and life went on with no privacy but with good humor, consideration, and fundamentally good manners.  The man or woman who had nothing to do lay in a hammock or squatted on the ground leaning against a post or wall.  The children played together, or lay in little hammocks, or tagged round after their mothers; and when called they came trustfully up to us to be petted or given some small trinket; they were friendly little souls, and accustomed to good treatment.  One woman was weaving a cloth, another was making a hammock; others made ready melons and other vegetables and cooked them over tiny fires.  The men, who had come in from work at the ferry or along the telegraph-lines, did some work themselves, or played with the children; one cut a small boy’s hair, and then had his own hair cut by a friend.  But the absorbing amusement of the men was an extraordinary game of ball.