Perhaps you have heard of the Amazon River. It is the largest river in
the world. It is four thousand miles long, and more than fifty miles
wide where it flows into the sea. This river is in Brazil. Brazil is
far south of us.
[Illustration: Amazon Indians.]
There are great forests along the banks of this river. They run back
from the river for hundreds of miles. They are the largest forests in
the world.
A great many kinds of trees grow in these forests. Some of the trees
are very high. Often the trees are covered with vines on which
beautiful flowers grow.
Wax-palm trees, breadfruit trees, and rubber trees are found in these
forests. Wax is taken from the leaves of the wax palm.
We make rubber from the rubber tree. A cut is made in the side of the
tree with a knife. From this cut a white juice flows. This juice is
like milk. It is caught in a cup. After a while the juice gets hard.
Then it is rubber.
A great many strange animals and birds are found in these forests.
There is the sloth, which lives in the trees. It has hooked claws for
holding on to the branches. It hangs on to a branch with its back
downward. When it goes to sleep, it rolls itself up like a ball. It
moves very slowly, and that is why it is called the sloth.
[Illustration: A Sloth.]
These forests are full of monkeys and parrots. Perhaps you have seen a
parrot. I dare say you have not seen more than two or three parrots at
one time. But in these forests there are flocks of parrots. They fly
from tree to tree, and are very wild.
[Illustration: A Parrot.]
There are many kinds of them. Some are red, some are green, some are
blue, and some are all these colors.
Monkeys chatter and parrots screech. What a noise they must sometimes
make!
But besides the parrots and the monkeys, there are humming birds and
butterflies. You know that the humming bird is a very small bird, but
humming birds are found in these forests no larger than a bee. The
butterflies are the most beautiful in the world.
The people who live in these forests are called Indians. They do not
often let white men come among them. Their skin is copper color, like
the Indians of our country. Their hair is black and straight. They
are not as tall as our Indians, but their bodies are finely formed.
They have large, full chests. Their hands and feet are small and
nicely shaped.
They keep themselves very clean. The men and women, the boys and
girls, are all fond of bathing. The first thing they do in the morning
is to take a bath in the nearest river.
Strange to say, some of them paint their faces and bodies. They take
the juice of a tree which will stain a blue black. They pour this
juice on their heads, and let it run in streams down their backs. They
also put red and yellow in large round spots on their cheeks and
foreheads.
The men braid their hair, and wear it long, down their backs. They
part their hair and wear combs. But the women do not part their hair
and do not wear combs. They pull the hair out of their eyebrows. They
make holes in their ears. In these holes they wear, instead of rings,
a little piece of grass with feathers fastened to it.
[Illustration: A Painted Amazon Indian.]
Their houses are made of logs of wood set in the ground as posts. They
put other logs on top of these for a roof. Then they cover these logs
with palm leaves. There are no windows, and they use mats for doors.
They sleep in hammocks. These they make of string. They make the
string by twisting the leaves of a tree.
They have plenty of pans and pots, both large and small. These pans
and pots they make of clay.
First, they soften the clay and knead it. Then they shape it into pots
and pans. It is then dried in the sun. When the pots and pans are dry
they are put in a hot fire. This makes them hard and strong.
The chief food of these Indians is a kind of flour made from the root
of a plant. They also eat fish. A great many fish are found in the
rivers. These they catch and eat. They also dry fish and then smoke
them over a fire. The smoked fish keep good a long time.
These Indians sail on the rivers in canoes. But their canoes are
heavy. They are not light, as the canoes of our Indians are. They are
not made of birch bark.
These Indians make an entire canoe out of a single tree. The canoe is
made thick so as not to be broken by knocking against snags and rocks.