It has been currently asserted by travellers, that the Brasilians, differing from the most barbarous people, are wholly destitute of religious ideas. They are said to have no idea of a Divinity, no tradition respecting the origin of the human race, and no expectation of a future state of rewards and punishments. These assertions, however, arc positively contradicted by the very travel lers who make them, in other parts of their narrative. The Brasilians had, indeed, no temples, no sacrifices ; none of that pageantry with which religious belief is usually accompanied among civilized nations. Neither had they ideas of the Deity, or of a future state, exactly corresponding to ours. Hence, to a superficial eye, they might appear destitute altogether of principles so deeply rooted in the human mind. But, on a closer examination, it soon appears, that they were fully im pressed with the belief of powers and beings superior to man, and with that of a certain mode of existence beyond the grave. Their notions on these subjects were, doubtless, extremely rude and uncouth ; but on this ground, the most civilized nations, unenlightened by revelation, could have little room to reproach them. The first objects which excite in untutored minds the idea of a superior power are, the great and active phe nomena of nature, particularly those which move in the higher regions of visible space. Thunder, whose effects are every where striking, and peculiarly so in a warm climate, had attracted, in a remarkable degree, the adoration of the Brasilians. They had endowed it with mind, and viewed it, not only like other nations, as a formidable, but also as a beneficent, power. To it they considered themselves as indebted for whatever they knew of the science of agriculture. The sun and moon, almost universal objects of idolatrous worship, had also attracted their attention. At certain periods, they raised their hands to them in a suppliant manner, with ges tures and cries expressive of the profoundest venera tion. They had conjlired up to themselves a race of evil beings, called Aignans, by whom they often fancied themselves to be beaten and scourged with the utmost severity. They entertained also notions of a future state. Some they believed were transported after death into plains of inexpressible beauty, where they spent their time in dancing, and were lavishly supplied with every means of enjoyment. The same traveller (Levy), who so inconsistently represents them as entirely devoid of religious ideaS, mentions elsewhere his having heard one of their songs, in which, after lamenting the death of their ancestors, they console themselves with the hope of a future and joyful meeting beyond the lofty mountains. Others, on the contrary, are shut up in gloomy abodes, where the Aignans torment them with out intermission. They were not even entirely desti tute of a priesthood, some offices of which were per formed by their jugglers or conjurers, who arc sup posed to possess powers more than human, and to hold intercourse with invisible beings. At their dances, which, at the same time that they afforded one of their highest enjoyments, were considered as religious cere monies, several of these jugglers always presided.
During the intervals of dancing, the conjurer carried about wooden poles stuck round with fruits, and hav ing a hollow filled with tobacco, which he set fire to, and breathed upon all present, pretending that through this medium the slant infused force and vigour into them. Ridiculous as was this custom, it still seems to intimate a belief, not only of a superior, but of an immaterial being, with whom these uncouth ministers held intercourse. Besides presiding at these ceremo nies, the conjurers were also believed to have the power of foreseeing, and even of producing future events : in cases of diseases, their aid was particularly sought. These supernatural powers, which they were believed to possess, made them be courted and caressed by all who laboured under any distress ; but when the event did not correspond with the expectation of their votary, the failure was attributed to the conjurer, and he suffered often severe vengeance from his disappointed dupe.
Besides being without religion, they are represented Also as having been without government ; and this last allegation seems to have rested on a better foundation than the other. No nation seems ever to have subsisted in a more perfect state of equality, or with fewer out ward marks of subordination. They had chiefs ; but the small degree of obedience which they paid seems to have been so entirely voluntary, as hardly to imply any degree of subjection. To secure success in their-war like enterprizes, a leader was indiwensable ; and the bravest and wisest was naturally selected for that high office. As their expeditions were carried on rather by skill and stratagem than by open force, prudence and judgment were important qualities ; and in a society where there was no other mode of acquiring information, except by experience, age necessarily involved a superiority ; hence their old men were the chief ob jects of their respect. A peculiar reverence was paid to those who had distinguished themselves in war, by the number of men whom they had slain, or of the captives whom they had taken. These old men sup ported their influence by the arts of oratory, which made a powerful impression on savage minds. Their speeches were chiefly animating them to valour, and to revenge the death of their countrymen. They were particularly eloquent on their march to the scene of action, when the party often stopt for whole hours to listen to these rude harangues. With war, the slender portion of authority which its exigencies had conferred entirely ceased ; and every one lived in his cottage, in a state of entire independence.
It thus appears, that war was the tie which united them in the bonds of political society : it was also their grand and favourite occupation; the object for which they existed. The inhabitants of Brasil were divided into a number of small communities, inflamed with the most deadly hatred against each other ; the most ardent wish of each being the utter extermination of its im mediate neighbour. The object of these wars, how ever, was not to extend their territories, which were already wide beyond their power to occupy ; neither did the miserable plunder which a savage village afforded enter at all into their calculation. It was pure and deadly hatred ; it was the raging thirst of vengeance, which nothing could appease, but the torture and de struction of its devoted objects. Enmities were pro pagated in an interminable series ; for every act of vengeance called for new vengeance in return ; every instance of savage cruelty left an indelible recollection in the mind of the whole tribe to which he belonged, against whom it had been committed. This propensity
was doubtless aided by that restlessness and desire of activity, which, in such fierce minds, could be gratified only by occupations of the most turbulent and tumul tuous character. The love of military glory also, that favourite passion among all rude nations, entered large ly into their motives to war. It was still subordinate, how ever, to their thirst of vengeance, and the desire of doing execution : the latter passion so far prevailed, as to make them adopt a mode of warfare, which has generally been deemed dishonorable by more civilized nations. They avoided to meet their enemies in the field ; they never courted that single combat, which, in a nation governed by honour, is considered as bringing bravery to the fairest test. They con ducted their wars by stratagem, by surprizc, by am buscade ; they chose the dead hour of midnight to fall upon their unsuspecting enemies ; they sought to destroy them, without exposing themselves to danger. This system, however, did not imply the want of courage; when perils met them, however formidable, they faced them with intrepidity ; they endured, with the most dreadful constancy, those horrors, to which savage war exposes the vanquished. This care of themselves seems to have been dictated by the necessity of not diminishing the numbers of their tribes, since it was in numbers that its whole strength consisted ; and these numbers being slender, would be materially diminished by the loss even of a very few members. This method had also the effect of rendering the blow struck against their enemies more sure and effectual ; it prevented flight or resistance ; it rendered their de struction sudden and entire. When one of their expedi tions was determined upon, the old men arranged the time and mode of procedure ; they gave the signal for setting out, and were followed by the rest, with the most rapturous acclamations. Having laid up provision sufficient to last for a considerable time, they proceeded by the most unfrequented paths, in profound silence, till they arrived at the hostile frontiers. There they left the women, children, and all those who were unfit for service ; and the chosen warriors of the nation pro ceeded to the scene of action. When they approached the village on which the attack was to be made, they concealed themselves more carefully than ever. Tak ing their station in the thickest woods, they watched the opportunity of finding the enemy completely unpre pared. The time favourable for this purpose was of course the night, when the enemy were buried in sleep, and unconscious of impending danger. Notwithstanding dreadful and continually repeated examples, these na tions had never adopted the obvious precaution of sta tioning a centinel to warn them of an approaching enemy The attack, therefore, proved generally successful ; the inhabitants were roused from profound slumber by the yells of their destroying foe: A scene then ensued, the horrors of which no pen can describe. The victims, unprepared, unarmed, defenceless, fell unresisting into the hands of their enraged and unrelenting enemies. In vain did their cries rise to heaven ; vain was all sup plication; neither age nor sex afforded shelter from the utmost excesses of cruelty, and the victors exhausted themselves in inventing new forms of inhumanity ; they devour in their fury portions of the mangled victims, while they reserve the survivors for a more lingering fate. The number of prisoners taken was, indeed, the criterion by which their warlike exploits were chiefly valued. The arrival of a numerous band, doomed to destruction, secures them a joyful reception from that part of the community who had been left at home, and who were eagerly waiting their return. These unhappy men were reserved for a festival, the most horrible and the most disgraceful to human nature. To devour the flesh of their enemies, amid savage pomp and acclama tion, was considered as the utmost height of human triumph. They did not, however, proceed immediately ; nor did they, unless to a small extent, in the first frenzy of battle, feed on the bodies of enemies slain on the field. They reserved the living captives for an august solemnity, at which the whole nation was called to assist. Previous to this awful day, the prisoner was treated tivith every mark of kindness and favour. His wants were liberally supplied ; he was allowed to ac company them in the exercises of hunting and fishing ; and the person to whom he belonged hesitated not to give him one of his own nearest relations as a wife, dur ing the short period that he had yet to live. All this previous kindness, however, seemed to be bestowed only to render his fate, when it arrived, more dreadful. Im mediately previous even to the fatal moment, several days were devoted to feasting and profuse conviviality, in which the captive was admitted to share. All his study, then, was to skew the most entire indifference to his approaching fate, and the proudest defiance to the enemies among whom he was seated. He was the gayest of the company ; he boasted aloud of his warlike exploits, and particularly of such as have been performed against those by whom he is surrounded. He was then fixed on a scaffold, and, by a whimsical indulgence, a number of stones were placed beside him, with which he was allowed to do all the mischief in his power. Then he person who was to execute his doom stept forth. This office was considered as peculiarly honourable, and was assigned to the most distinguished character in the nation. This person comes in his most splendid war dress, waving with varied coloured plumes, and with a large club in his hand. He then addresses the captive : " Here am I, that have killed many of thy na tion, and will kill thee :" to which the other replies, "You do well, I have slain a multitude of your country men and have devoured them ; you do well, but my death will be revenged." After this mutual defiance, the fatal blow is instantly struck ; and after the neces sary preparations. the inhuman feast begins, amid uni versal delight and triumph. The bones arc carefully preserved, and are fashioned into various ornaments of necklaces, bracelets, and musical instruments. The heads are also preserved, and piled up in a corner, to be shcwn to every stranger, as testimonies of their prowess and success.