re called Nac-nanuk or Nac-poruk, "sons of the soil." The name
Botocudos cannot be traced much farther back than the writings of Prince
Maximilian von Neuwied (_Reise nach Bresilien_, Frankfort-On-Main,
1820). When the Portuguese adventurer Vasco Fernando Coutinho reached
the east coast of Brazil in 1535, he erected a fort at the head of
Espirito Santo Bay to defend himself against "the Aimores and other
tribes." The original home of the tribe comprised most of the present
province of Espirito Santo, and reached inland to the headwaters of Rio
Grande (Belmonte) and Rio Doce on the eastern slopes of the Serra do
Espinhacao, but the Botocudos are now mainly confined to the country
between Rio Pardo and Rio Doce, and seldom roam westward beyond Serra
dos Aimores into Minas Geraes. It was in the latter district that at the
close of the 18th century they came into collision with the whites, who
were attracted thither by the diamond fields.

The Botocudos are nomads, wandering naked in the woods and living on
forest products. They are below the medium height, but broad-shouldered
and remarkable for the muscular development and depth of their chests.
Their arms and legs are, however, soft and fleshy, and their feet and
hands small. Their features, which vary individually almost as much as
those of Europeans, are broad and flat, with prominent brow, high
cheek-bones, small bridgeless nose, wide nostrils and slight projection
of the jaws. They are longheaded, and their hair is coarse, black and
lank. Their colour is a light yellowish brown, sometimes almost
approaching white. The general yellow tint emphasizes their Mongolic
appearance, which all travellers have noticed. The Botocudos were
themselves greatly struck by the Chinese coolies, whom they met in
Brazilian seaports, and whom they at once accepted as kinsmen (Henri
Hollard, _De l'homme et des races humaines_, Paris, 1853).[1] Some few
Botocudos have settled and become civilized, but the great bulk of them,
numbering between twelve and fourteen thousand, are still the wildest of
savages. During the earlier frontier wars (1790-1820) every effort was
made to extirpate them. They were regarded by the Portuguese as no
better than wild beasts. Smallpox was deliberately spread among them;
poisoned food was scattered in the forests; by such infamous means the
coast districts about Rios Doce and Belmonte were cleared, and one
Portuguese commander boasted that he had either slain w