who lived where the
_pintado_ fish (_orari_ in Bororo) was to be found. The Bororos spoke of
only three other tribes: the _Kaiamo doghe_ (the Chavantes Indians),
their bitter enemies; the _Ra rai doghe_--the long-legged people--ancient
cave-dwellers, once the neighbours of the Bororos, but now extinct; and
the _Baru gi raguddu doghe_--a name better left untranslated--applied to
a tribe living in grottoes.

In the way of religion the Bororos admitted of five different heavens, in
the last of which dwelt a Superior Being--a deity called the _Marebba_.
Marebba's origin was unknown to the Bororos. All they knew was that he
had a mother and a powerful son. Marebba only looked after the men--but
he was so occupied that when the _barihs_--through whose mediation it was
possible to communicate with him--wished to be heard, they had to shout
at the top of their voices in order to attract his attention. Only the
higher _barihs_ could communicate with him, the lower _barihs_ being
merely permitted to communicate with his son.

They also believed in the existence of a bad god--an evil spirit called
_Boppe_. Boppe inhabited the mountains, the tree-tops and the "red
heaven." There were many _boppe_, male and female, and to them were due
all the misfortunes which had afflicted the Bororos. Some of the _barihs_
maintained that they had actually seen both Marebba and some of the
_boppes_. They gave wonderful descriptions of them, comparing them in
their appearance to human beings. The Bororos believed that in any food
it was possible to find a _boppe_--there established in order to do evil.
Therefore, before partaking of meals, especially at festivals, they first
presented the _barih_ with fruit, grain, meat and fish in order to
appease the anger of the evil spirits.

The Bororos believed in the transmigration of the soul into animals. They
never ate deer, nor jaguar, nor vultures, because they thought that those
animals contained the souls of their ancestors. The jaguar, as a rule,
contained the soul of women. When a widower wished to marry a second time
he must first kill a jaguar in order to free the soul of his first wife
from suffering.

They also seemed to have an idea that the _arue_, or souls of the dead,
might reappear in the world and could be seen by relatives. Men and women
all became of one sex on leaving this world--all souls being feminine,
according to the Bororos.

[Illustration: Bororos Thrashing Indian Corn.]