Arrived at the house, we were welcomed by Pedro's wife: a thin,
wrinkled, active old squaw, tattooed in precisely the same way as
her husband. She also had sharp features, but her manner was more
cordial and quicker than that of her husband: she talked much,
and with great inflection of voice; while the tones of the old
man were rather drawling and querulous. Her clothing was a long
petticoat of thick cotton cloth, and a very short chemise, not
reaching to her waist. I was rather surprised to find the grounds
around the establishment in neater order than in any sitio, even
of civilised people, I had yet seen on the Upper Amazons; the
stock of utensils and household goods of all sorts was larger,
and the evidences of regular industry and plenty more numerous
than one usually perceives in the farms of civilised Indians and
whites. The buildings were of the same construction as those of
the humbler settlers in all other parts of the country. The
family lived in a large, oblong, open shed built under the shade
of trees.
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