Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919). Through the Brazilian Wilderness. 1914.

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children were loved by every one; they were petted by both men and women, and they behaved well to one another, the boys not seeming to bully the girls or the smaller boys. Most of the children were naked, but the girls early wore the loin-cloth; and some, both of the little boys and the little girls, wore colored print garments, to the evident pride of themselves and their parents. In each house there were several families, and life went on with no privacy but with good humor, consideration, and fundamentally good manners. The man or woman who had nothing to do lay in a hammock or squatted on the ground leaning against a post or wall. The children played together, or lay in little hammocks, or tagged round after their mothers; and when called they came trustfully up to us to be petted or given some small trinket; they were friendly little souls, and accustomed to good treatment. One woman was weaving a cloth, another was making a hammock; others made ready melons and other vegetables and cooked them over tiny fires. The men, who had come in from work at the ferry or along the telegraph-lines, did some work themselves, or played with the children; one cut a small boy’s hair, and then had his own hair cut by a friend. But the absorbing amusement of the men was an extraordinary game of ball.

In our family we have always relished Oliver Herford’s nonsense rhymes, including the account of Willie’s displeasure with his goat:


	“I do not like my billy goat,
	I wish that he was dead;
	Because he kicked me, so he did,
	He kicked me with his head.”

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