_Bulbuls_, see _Poyas_.
_Carchas_ or _Cukras_, on Rio Meco above Matlack Falls.
_Cocos_, on Rio Coco.
_Micos_, on Rio Mico.
_Parrastahs_, on Rio Mico.
_Pantasmas_, on upper basin of Rio Coco.
_Melchoras_, on Rio de los Ramas.
_Siquias_, on upper Rio Mico.
_Smoos_, see _Woolwas_.
_Subironas_, on Rio Coco.
_Twakas_, at San Blas and on Rio Twaka.
_Woolwas_, _Ulvas_, _Smoos_, on head-waters of Blewfield river.
The _Ramas_, described as men of herculean stature and strength, with a
language of their own, reside on a small island in Blewfield Lagoon.
Toward the mountains near the head-waters of Black River, are the
_Payas_, also alleged to be a separate stock. But unfortunately we have
no specimens of these tongues.[216]
The upper waters of the Rio Frio and its affluents form the locality of
the _Guatusos_ or Huatusos. By some older writers these were supposed
to be of Nahuatl affinities, and others said that they were “white
Indians.” Neither of these tales has any foundation. I have seen some
of the Guatusos, and their color is about that of the average northern
Indians; and as for their language, of which we have rather full
vocabularies, it is not in the slightest related to the Nahuatl, but
is an independent stock. They are a robust and agile set, preferring a
wild life, but cultivating maize, bananas, tobacco and other vegetables,
and knitting nets and hammocks from the fibres of the agave. The
huleros, or gatherers of india rubber, persecute them cruelly, and are
correspondingly hated. It is doubtful if at present they number over six
hundred.[217]
The mountain chain which separates Nicaragua from Costa Rica, and the
head-waters of the Rio Frio from those of the more southern and eastern
streams, is the ethnographic boundary of North America. Beyond it we
come upon tribes whose linguistic affinities point towards the southern
continent. Such are the Talamancas, Guaymies, Valientes and others, which
I must include, in view of recent researches into their languages, in the
next section.