Those two mighty rivers, the Amazon and the Orinoco, belong to one
hydrographic system, the upper affluents of the latter pouring
their waters for six months of the year into the majestic expanse
of the former. Together they drain over three million square miles
of land,[335] clothed throughout with lush tropical vegetation and
seamed by innumerable streams, offering natural and facile paths of
intercommunication. It is not surprising, therefore, that we find
linguistic stocks extended most widely over this vast area, each counting
numerous members. Of them the most widely disseminated were the Tupi, the
Tapuya, the Carib and the Arawak families, and to these I shall first
give attention.
_1. The Tupis._
Along the coast of Brazil and up the Amazon there is current a more
or less corrupted native tongue called the “common language,” _lingua
geral_. It is derived mainly from the idiom of the Tupis, whose villages
were found by the first discoverers along the seaboard, from the mouth of
the La Plata to the Amazon and far up the stream of the latter. According
to their traditions, which are supported by a comparison of their
dialects, the Tupis wandered up the coast from the south. Their earlier
home was between the Parana river and the Atlantic. There they called
themselves _Carai_, the astute, a term they afterwards applied to the
Spaniards, but later were given the name _Guaranis_, meaning warriors,
by which they are generally known. They must have been very numerous, as
a careful estimate made in 1612 computed those then living in the modern
states of Corrientes and Uruguay at 365,000; a census which could not
have been much exaggerated, as about a century later the Jesuits claimed
to have over three hundred thousand Christianized and living in their
“reductions;”[336] even to-day ninety per cent. of the population of
Uruguay have Guarani blood in their veins.
The inroads of the Spaniards from the south and of the kidnapping
Portuguese from the east, reduced their number greatly, and many bands
sought safety in distant removals; thus the Chiriguanos moved far to the
west and settled on the highlands of Bolivia, where they have increased
their stock from four or five thousand to triple that number,[337]
extending as far south as the Pilcomayo river. On the upper waters of
the Parana were the Tapes, a nation so called from the name of their
principal village. It is another form of Tupi, and means “town.” They
received the early missionaries willingly, and are complimented by these
as being the most docile and intelligent of any of the nations of South
America.[338]
The Tupi tribes did not extend north of the immediate banks of the
Amazon, nor south of the Rio de la Plata. It would appear not improbable
that they started from the central highlands where the Tapajoz on the
north and the Paraguay on the south have their sources. Their main body
followed the latter to the Atlantic, where the Tupis proper separated and
moved up the coast of Brazil. This latter migration is believed to have
been as late as a few hundred years before the discovery.[339]
Like the Tapuyas, the Tupis have a tendency to dolicocephaly, but it
is less pronounced. They are less prognathic, the forehead is fuller
and the color of the skin brighter. The hair is generally straight, but
Pöppig saw many among the Cocamas of pure blood with wavy and even curly
hair.[340]
I have no hesitation in including in the Tupi family the Mundurucus, or
Paris, on the upper Tapajoz. Their relationship was fully recognized
by Professor Hartt, who was well acquainted with both dialects.[341]
They are a superior stamp of men, tall, of athletic figures, light in
color, their naked bodies artistically tattooed. Their women are skilled
in weaving cotton hammocks, and the men pursue some agriculture, and
manufacture handsome feather ornaments.
To the same family belong the Muras and Turas, in the swampy valley of
the Madeira in its middle course, “an amphibious race of ichthyophagi,”
as they are called by Martius, savage and hostile, and depraved by
the use of the _parica_, a narcotic, intoxicating snuff prepared from
the dried seeds of the _Mimosa acacioides_. At the beginning of this
century they were estimated at 12,000 bowmen; but this was doubtless
a great exaggeration. Though their dialect differs widely from the
_lingua geral_, the majority of their words are from Tupi roots.[342]
Others are related to the language of the Moxos, and in the last century
certain of their tribes lived in the immediate vicinity of these, and
were brought into the “reductions” of the Moxos Indians by the Jesuit
missionaries.[343] The tendency of their migrations has been down the
Madeira.
The tribes of this lineage in the extreme south of Brazil were numerous.
The Guachaguis, corresponding apparently to the modern Guachis, are
said by Lozano to speak a corrupt Guarani.[344] Vocabularies have
been obtained by Castelnau and Natterer, which indicate only a remote
resemblance. According to their own tradition, they migrated from near
the Moxos in the Bolivian highlands.
The Gualachos, who spread from the river Iguaza to the sea coast, spoke
a Guarani dialect in which the sounds of _f_, _j_ and _l_ were present,
which, in pure Guarani, are absent. They built thatched houses divided
into several rooms, and raised abundant harvests.[345]
The Omaguas and Cocamas, the most western of the Tupis, dwelling within
the limits of Ecuador, had evidently profited by their contiguity to
the civilization of Peru, as they are described by early travelers as
familiar with gold, silver and copper, living in permanent villages
connected by good roads, and cultivating large fields of cotton, maize
and various food-plants. The art-forms which they produced and the
prevalence of sun-worship, with rites similar to those of Peru, indicate
the source of their more advanced culture. By some authors the Omaguas
are stated to have migrated down the Rio Yupura from Popayan in New
Granada, where a tribe speaking their dialect, the Mesayas are alleged
still to reside.[346] The peculiar “mitred” skulls of the Omaguas are an
artificial deformity prized by them as a beauty.
The Tupi is rich in mythological tales which have been collected by
several competent students of their tongue. (Hartt, Magalhaes, etc.)
Their religion is a simple animistic nature-worship.
The dead were buried in large urns, usually in localities set aside for
the purpose. One such on the island Maraho, near the mouth of the Amazon,
has yielded a rich harvest to archæologists.
The general culture of the Tupis was superior to that of any other
Brazilian tribes, but much inferior to that of the Incas. They were to
a slight extent agricultural, raising maize, manioc, tobacco, which
they smoked in pipes, and several vegetables. Some fowls, monkeys and
peccaries were tamed and used as food. Their houses were of straw,
lattice work and leaves, sometimes plastered with mud. The communal
system prevailed, twenty or thirty families occupying one residence.
A number of such houses would be erected on some favorable site and
surrounded by a palisade of strong poles. These towns were, however, not
permanent, and nearly half the year was spent in hunting and fishing
expeditions along the streams. They went entirely naked, but wove
excellent hammocks from the bark of trees and other vegetable fibres.
Devoid of a knowledge of metals, they were in the height of the age of
polished stone, many of their products in this direction being celebrated
for symmetry and delicacy.[347] The art of the potter was also well
developed, and the vases from the Amazon, called _igasauas_, rank both
in symmetry, decoration and fine workmanship among the most creditable
specimens of American ceramics.
The language which characterizes this widely distributed stock is
polysynthetic and incorporating, with the flexibility peculiar to this
class of tongues. It has been the subject of a number of works, but
still lacks a thorough comparative treatment. The Jesuit missionaries
adopted the Guarani dialect throughout their extensive “reductions,”
and translated into it a variety of works for the instruction of their
acolytes, some of which have been printed.