_Cobeus_, on Rio Uaupes.
_Dace_, on Rio Uaupes.
_Jupua_, on upper Yupura.
_Jauna_, on Rio Uaupes.
_Tucano_, on Rio Uaupes.
All these tribes are found in the vicinity of the river Uaupes, and are
distinguished by three vertical lines tattooed or incised on the cheeks.
They take their name, as do some other Brazilian tribes not related to
them, from the beautiful toucan bird, which is frequently held sacred
among them, and is sometimes chosen as the totem of a gens.
I also attach to this stock the Carnijos or Fornio, a vocabulary of whose
language has been published by Professor John C. Branner, and which
hitherto has not been identified.[355] The following comparison between
it and the Tapuya dialects will show the affinity:
CARNIJOS. TAPUYA.
Fire, _tŏch_, _tiaköh_.
Eye, _i-to_, _ainthó_, _kitho_.
Nose, _d-ereta_, _d’asigri_.
Tooth, _i-axi_, _aiquá_, _daguoi_.
_3. The Arawaks._
The Arawak stock of languages is the most widely disseminated of any in
South America. It begins at the south with the Guanas, on the head-waters
of the river Paraguay, and with the Baures and Moxos on the highlands of
southern Bolivia, and thence extends almost in continuity to the Goajiros
peninsula, the most northern land of the continent. Nor did it cease
there. All the Antilles, both Greater and Less, were originally occupied
by its members, and so were the Bahama Islands,[356] thus extending its
dialects to within a short distance of the mainland of the northern
continent, and over forty-five degrees of latitude. Its tribes probably
at one time occupied the most of the lowlands of Venezuela, whence they
were driven not long before the discovery by the Caribs, as they also
were from many of the southern islands of the West Indian archipelago.
The latter event was then of such recent occurrence that the women of the
Island Caribs, most of whom had been captured from the Arawaks, still
spoke that tongue.
They were thus the first of the natives of the New World to receive the
visitors from European climes, and the words picked up by Columbus and
his successors on the Bahamas, Cuba and Hayti, are readily explained by
the modern dialects of this stock. No other nation was found on any part
of the archipelago except the two I have mentioned. The whole of the
coast between the mouths of the Orinoco and Amazon appears to have been
in their possession at or a short time before the epoch of the discovery.
The Antis or Campas, who perhaps occupy the original home of the
stock, own as the centre of their domain the table-land known as El
Gran Pajonal, or the Great Grass Field, bounded by the rivers Ucayali,
Pachitea and Perene. Their hue is a bistre and their habits wild; some
slight tillage is carried on, and the women spin and weave the wild
cotton into coarse garments. The taming of animals is one of their
arts, and around their huts are seen monkeys, parrots, peccaries and
tapirs.[357] It is noteworthy that some of them are skilful blacksmiths,
smelting the metal from the native ores, and working it into axes,
knives, spear points, etc., of excellent quality.[358]
The names Campas and Antis were used as generic terms, the latter applied
to the tribes on the slopes of the Cordilleras and the former to those on
the plains. A large number of sub-tribes are named by the older writers,
the principal of which were the Choseosos, Machigangas, Pilcosumis and
Sepaunabos. The Machigangas lived on the Pilcopata and Vilcanota, and
their language has been erroneously stated by Von Tschudi to be an
independent stock.[359] The Chunchas and Cholones are by some classed
with the Campas, and they are said to have been the possessors of the
famous Cerro de Sal, or Salt Mountain, to which the neighboring tribes
repaired in great numbers to obtain supplies of this useful article.
The Guanas are a nation who have long lived on the upper Paraguay, in
the province Mato Grosso on the river Mambaya, and vicinity. D’Orbigny
believed that they were a member of the Mataco group,[360] but they are
now recognized as belonging to the Arawak stock. They are noteworthy for
their peaceful disposition and unusual intelligence. Hervas speaks of
them as the most able nation visited by the missionaries in the whole of
America.[361] The traveler Castelnau confirmed this good opinion. He
found them living in neat houses and cultivating the land with skill and
industry. They raised not only the ordinary food plants, but cotton and
sugar cane, pressing the sap from the latter by machinery of their own
devising, and moulding the sugar into loaves. Their cotton cloth, dyed of
various colors, was highly esteemed for its texture.
Castelnau describes them as occupying four settlements near Albuquerque
and Miranda, and comprising the Chualas or Guanas proper, the Terenos,
the Laianas, and the Quiniquinaos.[362] Later investigations have shown
that of these the Terenos and Quiniquinaos are members of the Guaycuru
stock of the Chaco, and that the Chualas and Laianas alone belong to the
true Guanas.[363]
The _Paiconecas_ or Paunacas were attached to the mission of the
Conception in Bolivia, in 16° south latitude. They numbered about 500
in 1831. In customs and appearance they approached the Chiquitos. Their
former home was between the sources of the Rio Blanco and Rio Verde.
The _Saravecas_, three or four hundred in number in 1831, were attached
to the mission of Santa Anna, in Bolivia, and were its handsomest
members. Their former homes were in the eastern hills of the Cordillera,
about 16° south latitude.
Although these are classed as irreducible stocks by D’Orbigny and others
who have followed him, they are both clearly branches of the Arawak
stem, as will be seen by a brief comparison.[364]
PAICONECA. SARAVECA. ARAWAK STOCK.
Sun, _isese_, _caame_, _sese_, _camu_.
Moon, _kejere_, _cache_, _kejeres_, _kashi_.
Fire, _chaki_, _tikai_, _yaki_, _ikii_.
Water, _ina_, _une_, _ine_, _une_.
Eye, _ihuikis_, _nol_, _nohlo_, _ikise_.
Others could readily be added, but the above are sufficient.
Another important tribe of this stock in this region were the Piros,
otherwise called Chuntaquiros and Simirenchis, whose home was about the
junction of the Ucayali and Apurimac, and thence along both these rivers.
The vocabularies of their tongue obtained by Castelnau and Paul Marcoy
leave no doubt of their affiliations. They were largely converted by the
Jesuits between 1683 and 1727.
The Wapisianas, or Wapianas in British Guiana, with their sub-tribe the
Atorai (Tauri or Dauri), are stated by Im Thurn to speak a tongue wholly
different from the Arawak; but an analysis of its expression and an
extended comparison place it beyond doubt in this stock.[365]
The Tarumas and Maopityans, who now live in southern British Guiana,
but are said to have originally come from the Rio Negro, speak related
dialects.
They enjoy a rather high degree of culture, being celebrated for the
manufacture of cassava graters, for the hunting dogs which they breed and
train, and for the fine pottery they manufacture. Both Schomburgk and Im
Thurn regard them as an independent stock; but from a comparison of the
fifteen nouns given by the former in their language,[366] I infer that
they are an Arawak tribe, speaking a dialect mixed with some Carib and
Tupi words, and with frequent vowel elision.
TARUMA.
Sun, _ouang_, (_auvan-ialü_, Paravilhana).
Moon, _piwa_, (_pia_, Baniva, _piua_, Ouayéoué).
Fire, _hua_, (_hua-to_, Carib).
Water, _tza_, (_tuná_, Carib).
Head, my, _a-tta_, (_no-totia_, Baré).
Eye, my, _a-tzi_, (_a-kussi_, Arawak).
Mouth, _me-ruku-kanna_, (_ülle-rukuhu_, Arawak).
Nose, _assa_, (_issi-rihi_, Arawak).
Hand, _ahu_, (_kx-aua_, Bakairi).
Foot, _appa_, (_upu_, Galibi).
Bow, _tzeika_, (_takou_, Carib).
Star, _uingra_, (_uinari_, Baré).
This comparison leaves little doubt but that this mixed dialect is
chiefly of Arawak lineage.
The Arawaks wandered as far east as the upper Schingu river, where Von
den Steinen found the Kustenau, a distant member of the stem, with
various minor tribes, as the Vauras, Mehinacus, etc. Along the river
Ventuari the populous tribe of the Maipures have taken a conspicuous
place in the annals of the missions. Indeed, the whole stock is sometimes
called by their name;[367] but it is well to retain the better known
_Arawak_, which is the appellation of that portion of the tribe in Guiana
between the Corentin and Pomeroon rivers. It means “meal-eaters,” and was
first applied to them in derision on account of their large consumption
of cassava bread.
There is a prevailing similarity in their physical type. The adults are
slightly undersized, rarely reaching above five feet six inches, with
low foreheads and straight narrow noses. The form of the skull is short
and the jaws are not protruding--orthognathic and brachycephalic.[368]
The physical force averages less than that of the European, and there is
decidedly less power of resisting disease.[369] The Jesuit Eder mentions
a peculiarity among the Peruvian Arawaks, (Moxos, Baures). It is that the
end of the little finger does not reach to the last joint of the third
finger. The absence of this peculiarity he states will reveal a mixture
of Spanish blood to the third generation.[370] It would be interesting
to learn how widely this is noticeable.
The culture of the Arawak stock was generally somewhat above the stage
of savagery. On the West Indian islands Columbus found them cultivating
maize, potatoes, manioc, yams and cotton. They were the first to
introduce to Europeans the wondrous art of tobacco smoking. They wove
cotton into garments, and were skilful in polishing stone. They hammered
the native gold into ornaments, carved curious masks of wood, blocked
rude idols out of large stones, and hollowed the trunks of trees to
construct what they called _canoes_.
Such is approximately the culture of the existing tribes of the stock.
The Arawaks of Guiana also raise cassava and maize, though they depend
largely on hunting and fishing. Like the northern tribes, they have
well-developed gentile or totemic systems, with descent in the female
line.[371] Marriages are by purchase, and the strange custom of the
_couvade_ obtains; that is, at the period of parturition the husband
takes to his hammock, and is waited on as if he was the sick one. Their
houses are usually single, not communal, and are furnished with swinging
hammocks, mats, basket-work and pottery.
The Haytian mythology was quite extensive, and the legends of the Arawaks
of Guiana have been collected, and are also rich. In all the tribes the
dead were generally buried, and often the house of the deceased was
destroyed or the spot deserted.