_Achaguas_, on Rio Ele and Rio Muco.
_Amoruas_, on Rio Vichada.
_Avanenis_, on Rio Guainia.
_Banivas_, see _Manivas_.
_Barés_, on Rios Baria and Guainia.
_Cabacabas_, between Rios Yapura and Apoporis.
_Cafuanas_, on Rio Yapura.
_Carusanas_, on the Guainia and Inirida.
_Cauiris_, right bank of Rio Guaviare.
_Caveres_ (_Cabres_), on Rio Zama and Orinoco near it.
_Chirupas_, on the Rio Zama.
_Guaripenis_, on Rio Guainia.
_Guaypunavis_ (_Guipunavis_), on Lake Inirida.
_Macuenis_, on Rio Guainia.
_Manivas_ (_Banivas_, _Manitivas_), on Rio Guaviare and Rio Negro
and their affluents.
_Maipures_, on middle Orinoco.
_Moroquenis_, on Rio Yapura.
_Mituas_, on Lake Inirida.
_Moruas_, on Rio Yapura.
_Parenes_, on middle Orinoco.
_Piapocos_, near mouth of Rio Guaviare.
_Uaupes_, on Rio Uaupes (?).
_Yaviteris_, on Rio Atabapo.
The _Otomacos_ remain, as Gilii placed them, an independent stock, with
their single dialect, the Tarapita. The Jesuits first encountered them
in 1732, amid the forests south of the Orinoco, between the Paos and the
Jaruros. In later years they are described as a low grade of savages,
given to the eating of earth. They are also said to be monogamous, and
the women among them enjoy an unusual degree of consideration, being
permitted to take equal part in the public games.[411] Their present
locality appears to be on or near the river Meta.
The tribes whom Gilii mentions as the _Guamas_ and Quaquaros lived on
the banks of the Rio Apure, and in his day had the reputation of “a
numerous and valorous people.”[412] They were not unacquainted with some
of the arts, and were particularly skillful in the manufacture of small
figures in terra cotta, many of which are to be picked up on the sites
of their ancient villages. Now, however, they have been smitten with
the fate of their race, and are reduced to a few miserable vagrants,
destined to disappear wholly in a few years. Their arts are lost, and
the oppression of the whites has driven from them all hopes of bettering
their condition.[413]
Of their language I have no specimens. According to Felipe Perez, it is
related to the Omagua, and hence should be included in the Tupi stock;
but this writer is not always dependable.
The _Guaybas_ (Guahibos) and Chiricoas dwelt originally on the broad
plains between the Casanare and Meta rivers; but a number of them were
converted in the latter half of the seventeenth century and persuaded to
come to the missions. They soon returned to their roving life. Cassani
speaks of them as of mild and friendly disposition, but incorrigible
vagabonds, “the gypsies of the Indies,” constantly migrating from place
to place.[414] They have never lost their love of the wilderness, and
it has been their salvation, for they still survive--quite a numerous
people--on the left bank of the Orinoco, from the Rio Meta to the
Vichada. They are rebellious to all attempts at civilization, and the
white man is not safe who ventures into their territory.[415]
Humboldt, in his discussion of the tribes of the Orinoco, refers to
the Guahibos as white in color, and founds some speculations on this
fact. Their hue is indeed light, at times what may fairly be called a
dirty white; but in this respect we are assured by recent and competent
authority they do not differ from their neighbors, the Maquiritares and
Piaroas. It is not a question of descent, but of climatic surroundings
and mode of life.[416]
The home of the _Jaruris_, Yaruras, or, as they called themselves,
Japurin, was on and near the Orinoco, between the rivers Meta and
Capanapaco. They depended on hunting and fishing, and were indolent
and averse to agriculture. They had few arts, but were friendly in
disposition, not given to drunkenness, and usually monogamous. At present
they number scarcely a hundred individuals, badly formed, afflicted with
contagious disease, and rapidly on the road to extinction. They have
lost their trait of sobriety, and a man will readily offer his wife or
daughter in exchange for a bottle of brandy. (Chaffanjon.)
The _Guaraunos_, called by the English _Warraus_, continue to live in
considerable numbers--some say about fifteen thousand--in and near the
delta of the Orinoco. They are a thrifty, healthy people, building
their houses ingeniously upon piles to protect them from the periodical
overflows of the stream. This method of construction, however, was
adopted only when they sought as refuge marshy and lonely spots to escape
their enemies. Contrary to the statements of most travelers, those who
know them best report them as preferring dry uplands, where they make
clearings, plantations and houses with singular industry and skill.
The favorite wood used in such construction is the _temiche_ (not the
_moriche_) palm, which they call, from its magnificent fronds, “the
feathers of the sun,” _ya juji_.[417]
Humboldt placed their number at the beginning of the century at about six
thousand, which is doubtless more correct than the later estimates. He
adds that the Guayquiries, who inhabited the peninsula of Araya and the
adjacent islands of Margarita, “admit the relationship of their language
with that of the Guaraunos.”[418] At the beginning of the last century
Gumilla found them living on the south bank of the Orinoco in a most
wretched condition and nearly annihilated by their merciless enemies, the
Caribs. It is probable, therefore, that they removed from that location
to the coast.[419] No other dialect of the tongue, so far as I know, has
been discovered, and it seems an independent stock.
In appearance they are dark in hue, of muscular build, hair black,
abundant and very fine, noses straight and well-shaped, skull
brachycephalic, stature below medium.
The _Aruaca_ mentioned by Gilii were some tribes of the Arawaks who
occasionally visited the southern bank of the Orinoco, and whose
relations to the Maypures were not known to him. They are also mentioned
by other authors.
Having thus reviewed the linguistic stocks named by Gilii, I shall
proceed to mention some which escaped his attention.
One of the most interesting of these is the _Betoi_, or _Betoya_.
This tongue derived its name from a tribe dwelling at the foot of the
mountains of Bogota, between the rivers Apure and Tame, and are therefore
included by some among the Indians of New Granada. From a number of
authorities I find the following members are attributed to the