"Whatever there may be in this supposition, the value of which we shall not discuss here, this unconquered and crafty nation was during two centuries the most redoubtable adversary of the Spaniards. The writers on the conquest, the works of Azara, the 'Historical Essay' of Funes, and numerous doc.u.ments preserved in the archives of a.s.sumption, contain a recital of their daring enterprises.

"... What their numbers were in the first half of the XVIth century it is impossible to say with certainty; but the old narratives, which do not seem on this point to deserve the reproach of exaggeration more than once and with justice attributed to them, estimate them as no fewer than several thousand combatants. In Azara's time the entire tribe scarcely reckoned a thousand souls, and at the present day it cannot count two hundred.

"Their stature is remarkable, and unquestionably surpa.s.ses that of most nations of the globe. The measurements of eight individuals, taken at random, would justify the application of this epithet to the Payaguas, as they gave me an average of 5ft. 9in. The women's height is no less striking: that of four females over twenty was--the first and second, 5 feet; the third, 5 feet 2 inches, and the fourth, 5 feet 3 inches; or an average of 5 feet 1 inches. Many conclusions may be drawn from this double series of measurements. On comparing the average stature of the Payaguas with that of mankind in general, which physiologists agree in fixing at about 5 feet 6 inches, it will be seen that the difference in favour of the former is no less than 3 inches. And further, if we place in comparison the measurements taken by accurate travellers of the races which pa.s.s for the tallest on the globe, of the Patagonians for instance, we find that their average height as stated by M. d'Orbigny is 5 feet 7 inches. Consequently the Payaguas actually surpa.s.s by two inches the height of a race which has from time immemorial been regarded as fabulously tall.

"The Payaguas are invariably lanky, none but the women ever showing signs of corpulence. Their shoulders are broad and the muscles of their chests, arms, and backs display a development produced by constant use of the oar, for they live in their canoes; but, as a species of compensation, the predominance of the proportions of the upper limbs causes the lower extremities to appear slight and meagre.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 193.--A PARAGUAYAN MESSENGER.]

"Their skin, smooth and soft to the touch, like that of the natives of the New Continent, is of an olive-brown shade, which it would be difficult to define more accurately. It seems somewhat lighter than that of the Guaranis, and does not exhibit the same yellowish or Mongolian tints.

"The Payaguas carry their ma.s.sive heads erect, and have an abundant supply of long, straight, or slightly curly hair, which they cut across the foreheads, and never comb, allowing it to grow and fall about them in disorder. The young warriors alone partly gather it at the back of the crown where it is tied by a little red string, or by a strap cut from a monkey skin. A similar custom obtains among the Guatos of Cuyaba, who, we may say incidentally, have more resemblance to this nation than to the Guaranis, though a learned cla.s.sification has placed them side by side with the latter. Their small, keen eyes, a little contracted but not turned up at the outer angle, have an expression of cunning and shrewdness, and the lines of the long slightly rounded nose recall the Caucasian conformation to the mind. Their cheekbones are but little prominent; their lower lip protrudes beyond the upper, thus imparting to their grave and impressive countenances an expression of scornful pride, well in keeping with the character of this unsubdued race.

"The women when young are well-proportioned without being slight, but they fatten early, their features become deformed, and their figures grow squat and dumpy. To atone for this, however, their hands and feet always retain a remarkable smallness, although they walk barefooted and take no care whatever of their persons. I have also observed this delicate formation, a distinction which European ladies covet so much, among the tribes of the Chaco, who are, with the Payaguas, the finest in America. Their hair is allowed to float about the shoulders and is never confined.

"A young girl on emerging from childhood undergoes tattooing. By means of a thorn and the fruit of the genipa, a bluish streak, about half an inch wide, is drawn perpendicularly across the forehead and down the nose as far as the upper lip; and when she marries this stripe is prolonged over the under lip to below the chin. Its shades vary from violet to a slate-coloured blue, and its marks are indelible. Some women add other lines to this, as well as designs traced with the flaming tint of the _urucu_; this latter fashion, however, though general half a century ago, and which Azara describes minutely, has become more and more uncommon.

"The Payaguas go about naked in their tents (_toldos_), but out of doors they wear a small cotton garment encircling them from the pit of the stomach to just below the knee. This piece of cloth which they lap round their bodies in the style of the _chiripa_ of the creoles, is one of the few productions of their ingenuity. Its manufacture devolves upon the women, and they make it with no other help than that of their fingers, without using either shuttle or loom. Some others content themselves with a short shirt, devoid of collar or sleeves, rather like the _tipoy_ of the Guarany. Nevertheless the use of clothing seems to become every day more familiar to all of them; and amongst those I saw roaming through the streets of a.s.sumption not one was satisfied, as in former times, with covering his limbs with paintings representing vests and breeches.

"Other ancient customs have also disappeared, such as that which the men had of wearing, as the case might be, either the _barbote_ or a little silver rod a.n.a.logous to the _tembeta_ of the wild Guaranis or Cayaguas.

Others are only resumed at rare intervals or at certain epochs, on which solemn occasions long tufts of feathers fixed on the top of the head are seen to reappear, and all manner of fanciful patterns tattooed in bright colours on face, arm, and breast; as well as necklaces of beads or sh.e.l.ls, and lastly bracelets of the claws of _capivaras_, rolled round wrist and ankle. But the tradition of this elaborate ornamentation has been religiously preserved by the _paye_ or medicine-man of the tribe.

"The Payaguas live on the left bank of the Rio Paraguay. They never take up their abode on the opposite side, where the Indians of Chaco, with whom they are always at war, would not be slow to attack them. Their princ.i.p.al hut (_tolderia_) is erected on the river's edge, and consists of a large oblong cabin from twelve to fifteen feet high, and made with bamboos laid on forked poles and covered over with unplaited cane mats.

Jaguar or capivaras' skins are spread on the ground for beds, and weapons and fishing and household utensils hang on the posts sustaining the frail roofing of the dwelling, or lie pell-mell with earthen vessels, in a corner.

"... The very limited occupation of this people const.i.tutes nevertheless their sole resource, for they are perfectly ignorant of husbandry, and cultivate neither maize, potatoes, nor tobacco. They are fishermen, spend their lives on the water, and become early in life very expert sailors. Sometimes they are to be seen in the stern of a canoe, letting it float with the current while watching their lines; at another, standing upright in a row, they bend to their oars in good time and make the little craft fly along with the swiftness of an arrow.

Their boats are from five to a little over six feet in length, and between two and a half to three feet wide; they are hollowed from the trunk of a _timbo_, and terminate in a long tapering point at each end.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 194.--BRAZILIAN NEGRO.]

"Their paddles are sharpened like lances, and form in their hands very formidable weapons, to which must be added bows and arrows, as well as the _macana_. They are cruel in warfare, and grant no quarter except to women and children. Their method of fighting shows no peculiarity. They attack the Indians of the Chaco by falling upon them unawares and endeavouring to surprise them, but they take good care not to move far from the rivers, for those tribes of famous hors.e.m.e.n would soon overcome them in the open country.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 195.--INDIAN WOMAN OF BRAZIL.]

"This nation, as the reader has doubtless surmised, lives in a state of absolute liberty and complete independence of the government of the Paraguayan Republic, which imposes neither tax nor statute labour upon it, but on the contrary pays the Payaguas for any services that are exacted of them, whether as messengers on the river or as guides in the expeditions directed against the wild hordes that wander along the right bank.

"... Being desirous to become acquainted with, and to be able to sketch at my ease, in the midst of all the savage luxury of his garb, the individual who was entrusted with these functions, I contrived to get him to come to my house arrayed in the emblems of his high dignity and accompanied by some other Indians. The promise of a certain quant.i.ty of his beloved liquor, coupled with the prospect of an evening's drunkenness, speedily got the better of his reluctance.

"On the day named the paye came to see me. He was an old man, somewhat bent with years, but with nothing repulsive in his countenance, notwithstanding the disfiguration of the features, which is always premature and so remarkable among the natives. His hair was still black and confined in a fillet bordered with beadwork, over which was a tuft of feathers, while nandu plumes waved behind his head; a necklace of bivalve sh.e.l.ls was on his neck, and from it hung, as a trophy, a whistle made from the arm-bone of an enemy. He was quite naked beneath his sleeveless and collarless vest which consisted of two jaguar-skins, and wore strings of capivaras' claws round his ankles. Finally, his right hand contained an elongated gourd, and he held in his left a long tube of hard wood, which I had some difficulty in recognizing as a pipe.

"The curtain rises. The sorcerer gave the pipe to his companion, whose duty consisted in lighting it, and, taking it again, inhaled several puffs which he blew noisily into the calabash through the orifice bored in it; then, without removing it from his lips, he began shouting, sometimes slowly and sometimes rapidly, uttering alternately the syllables 'ta, ta', and 'to, to, to', with extraordinary, inexpressible, reiterations of voice and piercing yells. He gave way at the same time to violent contortions, and executed a measured series of leaps, now on one foot, and now on both joined together. This performance did not last any length of time, and on a pretext of fatigue he was not long without coming to a stand-still. A b.u.mper was indispensable in order to set him on his legs again, and the monotonous chant immediately recommenced.

"My drawings being finished, I at last broke up the sitting to the general satisfaction of my guests, and dismissed them, having first purchased his pipe and whistle from the paye. The former article was made of hard and heavy wood and covered with regular tracings engraved on the surface with a good deal of skill. It was about a foot and a half long, ornamented with gilt nails, and pierced by a tube which was widened at one end and terminated at the other by a mouth-piece. This pipe is also to be found among other neighbouring nations, as well as among the Tobas and Matacos on the banks of the Pilcomayo. It gives an idea of those enormous cigars made from a roll of palm or tobacco leaves, which played so important a part in Brazil, in the ceremonies of the Tupinambas, and among the Caraibs of the Antilles, on all occasions when the question of peace or war had to be decided, when the shades of ancestors were to be conjured up, etc., and which the first navigators mistook for torches."

[Ill.u.s.tration: 196.--NATIVE OF MANAOS, BRAZIL.]

The _Western Guaranis_ include the tribes known by the names of Guarayis, Chiriguanos, and Cirionos, the first of which have been converted by the Jesuits. Between the province of the Chiquitos and that of the Moxos there are still some hordes of wild Guarayis. The uncivilized Chiriguanos are barbarians, very formidable to their neighbours. The natives of a hundred and sixty villages of the Andes, comprised between the great Chaco river and that of Mapayo, in the province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, speak the Guarany language in all its purity. The barbarous Cirionos, among whom a dialect of that tongue is in use, dwell to the north of Santa Cruz.

The _Eastern Guaranis of Brazil_ include the Brazilian aborigines. The general language of the country does not seem to differ more from Guarany, than Portuguese does from Spanish. The _Caryis_, _Tameyi_, _Tapinaquis_, _Timmimnes_, _Tabayaris_, _Tupinambis_, _Apontis_, _Tapigoas_, and several other tribes occupy the maritime districts situated to the south of the mouth of the Amazon, speaking the _Tupi_ tongue with little or no alteration.

During their voyage to Brazil, of which an account was published in the "Tour du Monde," in 1868, M. and Madame Aga.s.siz visited many Indian tribes, and examined their habitations in the midst of the woods. We extract a few pages from their description.

"We arrive at the _sitio_," writes Madame Aga.s.siz, "and disembark. These dwellings are usually located on the banks of a lake or river, within a stone's throw of the sh.o.r.e in order that fishing and bathing may be better within reach. But this one was more retired, being placed at the extremity of a pretty by-path winding beneath the trees, and on the summit of a little hill, the slopes of which at the other side plunged into a broad and deep ravine through which flowed a rivulet. The ground beyond rose undulating in uneven lines, on which an eye accustomed to the uniformly flat country of the upper Amazon cannot rest without pleasure. Wait for the time of the rains, and the brook, swollen by the increase of the river, will almost bathe the foot of the house, which, from the top of the little eminence, at present commands the valley and the embanked bed of the tiny stream. Great, consequently, is the difference between the appearance of the same places in the dry and the wet seasons. The residence consists of several buildings, the most remarkable of which is a long open hall in which the _brancas_ (whites) of Manaos and of the neighbourhood dance when they come, as is not infrequent, to spend the night at the sitio, in high festivity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 197.--BRAZILIAN NEGRESSES.]

"I learned these particulars from the old Indian lady who did me the honours of the house. A low wall, from three to four feet in height, skirted this shed. At its sides and along the whole length were placed raised wooden seats, and both ends were closed from floor to roof by thick blinds made of glittering palm-leaves, as fine as they were handsome, and of a pretty straw colour. In a corner we found an immense embroidery loom (Penelope's was doubtless like it), which was occupied at the moment by a hammock of palm fibre, an unfinished work of the 'senhora dona', or mistress of the house, who allowed me to see the way in which she used the machine. She squatted herself on a little low bench, in front of the frame, and showed me that the two rows of cross threads were separated by a thick piece of polished wood in the shape of a flat rule. The shuttle is thrown between these two threads and the woof is drawn close by a sharp blow of the thick rule. I was then led to admire some hammocks of various colours and textures which were being arranged for the accommodation of the visitors, and whilst the men set off to bathe in the brook, I went through the rest of the lodge with our hostess and her daughter, a very pretty Indian. The direction of everything devolves on the elder of the two ladies; the master is absent, as he holds a captain's commission in the army operating against Paraguay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 198.--BRAZILIAN DWELLING.]

"On the same carefully-kept piece of ground where the hall I have described is situated, there are several _casinhas_ or small buildings, more or less close to each other, which are covered with thatch, and merely consist of a single apartment (fig. 198). Then comes a larger cottage, with earthen walls and bare floor, containing two or three rooms, and with a wooden verandah in front. This is the private abode of the senhora. A little lower down the hill is the manioc sifting-house, with all its apparatus. No place could be better kept than the courtyard of this sitio, where two or three negresses have just been set to work with brooms of thin branches in their hands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 199.--NEGROS OF BAHIA.]

"The manioc and cocoa plantation surrounds these buildings, with a few coffee trees peeping out here and there. There is a difficulty in judging of the extent of these farms, as they are irregular, and comprise a certain variety of plants; manioc, cocoa, coffee, and even cotton being cultivated together in confusion. But this part of the estate, like all the rest of the establishment, seemed larger and better cared for than those usually seen. As we were departing, our Indian hostess brought me a nice basket filled with eggs and _abacatys_, or alligator's pears, according to the local name. We returned home just in time for the ten o'clock meal, which draws everyone together, both idlers and workers. The sportsmen had returned from the forest, laden with tucanas, parrots, paroquets, and a great variety of other birds, while the fishermen brought fresh treasures for M. Aga.s.siz.

"We left the dinner-table, and while taking coffee under the trees, the president proposed an excursion on the lake at sunset..... The little craft glided between the glowing sunset and the glitter of the deep sheet of water, seeming to borrow its hues from each. It rapidly drew near, and was soon quite close, when a burst of joyous shouts broke forth, and was merrily responded to by us. Then side by side the two boats descended the stream together, the guitar pa.s.sing from one to the other, as Brazilian songs alternated with Indian airs. Nothing could possibly be imagined bearing the national impress more strongly marked, more deeply imbued with tropical tints, more characteristic, in fine, than this scene on the lake. When we arrived at the landing-place the rosy and gold-tinged mists had become transformed into a ma.s.s of white or ashen-grey vapour, the last rays of the sun were fled, and the moon was shining at its full. In ascending the gentle slope of the hill, someone suggested a dance on the gra.s.s, and the young Indian girls formed a quadrille. Although civilization had mingled its usages with their native customs, there were yet many original traits in their movements, and this conventional dance was deprived of much of its artificial character. At length we returned to the house, where dancing and singing recommenced, whilst groups seated on the ground here and there laughed and chatted, all, men and women, smoking with the same gusto. The use of tobacco, almost universal among females of the lower cla.s.s, is not altogether confined to them. More than one senhora delights to puff her cigarette as she rocks in her hammock during the warm hours of the day." Fig. 200 represents some natives of French Guyana, who closely resemble the Brazilian negroes we have just mentioned.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 200.--NATIVES OF FRENCH GUYANA.]

The _Ouragas_ are affiliated to the Brazilio-Guarany race, with a few other tribes very closely allied to them. They form one of the nations most widely spread over the northern parts of South America. They were formerly in possession of the banks and islands of the Amazon river for a distance of five hundred miles from the mouth of the Rio Nabo.

The Caribbee race has a close affinity to the Guarany. The Indians who have given their name to this group, one of the most numerous and extensively scattered of the southern continent, are those celebrated Caribs who in the sixteenth century occupied all the islands from Porto Rico to Trinidad, and the whole of the Atlantic coast comprised between the mouth of the Orinoco and that of the Amazon, that is to say, as far as the Brazilian frontier.

The _Tamanacs_ belong to the same family, and live on the right bank of the Orinoco, but their numbers are at the present day greatly reduced.

The same remark applies to the _Arawacs_ or _Araocas_, to the _Guaranns_, who are said to build their houses upon trees, to the _Guayquerias_, _c.u.manogots_, _Phariagots_, _Chaymas_, &c. Humboldt has written of the latter:--

"The expression of countenance of the Chaymas, without being harsh and fierce, has in it something sedate and gloomy. The forehead is small and but little prominent; the eyes are black, sunken, and lengthy, being neither so obliquely set nor so small as those of the Mongolian race.

Yet the corners perceptibly slant upwards towards the temples; the eyebrows are black or dark brown, thin, and not much arched; the lids fringed with very long eyelashes; and their habit of drooping them, as if heavy with languor, softens the women's look and makes the eye thus veiled appear smaller than it really is."

The Botocudos (fig. 201) who dwell round the Rio Doce, in Brazil, have been cannibals, and are still to the present day the most savage of all Americans. They wear collars of human teeth as ornaments. Perpetually wandering and completely naked, they take a pleasure in adding to their natural ugliness, and impart a more repulsive appearance to their countenances by a habit they have of slitting their under lip and ears, in order to introduce "barbotes" into the openings thus made.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 201.--BOTOCUDOS.]

In his "Travels in Brazil," M. Biard saw some Botocudos. One, who seemed to him to be the chief, carried, like his companions, in an opening in the lower lip, a "barbote" consisting of a bit of wood somewhat larger than a five-shilling piece. He made use of this projection as a little table, cutting up on it, with the traveller's knife, a morsel of smoked meat which had then only to be slipped into his mouth. This method of utilizing the lip as a table struck M. Biard as thoroughly original. The comrades of this Botocudos had also large pieces of wood in the lobes of their ears.

CHAPTER II.

NORTHERN BRANCH.