38 THE NATURALIST IX NICARAGUA. [Ch. III. 



have been advanced ; but, unfortunately for these specula- 

 tions, some children, and even adults, have been captured 

 and brought down the river by the Ulleros, and all these 

 have the usual features and coarse black hair of the 

 Indians. One little child that Dr. Seemami and I saw 

 at San Carlos, in 1870, had a few brownish hairs amongst 

 the great mass of black ones ; but this character may be 

 found amongst many of the indigenes, and may result 

 from a very slight admixture of foreign blood. I have 

 seen altogether five children from the Rio Frio, and a 

 boy about sixteen years of age, and they had all the 

 common Indian features and hair ; though it struck me 

 that they appeared rather more intelligent than the 

 generality of Indians. Besides these, an adult woman 

 was captured by the rubber-men and brought down to 

 Castillo, and I was told by several who had seen her that 

 she did not differ in any way from the usual Indian 

 type. 



The Guatuse (pronounced Watusa) is an animal about 

 the size of a hare, very common in Central America, and 

 good eating. It has reddish-brown fur, and the usual 

 explanation of the Mcaraguans is that the Indians of the 

 Rio Frio were called " Guatuses " because they had red 

 hair. It is verv common to find the Indian tribes of 



*t 



America called after different wild animals, and my own 

 opinion is that the origin of the fable about the red hair 

 was a theory to explain why they were called Guatuses ; 

 for the natives of Nicaragua, and of parts much nearer 

 home, are fond of giving fanciful explanations of the 

 names of places and things : thus, I have been assured 

 by an intelligent and educated Mcaraguan, that Guate- 

 mala was so called by the Spaniards because they found 



