ILLUSTRATIONS (50). THE CTOMACS. 143 



colour, in consequence of a slight admixture of oxide of iron. 

 They select it with great care, and seek it in certain banks on 

 the shores of the Orinoco and Meta. They distinguish the fla- 

 vour of one kind of earth from that of another ; all kinds of 

 clay not being alike acceptable to their palate. Ihey knead 

 this earth into balls measuring from four to six inches in 

 diameter, and bake them before a slow fire, until the outer 

 surface assumes a reddish colour. Before they are eaten, the 

 balls are again moistened. These Indians are mostly wild, 

 uncivilized men, who abhor all tillage. There is a proverb 

 current among the most distant of the tribes living on the 

 Orinoco, when they wish to speak of anything very unclean, 

 " so dirty that the Otomacs eat it." 



As long as the waters of the Orinoco and the Meta are 

 low, these people live on fish and turtles. They kill the 

 former with arrows, shooting the fish as they rise to the sur- 

 face of the water with a skill and dexterity that has frequently 

 excited my admiration. At the periodical swelling of the 

 rivers, the fishing is stopped, for it is as difficult to fish in deep 

 river water as in the deep sea. It is during these intervals, 

 which last from two to three months, that the Otomacs are 

 observed to devour an enormous quantity of earth. We found 

 in their huts considerable stores of these clay balls piled up 

 in pyramidal heaps. An Indian will consume from three- 

 quarters of a pound to a pound and a quarter of this food 

 daily, as we w r ere assured by the intelligent monk, Fray 

 Kamon Bueno, a native of Madrid, who had lived among 

 these Indians for a period of twelve years. According to the 

 testimony of the Otomacs themselves, this earth constitutes 

 their main support in the rainy season. In addition, they 

 however eat, when they can procure them, lizards, several 

 species of small fish, and the roots of a fern. But they are 

 so partial to clay, that even in the dry season, when there is 

 an abundance of fish, they still partake of some of their earth- 

 balls, by way of a bonne bouche after their regular meals. 



These people are of a dark, copper-brown colour, have un- 

 pleasant Tartar-like features, and are stout, but not protu- 

 berant. The Franciscan w r ho had lived amongst them as a 

 missionary, assured us that he had observed no difference in 

 the condition and well-being of the Otomacs during the periods 

 in which they lived on earth. The simple facts are therefore 



