TRAVEL NOTES IN WESTERN VENEZUELA 



17 



villages of Parajuano Indians in this 

 lagoon bearing the Spanish names La 

 Boquita, La Boca del Cano, and El 

 Barro. All are of the same character, 

 being composed of detached clusters of 

 houses well out from the low shore. 

 Mangrove thickets fringe the open wa- 

 ter where they have not been cleared 

 away for coconut walks. There is a tide 

 of perhaps two feet in the lagoon and 

 the houses rise two or three feet above 

 the high-water mark. All traffic is by 

 canoe and you step from the wobbly 

 dugout upon ladders rising from the 

 water and find yourself on a shaky 

 platform of small poles. You are cour- 

 teously invited to enter. The rectan- 

 gular houses have light frames and 

 roofs of heavy thatch. Mats enclose the 

 sides and cover portions of the floor. 

 The fireplace is a box filled with earth. 

 While you sit on your heels and eat 

 toasted plantains and boiled manioc, 

 you see through the latticed floor the 

 upturned faces of little scavenger fishes 

 eager to catch the crumbs that fall. 



Freedom from the insect life that 

 makes the shores unbearable may ac- 

 count for the custom of building houses 

 out over the water. But it is an inter- 

 esting fact that these lake dwellers also 

 have houses upon the arid plain well 

 back from the thicket-covered shores. 

 The plain is a dreary stretch sparsely 

 covered with acacias and other desert 

 shrubs. The most conspicuous of these 

 is the divi-divi from the seeds of which 

 a valuable dye and tanning substance is 

 extracted. The houses in the desert are 

 mere roofs upon poles and as often as 

 not the hammocks are swung under an 

 unusually large tree. The natives take 

 evident delight in keeping open house 

 and in living al fresco. 



The dress affected by the women at 

 the present time is a voluminous gown 

 resembling a partially deflated balloon. 



In ancient times the dress was doubt- 

 less much simpler and it is interesting 

 to note that bandoleers and belts made 

 of long strings of beads are now worn 

 under these generous garments. Tat- 

 tooing is seen upon the arms while the 

 face is ordinarily painted with a large 

 circle upon each cheek connected by a 

 line across the nose. The men are 

 sometimes seen in their ancient attire 

 which consists of a belt and breech- 

 cloth and sometimes a poncho. Arti- 

 ficial wigs are worn by the leading men, 

 and sandals with tasseled latches. 



The Goajiro Indians live mostly in 

 the interior of the desert peninsula that 

 bears their name and their warlike 

 habits have kept the white man from 

 their territory. In two places they have 

 come in contact with civilization, one 

 at the Catholic mission of Eio Ilacha in 

 Colombia and the other at the lagoon 

 of Parawaipowa where the Venezuelan 

 government maintains a border garri- 

 son. The mountain range west of Lake 

 Maracaibo (the Sierra de Periha) is 

 controlled by the wild and little known 

 Motilones. 



In Venezuelan histories one reads 

 dark tales of Sir Walter Ealeigh, L'Olo- 

 nais. Sir Henry Morgan, and the lesser 

 buccaneers who ravaged the Spanish 

 Main for the glory of England and 

 their own immediate fortune. Mara- 

 caibo was sacked again and again. 

 Even the strongly defended Gibraltar 

 at the southern end of Lake Mara- 

 caibo was destroyed. Today one sees 

 at the latter site a few modern huts 

 built round the old plaza. Paved 

 streets can be traced out into the bush 

 and ruined walls enter the waters of the 

 encroaching lake. Only a graceful bell 

 tower remains intact from former 

 times. 



Lake Maracaibo is surrounded by a 

 coastal plain extremely dry in the north 



