Capuchin Missions of the Caroni. 265 



the Indian huts, laid out with the utmost regularity. The build- 

 ings, not excepting the church, are generally constructed of up- 

 right posts, fixed in the ground, with a lattice-work of twigs 

 filled up with clay, so as to resemble a mud wall. The roof is 

 plastered in the same fashion, and then tiled. Windows, except 

 in the church, are rare, and always cut out and the frame-work 

 inserted, after the w^U is finished. The Padre's residence is al- 

 ways furnished with good doors and paved with tiles : when kept 

 clean, it is a truly comfortable abode; but, cleanliness is seldom 

 observable. The Indian huts have no door but a large hide, and 

 are floored with clay. The domestic cookery is carried on in 

 the inside, upon the floor; these people seem to think they can- 

 not exist without smoke. The exterior of the buildings, and the 

 interior of the church and monastic residence, are usually faced 

 with white clay, which, in the absence of lime, gives an air of 

 neatness that is a mere deception, for washing the apartments 

 is never practiced. The Indian huts are commonly long and 

 narrow, 50 feet by 15 feet, divided equally into three dwellings, 

 each having a door-way in front, and another behind, and ap- 

 propriated to a single family. The gardens or provision grounds 

 are invariably at some distance; a high barren spot being se- 

 lected for the village as the more healthy. Carnache was set- 

 tled in 1763, with Indians mostly of the Caraibbe tribe: in 

 1803, it contained 418 inhabitants; the fever, conscription, and 

 desertion, have now reduced the population to about 100, and 

 these very sickly. A few Creole families have settled here for 

 the sake of the trifling trade occasioned by the passage of the 

 cattle; but, the cows excepted, everything bore marks of want 

 and misery. The commandant had gone with all the able- 

 bodied people to Murucuri, to get in the corn, which was abun- 

 dant, but without hands to gather it. In the afternoon bathed 

 in the Carmi ; the water dark-coloured, but clear, and said to 

 be strongly impregnated with sarsaparilla, which grows in wild 

 profusion higher up. It was a luxury to swim without appre- 

 hension of the cayman : the nature of the water, and frequent 

 rapids, seem to have protected this river from his intrusion. 

 Took up my quarters in an inside room: the Doctor and people, 



