Capuchin Missions of the Caroni. 19 



was settled in 1771. Its population in 1803, 792. The fever 

 has been very destructive. In fact, the low grounds near the 

 rivers are of course less healthy than the high levels of the in- 

 terior. Sickness still prevailed, although the virulence of the 

 disorder had abated. About forty were ill. The Guaycas, 

 who formed the bulk of the settlers, had shewn their usual 

 spirit and retired into the woods ; not more than 150 people 

 remained. Counted thirty women who came to receive rations. 

 Rummaging the library, laid hands upon one paper only of any 

 interest. This I immediately copied. It was the return 

 of the state of these missions made to the General of the 

 order in 1803. In the evening the girls assembled, as is 

 customary upon the arrival of strangers, to divert us with 

 a dance. The manager asked if we had seen the Caraib war- 

 dance, and gratified our curiosity by summoning all the boys 

 capable of performing it, to the number of eleven. These 

 were ranged in three files. One took the lead in the character 

 of Montezuma. The dance consisted of four parts, all executed 

 to the sound of the violin. The first represented a review, and 

 the marching and countermarching of troops in exact order 

 before the chief, performing a variety of evolutions. The 

 second, a religious procession with garlands, 8^c., to propitiate 

 the Deity, and take the oath of fidelity, Sfc, to the sovereign ; 

 after which a message is brought, demanding their submission 

 to the king of Spain. It is received with disdain. The warriors 

 seize their arms and rush to battle, first with bows and arrows, 

 which they twang in regular time, and then with clubs or sticks, 

 with which they attack and defend with great dexterity and 

 variety of attitude. The fourth part represents a pursuit, in 

 which each endeavours to seize Montezuma, whose art consists 

 in avoiding the grasp of the pursuer with a sudden jerk, and 

 giving him a blow on the back. The interlude closes with a 

 scene of true Mexican devotion to the chief. All swear to die 

 rather than submit to the Spaniard, and each is killed in succes- 

 sion by Montezuma, who finally falls by his own hand. The 

 dancers were all Caraibs, and the diversion originated in the 

 inveterate hostility of that tribe to the Spaniards ; but the name 

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