﻿480 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  Indies 
  visited 
  him. 
  So 
  far 
  as 
  he 
  follows 
  Moralis, 
  Martyr's 
  account 
  

   appears 
  to 
  be 
  authentic. 
  

  

  The 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  the 
  Indies, 
  published 
  by 
  Oviedo 
  in 
  1526, 
  is 
  

   perhaps 
  cited 
  more 
  frequently 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  work 
  pertaining 
  to 
  

   early 
  history 
  and 
  ethnology 
  of 
  Haiti 
  and 
  Santo 
  Domingo. 
  Oviedo 
  

   lived 
  in 
  Santo 
  Domingo 
  shortly 
  after 
  Moralis 
  explored 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  

   the 
  island. 
  A 
  French 
  edition 
  of 
  Oviedo 
  's 
  work 
  was 
  published 
  in 
  

   Paris 
  in 
  1556. 
  Jefferys 
  in 
  his 
  Natural 
  and 
  Civil 
  History, 
  published 
  

   in 
  London 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1760, 
  follows 
  Oviedo's 
  description 
  of 
  aboriginal 
  

   customs. 
  Another 
  borrower 
  from 
  Oviedo 
  is 
  Charlevoix, 
  whose 
  

   Historia 
  de 
  I'lsle 
  Espagnole 
  appeared 
  in 
  1730. 
  Charlevoix's 
  map 
  of 
  

   the 
  island 
  of 
  Haiti 
  showing 
  the 
  location 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  

   several 
  aboriginal 
  groups 
  and 
  giving 
  the 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  caciques 
  

   is 
  particularly 
  useful. 
  

  

  EARLY 
  TRAVEL 
  AND 
  TRADE 
  ROUTES 
  

  

  The 
  West 
  Indian 
  archipelago 
  extends 
  from 
  Florida 
  to 
  South 
  Amer- 
  

   ica 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  crescent, 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  1,600 
  miles. 
  The 
  northern 
  

   islands 
  of 
  this 
  archipelago 
  were 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Lucayan 
  Islands 
  to 
  the 
  

   aboriginal 
  Arawak 
  population. 
  These 
  islands 
  are 
  now 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  

   Bahamas. 
  They 
  are 
  built 
  up 
  of 
  a 
  low-lying 
  coralHne 
  formation 
  hke 
  

   that 
  of 
  Florida, 
  which 
  is 
  but 
  60 
  miles 
  distant 
  from 
  the 
  nearest 
  island 
  

   of 
  the 
  group. 
  Yucatan 
  Peninsula 
  is 
  twice 
  that 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  

   western 
  end 
  of 
  Cuba. 
  On 
  the 
  South 
  American 
  end, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  islands 
  

   known 
  as 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Antilles, 
  namely 
  Grenada, 
  is 
  80 
  miles 
  from 
  

   Trinidad, 
  which 
  lies 
  just 
  off 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Venezuela. 
  At 
  neither 
  of 
  its 
  

   outlying 
  points, 
  therefore, 
  are 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  at 
  all 
  remote 
  from 
  the 
  

   continental 
  mainland 
  of 
  North 
  or 
  South 
  America. 
  The 
  physical 
  

   basis 
  for 
  the 
  early 
  culture 
  and 
  tribal 
  migrations 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  lies 
  

   in 
  the 
  proximity 
  of 
  island 
  land 
  masses, 
  also 
  in 
  the 
  favorable 
  north- 
  

   westerly 
  currents 
  in 
  the 
  Caribbean. 
  

  

  The 
  delta 
  of 
  the 
  Orinoco 
  River 
  empties 
  itself 
  into 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Paria 
  

   on 
  the 
  Venezuelan 
  coast, 
  which 
  is 
  in 
  part 
  inclosed 
  by 
  the 
  large 
  island 
  

   of 
  Trinidad. 
  Tobago, 
  of 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Antilles, 
  is 
  separated 
  from 
  Trini- 
  

   dad 
  by 
  only 
  25 
  miles 
  of 
  water. 
  The 
  Orinoco 
  discharges 
  its 
  water 
  

   through 
  20 
  distributaries 
  covering 
  160 
  miles 
  of 
  South 
  American 
  coast 
  

   directly 
  facing 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Antilles. 
  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  likely 
  that 
  a 
  South 
  

   American 
  canoe 
  culture, 
  developed 
  by 
  the 
  coast 
  Carib 
  and 
  Arawak 
  

   groups, 
  reached 
  the 
  Greater 
  Antilles 
  by 
  way 
  of 
  the 
  smaller 
  and 
  more 
  

   proximate 
  Lesser 
  Antilles. 
  Dislodged 
  groups 
  followed 
  the 
  outgoing 
  

   current 
  of 
  the 
  Orinoco 
  in 
  their 
  dugout 
  canoes, 
  paddled 
  their 
  way 
  along 
  

   the 
  leeward 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  island 
  chain, 
  and 
  gradually 
  approached 
  the 
  

   large 
  islands 
  of 
  Porto 
  Rico, 
  Haiti, 
  Cuba, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  Jamaica. 
  In 
  

   this 
  northwestward 
  migration 
  wind 
  and 
  ocean 
  currents 
  were 
  favorable 
  

   factors. 
  

  

  