﻿ABORIGIlSrES 
  OF 
  HISPANIOLA 
  KRIEGER 
  481 
  

  

  After 
  leaving 
  the 
  South 
  Ameriean 
  coast, 
  when 
  returning 
  to 
  Santo 
  

   Domingo 
  on 
  his 
  third 
  voyage, 
  Columbus 
  discovered 
  the 
  strong 
  west- 
  

   erly 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  Caribbean 
  current. 
  Lying 
  to 
  at 
  night, 
  as 
  he 
  

   feared 
  he 
  might 
  strike 
  shoal 
  water 
  or 
  reefs 
  if 
  he 
  engaged 
  in 
  night 
  sail- 
  

   ing, 
  he 
  found 
  to 
  his 
  dismay 
  that 
  the 
  drift 
  to 
  the 
  northwest 
  was 
  astonish- 
  

   ing. 
  Even 
  when 
  making 
  allowance 
  for 
  this 
  westerly 
  drift, 
  he 
  first 
  

   sighted 
  the 
  Dominican 
  coast 
  near 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Beata, 
  150 
  miles 
  west 
  

   of 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Ozama 
  River 
  and 
  the 
  city 
  of 
  Santo 
  Domingo, 
  

   which 
  he 
  had 
  desired 
  to 
  approach 
  direct. 
  

  

  A 
  recent 
  study 
  of 
  shell 
  heaps 
  and 
  kitchen 
  middens 
  on 
  the 
  islands 
  

   of 
  Aruba, 
  Curagao, 
  and 
  Bonaire, 
  by 
  De 
  Jong, 
  discloses 
  strong 
  confirm- 
  

   atory 
  evidence 
  of 
  direct 
  culture 
  migration 
  between 
  these 
  islands, 
  

   which 
  lie 
  just 
  oft' 
  the 
  Venezuelan 
  coast 
  of 
  South 
  America, 
  and 
  Santo 
  

   Domingo. 
  Kitchen 
  middens, 
  recently 
  excavated 
  in 
  the 
  Silla 
  de 
  

   Caballo 
  Mountains 
  of 
  northern 
  Santo 
  Domingo, 
  revealed 
  literally 
  

   thousands 
  of 
  objects 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  fragmentary 
  but 
  astonishingly 
  

   similar 
  to 
  those 
  described 
  by 
  De 
  Jong 
  from 
  Curasao. 
  It 
  is 
  possible 
  

   that 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  culture 
  diffusion 
  from 
  the 
  South 
  American 
  

   mainland 
  to 
  the 
  Antilles, 
  particularly 
  to 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Jamaica, 
  was 
  

   along 
  this 
  direct 
  route. 
  

  

  Columbus 
  found 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Antilles 
  in 
  possession 
  of 
  the 
  Carib 
  

   Indians. 
  They 
  had 
  but 
  recently 
  displaced 
  an 
  earlier 
  Arawakan 
  

   group 
  and 
  perhaps 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  other, 
  more 
  primitive, 
  nonagricultural 
  

   peoples 
  like 
  the 
  Ciboney 
  of 
  Haiti 
  and 
  Cuba. 
  The 
  warlike 
  character- 
  

   istics 
  of 
  the 
  Carib 
  contrasted 
  strongly 
  with 
  the 
  peaceful 
  Arawak, 
  who 
  

   were 
  primarily 
  tillers 
  of 
  the 
  soil. 
  It 
  is 
  evident, 
  though 
  as 
  yet 
  not 
  

   clearly 
  demonstrated, 
  that 
  the 
  lacustrine 
  and 
  maritime 
  tribes, 
  who 
  

   were 
  occupied 
  principally 
  with 
  fishing 
  and 
  hunting, 
  and 
  who 
  were 
  in 
  

   possession 
  of 
  the 
  Lesser 
  and 
  Greater 
  Antilles 
  even 
  before 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  

   the 
  Arawaks, 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  identified 
  with 
  the 
  prehistoric 
  and 
  historic 
  

   tribes 
  of 
  identical 
  culture 
  who 
  occupied 
  the 
  Gulf 
  and 
  Caribbean 
  

   littoral 
  respectively 
  of 
  North 
  and 
  of 
  South 
  America. 
  An 
  example 
  of 
  

   this 
  primitive 
  culture 
  group 
  is 
  the 
  Warrau, 
  a 
  coast 
  tribe 
  occupying 
  the 
  

   delta 
  of 
  the 
  Orinoco 
  River 
  and 
  related 
  linguistically 
  neither 
  to 
  the 
  

   Awawak 
  nor 
  to 
  the 
  Carib, 
  who 
  occupied 
  the 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  Guiana 
  coast 
  

   of 
  South 
  America 
  southeast 
  of 
  Venezuela 
  and 
  who 
  ranged 
  far 
  into 
  the 
  

   interior 
  of 
  the 
  South 
  American 
  Continent. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  discovery, 
  Indian 
  sailors 
  ventured 
  into 
  the 
  open 
  

   waters 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  and 
  the 
  Caribbean 
  in 
  their 
  dugout 
  canoes. 
  

   These 
  canoes 
  varied 
  in 
  size, 
  but 
  each 
  possessed 
  the 
  common 
  quality 
  

   of 
  having 
  been 
  cut 
  from 
  a 
  single 
  tree 
  trunk. 
  Columbus 
  wrote 
  that 
  

   " 
  the 
  dugout 
  canoes 
  of 
  Haiti 
  were 
  of 
  solid 
  wood, 
  narrow, 
  and 
  not 
  unlike 
  

   our 
  double-banked 
  boats 
  in 
  length 
  and 
  shape, 
  but 
  swifter." 
  Caribs 
  

   of 
  the 
  Lesser 
  Antilles 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  sailing 
  to 
  Porto 
  Rico 
  to 
  

  

  