360 



CANARY ISLES. 



Canary 

 Mes. 



from the hand or a sling ; and sometimes used huge 

 clubs, which, in Grand Canary, they called modagas. 

 In TenerifFe, when ?n enemy approached, they alarm- 

 ed the country by kindling a fire, or by whistling, 

 which was repeated from "one to another, and was 

 heard at a most incredible distance. The women 

 often attended their husbands to the field of battle, 

 and were employed in taking care of the wounded, 

 and carrying off the dead, which they interred in 

 caves. By these wars, whole districts were depopu- 

 lated ; and some of the states, in a short time, expe- 

 rienced many changes of masters. Duels were very 

 common in these islands ; and it was upon such oc- 

 casions, in particular, that they were most anxious 

 to display their strength and valour. Public places 

 were set apart for this purpose ; and the combatants 

 were surrounded by their friends and relations, not to 

 assist them, but to be quiet spectators of their gal- 

 lantry and behaviour. These disputes were general- 

 ly decided on public festivals or rejoicings, in the 

 midst of a great concourse of people. The battle 

 was begun by each of them throwing three round 

 stones, which they in general dexterously avoided, 

 by the writhing of their bodies ; then, arming them- 

 selves with cudgels in their right hand, and sharp flints 

 in their left, they cut and beat one another until the 

 Gayres or nobles cried out " gama !" enough.' 

 when they immediately retired, and ever after remain- 

 ed good friends. Though much addicted to war, 

 this people were of a humane, cheerful, and friendly 

 disposition, of which the Spaniards sometimes took 

 advantage ; and, during their reduction, often gain- 

 ed more by conciliatory measures than by force. 

 They were faithful in all their dealings ; and it was 

 owing to the failure of the Europeans in this respect, 

 that the Canarians resisted so long every offer of ac- 

 commodation. 



Excepting the inhabitants of Lancerota and For- 

 teventura, who were more gigantic arid better made 

 than those of the other islands, the natives were in ge- 

 neral of a middle stature, but extremely athletic, and 

 particularly skilful in the exercise of wrestling. A re- 

 markable feat of this kind is related of Adargoma, the 

 Canarian chief, who was taken prisoner by the Spaniards 

 at the battle of Guiniguada. When at Seville, a peasant 

 of La Mancha, famous for his strength, having heard of 

 the Canarian as an extraordinary wrestler, challenged 

 him to a trial of skill. Adargoma accepted the chal- 

 lenge, but proposed that they should first drink toge- 

 ther ; and, taking a glass of wine, he said to the Spani- 

 ard ; u Brother, if you can, with both your hands, pre- 

 vent my carrying this wine to my mouth, or cause 

 me to spill one drop, then I will wrestle with you ; 

 but if you are unable to do this, I would advise you 

 to return home." He then drunk off the wine, in 

 spite of all the other's efforts to prevent him, which 

 so astonished the peasant, that he prudently took his 

 advice and retired. The common dress throughout 

 the Canaries was a cloak made of sheep or goat skins, 

 to which the women added a petticoat, reaching 

 down to the knees, and a cap or bonnet of the same 

 materials, which they sometimes adorned with fea- 

 thers. Their shoes were formed of raw hides, with 

 the hairy side out. The Canarians had also a light 

 coat, the stuff of which was manufactured from a 



s< r' of rush, which being beat, became soft like flax. Canary 

 Some of their garments were curiously sewed with Isles ' 

 thin thongs of leather as fine as common thread, and 

 painted with various kinds of dyes, which they ex- 

 tracted from the roots of trees and herbs. Their 

 houses were all built of stone, but without cement or 

 mortar of any kind, and sometimes so neat and regu- 

 lar, that many of the villages made a very good ap- 

 pearance. In Grand Canary they laid wooden rafters 

 orbeams along the top, which they covered with earth ; 

 but in Ferro, where the houses were of a circular 

 form, ,and so large that they sometimes contained 

 twenty families, the roof was formed of branches of 

 trees and fern. Their furniture consisted of goat 

 skins, which were their only beds; and baskets and 

 mats very ingeniously wrought. They had also 

 earthen vessels dried in the sun, which they used in 

 cooking, and for holding their victuals. Goat's flesh 

 and mutton, either roasted or boiled, constituted their 

 principal food. These, however, they ate alone, without 

 any addition of bread or roots. They used also barley 

 meal roasted and dressed with butter, which they 

 called goffio : and in some of the islands, they had a 

 kind of bread made of fern roots, which, with milk' 

 and butter, composed the chief part of their diet. 

 In Grand Canary, no person was allowed to kill his 

 own cattle. This office was confined entirely to the 

 butchers, who, from their employment, were held in 

 general abhorrence ; and this trade was accounted so 

 ignominious, that it was unlawful for a butcher to 

 keep company with any but those of his own pro- 

 fession. He was not even permitted to enter the 

 house, or to touch any thing that belonged to the rest 

 of the inhabitants, who were in their turn prohibited 

 from visiting any of the public shambles. The only 

 compensation for this degraded trade was, that the 

 natives were obliged to supply the butchers with 

 every thing they had occasion for. This aversion for 

 an employment, which, from its very nature, must 

 deaden in some measure the feelings of kindness and 

 humanity of those who exercise it, shew a degree of 

 refinement in this people which is seldom to be found 

 even among the most civilized nations. Their deli- 

 cacy with regard to the female sex is equally worthy 

 of admiration. The least indecent word or action 

 was severely punished, and it was a prevailing cus- 

 tom at Teneriffe, that if a man by chance met a wo- 

 man alone on the road, or in a solitary place, he was 

 not to speak to, or even to look at her, but to turn 

 out of the way until she was past. Contrary to 

 what some authors have affirmed, these islanders never 

 had more than one wife at a time, though in their 

 marriages, they paid no regard to consanguinity, ex- 

 cept that of a mother or sister. In Grand Canary, 

 when parents were inclined to marry their daughter, 

 they confined her for thirty days ; and fed her with 

 large quantities of milk and goffio, in order to fatten 

 her; for they imagined that lean women were inca- 

 pable of conceiving children. They could, however, 

 put away their wives when they pleased ; but, in 

 such cases, their children were, by this means, render- 

 ed illegitimate, and incapable of inheriting their fa- 

 ther's effects. In all diseases, their prevailing cures 

 were bleeding, burning, and anointing. When any 

 one fejl sick, they rubbed his body with sheep's 

 1 



