42 COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 



The Terrabas, who have given their nanie to the river formerly called the Goto, do 

 not belong to the tribes of the Pacific Slope. They were brought to the location 

 there, which they now occupy, in Aldea or Terraba, partly by the persuasion of the 

 missionaries, partly by force, having been obliged to abandon the rough mountains 

 to the north about the head waters of the Tilorio or Rio de la Estrella, the Yurquin, 

 and the Rovalo, about the year 1697. They have been variously called Terbis, Ter- 

 rebes, Terrabas, and Tirribies, but there are no differences of dialect between them 

 and their relatives to the north, other than would necessarily take place in any 

 tongue from a separation of this length. 



At the time of the Conquest, therefore, the tribes occupying the territory of Costa 

 Rica were Nahuas, Mangues, Guetares, Viceitas, Terrabas, Changuenes, Guayiuies, 

 Quepos, Cotos, and Borucas. 



The Nahuas came from the north, and landed in Nicaragua somewhere about the 

 year 1440. 



As to the Mangues, we must admit as the most probable opinion that they extended 

 from the shores of the gulf of Nicoya along the lakes of Nicaragua and Managua 

 (Xolotlari) into southern Mexico, where up to within a few years their language was 

 spoken at Acala. 



It is almost impossible to determine the ethnic affinities of the Guetares as long 

 as no vocabularies of their tongue can be found, though such were certainly written 

 by such able linguists as Fray Pedro de Betanzos, Fray Lorenzo de Bienvenida, 

 Fray Juan Babtista, and other Franciscans, who founded missionary establishments 

 and taught the natives around Cartago ; but the testimony of archaiology proves 

 that if they were not related to the Nahuas, they were subject to their influence, 

 perhaps through the active commerce they had with the Chorotegas and Nahuas 

 about the gulf of Nicoya. 



That the Guetares were by no means rude savages is shown by the ornaments in 

 gold, and the precious stones finely cut, which have been unearthed in the excava 

 tions about Agua Caliente and Turrialba. That they presented an honorable differ 

 ence from their neighbors to the north and also the Chorotegas in not being 

 cannibals is testified to by Benzoni, who was among them in 1544, and also by 

 other documents of the time. 



As to the Guaymies, Terrabas, Changuenes, and Borucas, their affinities to the 

 tribes to the east of them are well marked, and it would not be surprising if they 

 were also closely related to the natives between Paria and Darien, and even with the 

 Chibchas of Colombia, as has been maintained by Brinton. 



The total number included by these tribes about 1564 may be estimated in round 

 numbers at 100,000 souls. At present their representatives are very few. 



The Nahuas and Mangues of the Nicoya region have completely disappeared, 

 although the former survive in Mexico, and the latter have still a few descendants at 

 Masaya, Nicaragua, and Acala, Mexico. 



It is unnecessary to say that the Nahuas have left many admirable monuments 

 proving their proficiency in the arts, and a language of a perfection proving that 

 those who developed it were a thoughtful and cultured race. 



The Chorotegas or Mangues, a proud and independent people, are also shown by 

 the relics they have left to have been a people skillful in the arts of pottery, and in 

 working stone and gold. Nothing remains of the Corobicies or Corvesies except 

 the name Corobici or Curubici, app lied to an affluent of the Rio de las Canas, a 

 branch of the Rio de las Piedras, tributary to the Ternpisqne. There are many 

 reasons, however, for believing that the modern Guatusos are the descendants of the 

 Corobicies, whose language, according to Oviedo, was quite distinct from that of 

 the Guetares, or Chorotegas, or Mexicans. It is possible that they are descended 

 from those Votos Indians who inhabited the southern banks of the Desaguadera, or 

 Rio San Juan, and whose village was situated near the first rapids of that river. In 



