PEIMITIVE AGEICULTUEAL EACES 171 



than of great sporting contests, as were on the whole the wars 

 of the northern tribes. Throughout South America warfare seems 

 to have been a regular feature of inter-tribal relation. It was 

 usually very sanguinary. According to Wallace the Mandrucos 

 fight with their neighbours every year.^ Much the same is re- 

 ported by Church of the Araras, Mogos, Masas, and other tribes 

 of the Amazon basin,^ and also by White of the north-western 

 regions of the southern half of the Continent .^ The peoples of 

 the Chaco were formerly at continual war with the Guaranis.* 



10. There are frequent references to blood-feuds in the accounts 

 of these races. Blood-feuds are only to be with difficulty dis- 

 tinguished from warfare ; feuds between man and man and 

 between family and family merge into those feuds between tribes 

 that are called warfare. It will be sufficient here to note that 

 a considerable amount of elimination must among certain tribes 

 arise from that peculiar form of blood-feud which is connected 

 with the belief that natural death is caused by some enemy. In 

 Guiana ' a person dies and it is supposed that an enemy has 

 secured the agency of an evil spirit to compass his death. Some 

 sorcerer, employed by the friends of the deceased for that purpose, 

 pretends by his incantations to discover the guilty individual or 

 family, or at any rate to indicate the quarter where they dwell. 

 A near relative of the deceased is then charged with the work of 

 vengeance. ... If the supposed offender cannot be slain, some 

 innocent member of his family — man, woman, or little child — 

 must suffer instead.' ^ The Uaupes of the upper waters of the 

 Eio Negro ' scarcely seem to think that death can occur naturally, 

 always imputing it either to direct poisoning or to the charms 

 of some enemy, and on this supposition will proceed to revenge 

 it. This they generally do by poison.' ^ It is difficult to ascertain 

 how far these beliefs are acted upon ; it seems nevertheless clear 

 that among certain tribes a considerable amount of elimination 

 must be attributed to this source. 



11. It is not necessary to repeat here what was said in the 

 former chapter with regard to disease. Our conclusion was that 

 in all probability most diseases did not evolve until at or about 

 the beginning of the third period. We therefore regard this 



' Wallace, Travels on the Amazon, p. 516. See also Church, loc. cit., p. 77. 

 " Church, South America, pp. 78, 99, and 137. See also Von Martiu.s, loc. cit., 

 vol. i, p. 129. 3 White, J. A. I., vol. xiii, p. 244. * Grubb, loc. cit., 



p. 105. s Brett, Indian Tribes, p. 357. « Wallace, loc. cit., p. 500. 



