74 THE CARIB RACE. 



The former wear only the guajuco, or perizoma, in the form 

 of a band. The men have the lower part of the body wrapped 

 in a piece of blue cloth, so dark as to be almost black. This 

 drapery is so ample, that, on the lowering of the tempera- 

 ture towards evening, the Caribs throw it over their shoulders. 

 Their bodies tinged with onoto* their tall figures, of a red- 

 dish copper-colour, and their picturesque drapery, when 

 seen from a distance, relieved against the sky as a back- 

 ground, resemble antique statues of bronze. The men cut 

 their hair in a very peculiar manner, very much in the style 

 ot the monks. A part of the forehead is shaved, which 

 makes it appear extremely high, and a circular tuft of hair 

 is left near the crown of the head. This resemblance be- 

 tween the Caribs and the monks is not the result of mission 

 life. It is not caused, as had been erroneously supposed, by 

 the desire of the natives to imitate their masters, the Fran- 

 ciscan monks. The tribes that have preserved their wild 

 independence, between the sources of the Carony and the 

 Bio Branco, are distinguished by the same cerquillo defrailesfi 

 which the early Spanish historians at the time of the dis- 

 covery of America attributed to the nations of the Carib 

 race. All the men of this race whom we saw either during 

 our voyage on the Lower Orinoco, or in the missions of 

 Piritu, differ from the other Indians not only in the tallness 

 of their stature, but also in the regularity of their features. 

 Their noses are smaller, and less flattened ; the cheek-bones 

 are not so high ; and their physiognomy has less of the 

 Mongol character. Their eyes, which are darker than those 

 of the other hordes of Guiana, denote intelligence, and it 

 may even be said, the habit of reflection. The Caribs have a 

 gravity of manner, and a certain look of sadness which is 

 observable among most of the primitive inhabitants of the 

 New World. The expression of severity in their features 

 is heightened by the practice of dyeing their eyebrows with 

 the juice of caruto : they also lengthen their eyebrows, 

 thereby giving them the appearance of being joined to- 

 gether ; and they often mark their faces all over with black 

 spots to give themselves a more fierce appearance. The 



* Rocou, obtained from the Bixa orellana. This paint is called in th. 

 Carib tongue, biriet. 



f Circular tonsure of the friars. 



