TO BARCELONA — CAniBS. 247 



found between the bark and alburnum of the Combretum cilAT.xx. 

 (juayctty a kind of creeping plant. — 



On the third day they arrived at the missions of Cari. ... 

 Some showers had recently revived the vegetation. A Citfl""*'' 

 thick turf was formed of small grasses and herbaceous 

 sensitive plants, Avhile a few fan-palms, rhopalas, and 

 malphighias, rose at great distances from each other. 

 The humid spots were distinguishable by groups of 

 mauritias, which were loaded with enormous clusters of 

 red fruit. The plain undulated from the effect of mi- 

 rage, the heat was excessive, and the travellers found 

 temporary relief under the shade of the trees, which had, 

 however, attracted numerous birds and insects. 



On the 13th July they arrived at the village of Cari, yjnagool 

 where, as usual, they lodged with the clergyman, wlio Cari. 

 could scarcely comprehend how natives of the north of 

 Europe should have arrived at his dwelling from the 

 frontiers of Brazil. They found more than 500 Caribs 

 in the hamlet, and saw many more at the surrounding 

 missions. They were of large stature, from five feet ten 

 inches to six feet two. Tlie men had the lower part of 

 the body wrapped in a piece of dark-blue cloth, while 

 the women had merely a narrow band. This race differs caribs. 

 from the other Indians, not only in being taller, but also 

 in the greater regularity of their features, in having tht 

 nose less flattened, and the cheekbones less prominent. 

 The hair of the head is partially shaven, only a circular 

 tuft being left on the top, — a custom that might be sup- 

 posed to have been borrowed from the monks, but which 

 is equally prevalent among those who have preserved 

 their independence. Both males and females are care- 

 ful to ornament their persons with paint. The Caribs, 

 once so powerful, now inhabit but a small part of the 

 country which they occupied at the time when America 

 was discovered. They have been exterminated in the 

 West India Islands and the coasts of Darien, but in the 

 provinces of New Barcelona and Spanish Guiana have 

 formed populous villages, under the government of the 

 missions. Humboldt estimates the number inhabiting 



