Moruca. 319 
Dutch visited this region and left behind them these and other signs of 
their stay. Many keep a few fowls. 
The inmates of the house we are approaching are preparing to 
welcome us. We cannot help noticing the almost courtly manner with 
which we are received. We shall find they probably belong to the old 
stock with Spanish blood in their veins. While all are more or less 
friendly, the reception given by some would come fairly un: er the word 
“ uneivilised ” though it may be remarked even tle manner of these is in 
no way inferior to that of many of their uneducated fellow beings of 
civilised lands. Moreover, the Indian never intends to be rude. 
We do not stay long, for there is little enough to invite delay, and 
you are never offered hospitality. Occasionally I have been offered small 
gifts, a pme, a small measure of coffee, etc. Indeed they have little 
enough to offer you, usually, and rarely of their abundance. The benab 
of the Indian is indeed a desolate sight; partaking someway of the 
dreary ana uninviting savannah around, they just seem a make-shift 
against the inclement weather of a family always on the move. The 
“home,” as one knows it, is simply unthinkable in any way in connection 
with the Indian’s benab. Uninviting as it always is, it becomes dreari- 
ness itself when the rain is pouring down for long spells ; one almost 
prefers to be out in the deluge. Another reason why one does not wish 
to delay under their roof is that one cannot talk with the inmates. It 
seems rather wonderful that these primitive people have preserved the 
Spanish tongue which they brought into this region. All, young and 
old, speak Spanish, which, I have been told by one who knows that 
language, is good Spanish and has not degenerated into a dialect which 
might be well classed as a new language. Certainly one would have 
expected this in a perfectly uneducated people, for ignorance of letters 
and slovenly ways of speech are usually the proyenitors of new dialects. 
Besides Spanish a certain number know Arawak, equally their native 
tongue. Spanish, however, is the prevailing language and the only one 
known by many; it is the one spoken at home and the language invari- 
ably used by the school children outside the schoolroom. This is just 
one of the difficulties of the school here ; the children come simply to 
a foreign language with the result that progress is painfully slow till this 
has been somewhat learned, and, indeed, it is none too quick after. 
English is becoming known more and more since the institution of the 
school and many of the younger generation speak it, or rather a variety 
of it, fairly well. The Warrau portion of Santa Rosa Mission does not, 
with rare exceptions, speak Spanish. A certain number speak a variety 
of English but too many of them know only their own tongue. ‘[hus 
it will be seen that Santa Rosa possesses not only a compound people but 
also a compound of tongues. It is a little Babel. 
So we smile our farewell and plunge into the bush to seek yet other 
benabs for our instruction. We walk Indian file along the narrow path- 
way. Soon, very likely, we come to a side track, down which we see a 
