106 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



Amongst the undoubted Carili tribes are the Yayamaras of the Rio Payagua, 

 the Arecunas of the Caroni, and the Chaimas of the Caripe coast range. The 

 Guayanos, who give their name to the vast region of Guiana, are divided into 

 numerous groups, all of distinctly Carib type. 



The Colombian Muyscas are also represented in Venezuela by the Timotes of 

 the Merida highlands, who are remarkable for their pronounced dolichocephaly, 

 and who formerly spoke Muysca dialects. Most of the other aborigines appear to 

 have always inhabited Venezuela, or at least to have occupied the country from 

 remote times. Moreover, their range extends southwards as far as the Bolivian 

 uplands and the sources of the Paraguay. Lucien Adam has given them the 

 collective name of Maipures, from one of their groups in the middle Orinoco 

 valley described by Humboldt. They are the Arawaks (Aruacos) of English 

 and other writers, a name going back to the first period of the Conquest. The 

 Arawaks were always at war with the Caribs, both in the Antilles and on the 

 mainland, where most of them were driven west of the Orinoco, and, farther 

 south, to the Amazonian regions bordering on the Cordilleras. The term Arawak 

 no longer survives in the present Venezuela, but it has been preserved amongst 

 the Indians of Dutch Guiana and of the Brazilian Rio Negro. 



Xumerous rock inscriptions recall the presence and migrations of ancient 

 peoples who have for the most part disappeared. One of these " documents " 

 occurs at an altitude of no less than 8,200 feet, near the summit of Mount Naiguata 

 in the Caracas coast range, where are seen some now nearly obliterated figures. In 

 the Merida highlands-, a Muysca domain, inscribed stones and " idols " are more 

 numerous than elsewhere. The general type resembles that of similar remains 

 found in great numbers on the Colombian plateaux, but are of less finished work- 

 manship. For the present Indians these rude effigies are mere mmiecos (dolls), 

 unless a cross has be-^n inscribed by some pious hand on the idol's forehead ; then 

 it becomes a santico, a " little saint," which may be worshipped without incurring 

 the charge of idolatry. Thus are blended the old and the new beliefs. 



The Cerro Pintado ("Painted Rock") between the Atures and Maipures 

 rapids presents a curious group of figures, including a man, a snake 400 feet long, 

 and various other animals. A few miles higher up, the caves and fissures of the 

 Cerro de los Muertos, the Cerro de Luna, and other caverns contain numerous 

 skeletons deposited by different Indian tribes, and accompanied by a jar of some 

 fermented drink to slake the thirst of the deceased on his journey to cloudland. 



On the north side of Lake Tacarigua are seen over fifty cerritos ("hillocks") 

 which were formerly supposed to be natural eminences, but which are now found 

 to be sepulchral mounds. Here the flesh was removed from the bones before 

 interment, and the remains disposed in regular order m the cone-shaped sarco- 

 phagus placed in the centre of the barrow. These mound-builders belonged to 

 the polished stone age, and made perfectly symmetrical earthenware, probably 

 with the potter's wheel. 



One of the best known of the Venezuelan wild tribes are the Guaraunos 

 (Waraun), who are scattered over the Orinoco delta and neighbouring lowlands. 



