178 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



limits are never violated except on market-days, wlien the Goajlros visit the fairs 

 on the Colombian side. 



If civilisation is to be measured by the social position of woman, the Goajiros 

 must be ranked amongst the most advanced nations. They show the greatest 

 consideration for their wives, who are consulted on all occasions, and who can 

 interfere to stop quarrels by seizing and breaking the weapons of the com- 

 batants, and throwing the pieces away. A traveller passing through the country 

 under the escort of a woman will be respected and well entertained by every- 

 body. 



Formerly the Goajiros were divided into tribes, each with its totem, like the 

 !North American redskins, and all regarded themselves as the descendants of some 

 sacred animal, such as an ape, a hen, or a partridge. The chiefs, whether men 

 or women, rule, not by right of birth or conquest, but in virtue of their wealth in 

 herds. For them alone are still observed the old funeral rites, which are accom- 

 panied by the sacrifice of many calves and colts, and by copious libations. 



Besides the true Goajiros, numbering some 30,000, their territory is also 

 occupied by the so-called Cocinas (" Plunderers "), who, perhaps, belong to the 

 same race. But most of them have been reduced to a state of servitude, their 

 duty being to tend the cattle, to build the ranch os, to prepare the poisoned 

 arrows, to cultivate the fertile valleys of the eastern uplands. The chief wealth 

 of the Goajiros consists in their horned cattle and horses, large numbers of which 

 are brought to the markets of Rio Hacha, Sinamaica, and Maracaibo. 



About one-half of the territory comprised between the Andes and the rivers 

 Orinoco, Cassiquiare, and Rio Negro is occupied by tribes which are even more 

 independent than the Goajiros. Several of these tribes, such as the Tunebos or 

 Tammes, who formerly dwelt on the plateaux, have descended to the llanos in 

 order to preserve th eir liberty. But this chaos of fugitive and nomad peoples 

 has no political importance whatsoever, and even numerically represents scarcely 

 a fiftieth part of the Colombian nation — at least, according to the general esti- 

 mates. In other words, the spaces occupied by them are still almost uninhabited, 

 and these wild tribes, without having suffered any direct oppression, are perishing 

 from the small-pox, scarlet fever, and other epidemics introduced by the whites. 



In ethnological writings the names occur of dozens of such decimated tribes, 

 each comprising a few hundred, or, at most, two or three thousand souls. One 

 of the most important are the Salivas, akin to the Betoyes and Vichadas, who 

 cultivate a few patches of land on the banks of the Meta, the Casanare, and their 

 affluents. Eastwards their territory is conterminous with that of the Quivas, who 

 appear to have escaped from the Colombian plateaux in order to avoid contact 

 with the whites. The Salivas are a musical people, who have invented a kind of 

 terra-cotta French horn five feet long, with which they emit lugubrious notes, 

 heard at a great distance. 



Another numerous tribe are the Mituas, of the Rio Guaviare, who occupy the 

 lowest rung in the social scale ; their women weave a kind of felt resembling 

 amadou, which is of too coarse a texture to hang in folds round the body. On 



