THE CHARIBS. 237 



but they were soon after subdued, and have since been kept in check without 

 much difficulty. They are still, however, a numerous people, for Humboldt states 

 that those of the pure race who yet inhabit the banks of the Corone and Cayuni, 

 and the mountains west of Cayenne and Pacaraymo, are not less than forty thousand 

 in number.* The same traveller observes that the Charibs of Chari, in Venezuela, 

 and those of the lower Orinoco, differ from the other Indians by being taller, and 

 having more regular features. " Their nose is not so large, and less flattened ; the 

 cheek-bones are not so high, and their physiognomy has less of the Mongol cast." 

 Their heads are naturally rounded, as in the other tribes ; but many of the Charib 

 nations long practised the flattening process, in such manner as to depress the os 

 frontis, and thus elongate the head from front to back. Let us now glance 

 separately at the Continental and the Insular Charibs. 



PLATE LXIV. 



CHARIB OF VENEZUELA. 



When Humboldt visited the continental Charibs, towards the close of the 

 last century, he saw no remains of the custom of distorting the head, which was 

 once so common among them, and even existed in recent times.f Speaking of 

 the Indians of Cumana, Gomara says, " They compress the heads of their children 

 gradually, and for a long time, between two little cushions made of cotton, in 

 order to render the face broad, w^hich they esteem a beauty."t A stronger 

 evidence on this subject, however, is derived from the annexed drawing, which 

 was taken from a skull sent me by that distinguished gentleman and scholar, Don 

 Joseph Maria Vargas, of Caraccas. It was found in a terra cotta vessel, wherein 

 it had probably been preserved for centuries. It is much dilapidated, and admits 

 of but a part of the usual 



MEASUREMENTS. 



Longitudinal diameter, . . . . . 7. inches. 



Parietal diameter, ...... 5.3 inches. 



Frontal diameter . 4.8 inches. 



* Person. Narr. VI, p. 11.— IV, p. 466. t Barkere, p. 239. 



J Hist, de las Indias, cap. LXXIX. 

 60 



