﻿802 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  some 
  places, 
  the 
  son 
  inherited; 
  in 
  others, 
  a 
  sororal 
  nephew; 
  and 
  else- 
  

   where, 
  a 
  brother. 
  

  

  THE 
  WESTERN 
  LOWLANDS 
  

  

  The 
  area 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  Cordillera 
  may 
  be 
  divided 
  into 
  the 
  Coast 
  and 
  

   the 
  forested, 
  hilly 
  jungle 
  area 
  from 
  which 
  the 
  Andean 
  Chain 
  rises 
  

   suddenly. 
  People 
  cultivated 
  maize, 
  aji, 
  cotton, 
  guabas, 
  avocados, 
  and 
  

   other 
  fruits 
  in 
  clearings 
  along 
  river 
  valleys 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  fertile 
  zones 
  along 
  

   the 
  ocean. 
  Bananas 
  were 
  introduced 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  post-Contact 
  Period. 
  

  

  The 
  Coast 
  was 
  inhabited 
  by 
  rather 
  advanced 
  groups 
  that 
  were 
  

   closely 
  related 
  culturally. 
  They 
  were 
  in 
  contact 
  with 
  each 
  other 
  

   through 
  the 
  regular 
  flow 
  of 
  coastwise 
  trade. 
  Though 
  they 
  knew 
  and 
  

   traded 
  with 
  the 
  inlaad 
  peoples, 
  they 
  were 
  quite 
  distinct 
  from 
  them. 
  

   The 
  affiliations 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  were 
  predominantly 
  with 
  the 
  Highland, 
  

   where 
  their 
  contacts 
  were 
  intimate. 
  Both 
  Coastal 
  and 
  inland 
  types 
  

   can 
  be 
  clearly 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  naked 
  Barbacoa 
  or 
  Coaiquer, 
  

   who 
  lived 
  in 
  what 
  today 
  is 
  the 
  southernmost 
  coast 
  of 
  Colombia. 
  

  

  THE 
  ESMERALDA 
  

  

  Habitat. 
  — 
  The 
  Esmeralda 
  received 
  their 
  name 
  from 
  the 
  emeralds 
  

   which 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  found 
  in 
  their 
  territory. 
  Their 
  aboriginal 
  name 
  

   is 
  uncertain. 
  They 
  inhabited 
  the 
  lower 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  Esmeraldas 
  

   and 
  perhaps 
  the 
  Verde 
  Rivers, 
  and 
  the 
  hilly 
  country 
  between 
  Cojimies 
  

   and 
  Atacames. 
  Seler, 
  Rivet, 
  and 
  Jij6n 
  have 
  identified 
  the 
  Caraque 
  

   living 
  in 
  the 
  Briseno 
  and 
  Chone 
  Valleys 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  with 
  the 
  Esmer- 
  

   alda. 
  The 
  Caraque 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  confused 
  with 
  the 
  Cara, 
  who 
  lived 
  

   in 
  the 
  Highland 
  Province 
  of 
  Imbabura. 
  In 
  legends, 
  the 
  Cara 
  derive 
  

   themselves 
  from 
  the 
  lowlands. 
  Both 
  groups 
  spoke 
  Chibchan 
  lan- 
  

   guages, 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  Conquest 
  they 
  were 
  distinct 
  ethnically, 
  and 
  arche- 
  

   ology 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  confirmed 
  their 
  possible 
  earlier 
  identity. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  at 
  an 
  earlier 
  period 
  the 
  Esmeralda 
  occupied 
  a 
  

   much 
  larger 
  territory 
  along 
  the 
  Coast, 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  Conquest 
  they 
  were 
  

   beiag 
  displaced 
  by 
  Manta 
  colonies, 
  and 
  their 
  older 
  settlements 
  looked 
  

   like 
  alien 
  enclaves 
  on 
  an 
  otherwise 
  homogenous 
  Coast. 
  

  

  Language. 
  — 
  The 
  Esmeralda 
  language 
  was 
  the 
  only 
  Coastal 
  idiom 
  

   still 
  spoken 
  in 
  the 
  19th 
  century, 
  when 
  a 
  large 
  vocabulary 
  of 
  it 
  was 
  

   collected. 
  It 
  is 
  extinct 
  today. 
  Seler 
  has 
  suggested 
  a 
  connection 
  

   of 
  Esmeralda 
  with 
  Yarura, 
  which 
  was 
  spoken 
  on 
  the 
  Meta 
  River, 
  an 
  

   affluent 
  of 
  the 
  Orinoco 
  in 
  northeastern 
  Colombia 
  (Handbook 
  of 
  

   South 
  American 
  Indians, 
  Volume 
  4.) 
  The 
  evidence 
  for 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  

   conclusive, 
  and 
  later 
  investigators 
  have 
  preferred 
  to 
  give 
  it 
  generalized 
  

   Chibchan 
  affiliation. 
  

  

  Culture. 
  — 
  The 
  Esmeralda 
  lived 
  in 
  Coastal 
  villages 
  which 
  were 
  quite 
  

   independent 
  from 
  each 
  other 
  and 
  frequently 
  at 
  war. 
  Garcilaso 
  

   claims 
  that 
  the 
  Esmeralda 
  raised 
  no 
  crops 
  and 
  depended 
  only 
  on 
  

  

  