Oct 26, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



429 



The Last of the Guanches. 



The last we hear of the Guanches as a separate 

 people is in the year 1532 — thirty-six after the conquest 

 — when Spanish delegates went to Spain to ask for the 

 Inquisition to exterminate the remainder of those who 

 were living, or rather merely existing in the inmost 

 mountain recesses, and it is doubtful whether any pure- 

 blooded survivor of the race now exist, for during my 

 travels through the seven islands I came across none, 

 though a sharp look out was kept. But it is very pro- 

 bable that in the natives now on the islands there is 

 much of the old blood. During those thirty-six years, 

 between the conquest and the advent of the dreaded In- 

 quisition, there must have been much intermarrying 

 between the two nations. The women of the ancient 

 race were remarkable for loveliness ; the Spaniards 

 have never been pre-eminent for morality. An amalga- 

 mation of the two races has taken place. This admix- 

 ture of Guanche blood in the islands to-day is evident 

 from many plainly visible signs. The general character 

 of the islanders struck me as being much softer, more 

 simple, and more generous than that of the Peninsular 

 Spaniards. There is a remarkable absence of bigotry 

 and religious intolerance, and the peasants are imbued 

 with a refreshing spirit of independence and love of 

 liberty. That they have obtained from tariff-loving Spain 

 the concession of free ports, is an example of their per- 

 sistency and enterprise. Bethencourt found the Majere- 

 ros " of large stature, powerful, and firmly attached to 

 their form of government, very tall and difficult to take 

 alive." Glas in his day noticed too that the natives of 

 Lanzerote and Fuerteventura were of a noticeably large 

 stature, and in my travels in those islands I observed 

 the same. There is evidently more of the ancient blood 

 in Hierro than in Tenerife. The old inhabitants of 

 Palma were " a fine and tall people " and so they are to- 

 day. As in the days of the Spanish conquerors, so now 

 we found the Palmeros remarkable for their vivacity and 

 wit, and some at any rate, of the quaint Palma costumes are 

 very probably direct descendants of costumes worn by the 

 ancient people. 



The old inhabitants of Gran Canaria " are tall, and 

 look upon themselves as noble. They are a handsome 

 and well formed people. Their women are very beau- 

 ful." A description generally applicable to the present 

 inhabitants to-day. In this island it is recorded that the 

 Spaniards slew a giant nine feet high. 



The Conejeros are now, as they were before the con- 

 quest, "of a humane, social and cheerful disposition, very 

 fond of singing and dancing." Many of the dances to be 

 met with in the various islands are doubtless of Guanche 

 origin. 



The great inter-insular jealousy now existing between 

 the islands reminds us very forcibly of the old days, and 

 is perhaps a survival of the old feeling when there was 

 no inter-communication among the islands, and when 

 the natives of one island eagerly fought those of another 

 when landed there by the Spaniards. 



Beasts of burden were first introduced into the group 

 by the Spaniards. Before that time all baggage must 

 have been carried by men, probably on their heads. 

 The pronounced development of the roughnesses and 

 angularities for the attachment of the neck muscles, 

 which I have repeatedly noticed on Guanche skulls, is 

 confirmatory of this view. In the little-known island 

 of Gomera the natives preferred to carry my portmanteau 

 on their heads to trusting it to the baggage mule as in 



the other western islands, and this, too, for miles over 

 very rough and laborious country. 



A curious survival is the antipathy to blood-shedding. 

 Butchers are looked upon as the lowest class of the com- 



a m 



Fig. 6. (See next page?) 



munity. Even the very criminals object to mix with 

 them in prison, so that if convicted of misdemeanours 

 they are whipped and not imprisoned. This horror of 

 butchers, which is specially noticeable in Gran Canaria, 

 dates from the customs of the Antiguos Canarios. Aziirara 

 says ; " They held it an abomination to kill animals, and 



