TO NEW-BARCELONA CARIBS. 249 



called guayca, which resembles the best made from 

 animal substances, and is found between the bark 

 and alburnum of the Comhretum guayca, a kind of 

 creeping plant. 



On the third day they arrived at the missions of 

 Cari. Some showers had recently revived the vege- 

 tation. A thick turf was formed of small grasses 

 and herbaceous sensitive plants, while a few fan- 

 palms, rhopalas, and malpighias, rose at great dis- 

 tances from each other. The humid spots were 

 distinguishable by groups of mauritias, which were 

 loaded with enormous clusters of red fruit. The 

 plain undulated from the effect of mirage, the heat 

 was excessive, and the travellers found temporary 

 relief under the shade of the trees, which had, how- 

 ever, attracted numerous birds and insects. 



On the 13th July they arrived at the village of 

 Cari, where, as usual, they lodged with the clergy- 

 man, who could scarcely comprehend how natives 

 of the north of Europe should have arrived at his 

 dwelling from the frontiers of Brazil. They found 

 more than 500 Caribs in the hamlet, and saw many 

 more at the surrounding missions. They were of 

 large stature, from five feet nine inches to six feet 

 two. The men had the lower part of the body 

 wrapped in a piece of dark-blue cloth, while the 

 women had merely a narrow band. This race differs 

 from the other Indians, not only in being taller, but 

 also in the greater regularity of their features, in 

 having the nose less flattened, and the cheek-bones 

 less prominent. The hair of the head is partially 

 shaven, only a circular tuft being left on the top, — 

 a custom that might be supposed to have been bor- 

 rowed from the monks, but which is equally preva- 

 lent among those who have preserved their inde- 

 pendence. Both males and females are careful to 

 ornament their persons with paint. The Caribs, 

 once so powerful, now inhabit but a small part of 

 the country which they occupied at the time when 



