241 



the monks. They were made to affirm or de- 

 ny, whatever the monks pleased : and indo- 

 lence, attended with that wily politeness, to 

 which the least cultivated Indian is no stranger, 

 induced them sometimes to give to their an- 

 swers the turn, that seemed to be susgested by 

 our questions. Travellers cannot be enough on 

 their guard against this officious assent, when 

 they wish to support their opinions by the tes- 

 timony of the natives. To put an Indian Al- 

 cade to the proof, I asked him one day, if he 

 did not think the little river of Caripe, which 

 issues from the cavern of the Guacharo, return- 

 ed into it on the opposite side by some un- 

 known entrance, after having ascended the 

 slope of the mountain. After appearing grave- 

 ly to reflect on the subject, he answered, by 

 way of supporting my hypothesis : " How else, 

 if it were not so, would there always be water 

 in the bed of the river at the mouth of the ca- 

 vern ?" 



The Chaymas have great difficulty in com- 

 prehending any thing, that belongs to nume- 

 rical relations. I never saw a single man, who 

 might not have been made to say, that he was 

 eighteen or sixty years of age. Mr. Marsden 

 has made the same observation on the Malays 

 of Sumatra, though they have been civilized 

 more than five centuries. The Chayma language 

 contains words, which express pretty large mini- 



VOL. III. R 



