119 



any congregation in particular. The guardian 

 of the convent sells the produce of the Conuco ; 

 and, as all the Indians are employed in it's 

 cultivation, all have an equal share in the gain. 

 Maize, clothes, tools, and, I was assured, some- 

 times money, are distributed among the peo- 

 ple. These monastic institutions resemble, as 

 I have already observed, the establishments of 

 the Moravian brethren. They are advantage- 

 ous to the progress of a rising society ; and in 

 the catholic communities known under the 

 name of Missions, the independence of families, 

 and the individual existence of all the members 

 of the society, are more respected than in the 

 protestant communities, that follow the rules 

 of Zinzendorf. 



What gives most celebrity to the valley of 

 Caripe, beside the extraordinary coolness of the 

 climate, is the great Cueva, or Cavern of the 

 Guacharo # . In a country where the people 

 love what is marvellous, a cavern that gives 



* The province of Guacharucu, which Delgado visited in 

 1534, in the expedition of Hierontmo de Ortal, appears to 

 have been situate South, or South-east from Macarapana. 

 Has it's name any connexion with those of the cavern and 

 the bird ? or is this last of Spanish origin ? (Laet, Nov. 

 Orb., p. 676). Guacharo means in Castilian " one who 

 cries and laments himself j" now the bird of the cavern of 

 Caripe, and the guacharaca (phasianus parraka), are very 

 noisy birds. 



