14 



the Cabres or Caveres, celebrated for their long 

 wars with the Caribs. In this labyrinth of petty na- 

 tions, divided from one another as the nations of 

 Latium, Asia Minor, and Sogdiana, formerly were, 

 we can trace no general relations but by follow- 

 ing the analogy of tongues. These are the only 

 monuments, that have reached us from the early 

 age of the world ; the only monuments, which, 

 without being fixed to the soil, at once movable 

 and lasting, have as it were traversed time and 

 space. They owe their duration, and the extent 

 they occupy, much less to conquering and po- 

 lished nations, than to those wandering and 

 half-savage tribes, who, fleeing before a power- 

 ful enemy, carried along with them in their ex- 

 treme wretchedness only their wives, their child- 

 ren, and the idiom of their fathers. 



Between the latitudes of 4° and 8°, the Oroo- 

 noko not only separates the great forest of the 

 Parima from the bare savannahs of the Apure, 

 Meta, and Guaviare, but also forms the boundary 

 between tribes of very different manners. In 

 the west, along plains destitute of trees, wander 

 the Guahiboes, the Chiricoas, and the Guamoes; 

 dirty and disgusting nations, proud of their sa- 

 vage independance, whom it is difficult to fix 

 to the soil, or habituate to regular labor. The 

 Spanish missionaries characterize them well by 

 the name of Indios andantes (Indians who are 

 always on the march, vagabond Indians). To 



