16 



more love of order, cleanliness, and ease. The 

 independant Macoes (I would not denote them 

 by the name of savages) have their rochelas, or 

 fixed dwellings, two or three days* journey east 

 of Atures, toward the sources of the little river 

 Cataniapo. They are very numerous ; cultivate, 

 as most of the natives of the woods, not maize, 

 but cassava ; and live in great harmony with 

 the Christian Indians of the mission . The har- 

 mony was established, and wisely cultivated by 

 the Franciscan monk, Bernardo Zea. This Al- 

 calde of the reduced Macoes quitted the village 

 of Atures for a few months every year, to live 

 in the plantations which he possessed in the 

 midst of the forests near the hamlet of the inde- 

 pendent Macoes. In consequence of this peace- 

 ful intercourse, many of the Indios monteros came 

 and established themselves some time ago in 

 the mission. They asked eagerly for knives, 

 fishing hooks, and those coloured glass-beads, 

 which, notwithstanding the positive prohibition 

 of the priests, were employed not as necklaces, 

 but as ornaments of the guayuco*. Having 

 obtained what they sought, they returned to the 

 woods, weary of the regulations of the mission. 

 Epidemic fevers, which prevailed with violence 

 at the entrance of the rainy season, contributed 

 greatly to this unexpected flight. In 1799 the 



* Peristoma. 



