516 



merchandize in great request. Some persons of 

 European race employ this red fecula, diluted in 

 water, as an excellent diuretic. 



The custom of painting is not equally ancient 

 among all the tribes of the Oroonoko. It has in- 

 creased since the time when the powerful nation of 

 the Caribbees made frequent incursions into those 

 countries. The victors and the vanquished were 

 alike naked ; and to please the conqueror it was 

 necessary to paint like him, and to assume his 

 colour. The influence of the Caribbees has now 

 ceased, and they remain circumscribed between 

 the rivers Carony, Cuyuni, and Paraguamuzi ; 

 but the Caribbean fashion of painting the whole 

 body is still preserved. The custom has sur- 

 vived the conquest. 



Does the use of the onoto and chica derive it's 

 origin from the desire of pleasing, and the taste 

 for ornament, so common among the most sa- 

 vage nations? or must we suppose it to be 

 founded on the observation, that these colouring 

 and oily matters, with which the skin is plastered, 

 preserve it from the sting of the moschettoes? 

 I have often heard this question discussed in 

 Europe ; but in the missions of the Oroonoko, 

 and wherever within the tropics the air is filled 

 with venomous insects, the inquiry would appear 

 at best idle. The Caribbee and the Saliva, who 

 are painted red, are not less cruelly tormented 

 by the moschettoes and the zancudoes, than the 



