566 



ment of these tribes, (tall and short, fair and 

 dark brown) in the same country. The four 

 nations of the Upper Oroonoko, that appeared 

 to me to be the fairest, are the Guahariboes of 

 the Rio Gehette, the Guainares of the Ocamo, 

 the Guaicasof Canno Chiguire, and the Maquiri- 

 tares of the sources of the Padamo, the Jao, and 

 the Ventuari. It being very striking to see 

 natives with a fair skin beneath a burning sky, 

 and amid nations of a very dark hue, the Spa- 

 niards have forged two daring hypotheses, in 

 order to explain this phenomenon. Some assert, 

 that the Dutch of Surinam and the RioEsquibo 

 may have intermingled with the Guahariboes 

 and the Guainares ; others insist, from hatred to 

 the Capuchins of the Carony, and the Observan- 

 tins of the Oroonoko, that the fair Indians are 

 what are called in Dalmatia # muso di frate y 

 children whose legitimacy is somewhat doubtful. 

 In both cases the Indios blancos would be mes- 

 tizoes, sons of an Indian woman and a white 

 man. Now, having seen thousands of mestizoes, 

 I can assert that this comparison is altogether 

 inaccurate. The individiuals of the fair tribes, 

 whom we examined, have the features, the sta- 

 ture, and the smooth, straight, black hair, which 

 characterises other Indians. It would be im- 

 possible to take them for a mixed race, like the 



* At Cataro and Ragusa. 



