74 
THE CARIB RACE. 
The former wear only the guajuco, or perizmna, in the form 
of a baud. The men have the lower part of the body wrapped 
in a piece of blue cloth, so dark as to be almost black. This 
drapery is so ample, that, on the lowering of the tempera- 
ture towards evening, the Caribs throw it over their shoulders. 
Their bodies tinged with onoto,* their tall figures, of a red- 
dish copper-colour, and their picturesque drapery, when 
seen from a distance, relieved against the sky as a back- 
ground, resemble antique statues of bronze. The men cut 
their hair in a very peculiar manner, very much in the style 
of the monks. A part of the forehead is shaved, which 
makes it appear extremely high, and a circular tuft of hair 
is left near the crown of the head. This resemblance be- 
tween the Caribs and the monks is not the result of mission 
life. It is not caused, as had been erroneously supposed, by 
the desire of the natives to imitate their masters, the Fran- 
ciscan monks. The tribes that have preserved their wild 
independence, between the sources of the Carony and the 
Eio Branco, are distinguished by the same cerquillo defrailes,\ 
which the early Spanish historians at the time of the dis- 
covery of America attributed to the nations of the Carib 
race. All the men of this race whom we saw either during 
our voyage on the Lower Orinoco, or in the missions of 
Piritu, differ from the other Indians not only in the tallness 
of their stature, but also in the regularity of their features. 
Their noses are smaller, and less flattened ; the cheek-bones 
are not so high ; and their physiognomy has less of the 
Mongol character. Their eyes, which are darker than those 
of the other hordes of Guiana, denote intelligence, and it 
may even be said, the habit of reflection. The Caribs have a 
gravity of manner, and a certain look of sadness which is 
observable among most of the primitive mhabitants of the 
New World. The expression of severity in their features 
is heightened by the practice of dyeing their eyebrows with 
the juice of caruto : they also lengthen their eyebrows, 
tliereby giving them the appearance of being joined to- 
gether; and they often mark their faces all over with black 
spots to give themselves a more fierce appearance. The 
* Rocou, obtained from the Bi.'ca orellana. This paint is called in tlv. 
Carib tongue, bichet. 
t Circular tonsure of the friars. 
