332 
INDIAN NATIONS. 
than the sago of India * The Indians assured me that the 
trunks of the Mauritia, the tree of life so mucli vaunted 
by father Gumilla, do not yield meal in any abundance, 
unless the palm-tree is cut down just before the flowers 
appear. Thus too the maguey, A cultivated in New Spam, 
furnishes a saccharine liquor, the wine (pulque) of the Mexi- 
cans, only at the period when the plaut shoots forth its long- 
stem. By interrupting the blossoming, nature is obliged 
to carry elsewhere the saccharine or amylaceous matter, 
which would accumulate in the flowers of the maguey and 
in the fruit of the Mauritia. Some families of Guaraons, 
associated with the Chaymas, live far from their native 
fond, in the Missions of the plains or llanos of (Jumana ; 
for instance, at Santa Eosa dc Oeopi. hive or six hun- 
dred of them voluntarily quitted their marshes, a few years 
ago, and formed, on the northern and southern banks of 
the Orinoco, twenty-five leagues distant from Cape Ba- 
rium, two considerable villages, uuder the names of Zacu- 
pana and Imataca. When I made my journey in Caripe, 
these Indians were still without missionaries, and lived in 
complete independence. Their excellent qualities as boat- 
men, their perfect knowledge of the mouths of the Orinoco, 
and of the labyrinth of branches communicating with each 
other, give the Guaraons a certain political importance. 
They favour that clandestine commerce of which the island 
of Trinidad is the centre. The Guaraons run with ex- 
treme address on muddy lands, where the European, the 
Negro, or other Indians except themselves, would not dare 
to walk ; and it is, therefore, commonly believed, that they 
are of lighter weight than the rest of the natives. This is 
also the opinion that is held in Asia of the Burnt Tartars. 
The few Guaraons whom I saw were of middle size, squat, 
and very muscular. The lightness with which they walk 
in places newly dried, without sulking in, when even they 
have no planks tied to their feet, seemed to me the effect 
of long habit. Though I sailed a considerable time on the 
Orinoco, I never went so low as its mouth. Euture tra- 
* M. Kunth has combined together three genera of the palms. Cala- 
mus, Sigus, and Mauritia, in a new section, the Calamese. 
+ Agave A nericana, the aloe of our gardens, 
