30 
THE ABORIGINES OF GUIANA. 
chiefly by the ruins of their mural defences in a north-easterly direction to Palestine ; by the relics found in their tumuli, and their 
peculiar zodiacal signs, to the north of Siberia, where all further traces of them are lost. Similar tumuli, mural defences, liieroglyphic 
inscriptions, astronomical divisions of time, and zodiacal signs, were used by the civilized aboriginal race of America ; and as the 
geographical position of Behring’s Strait, and the Alcoutski Islands, admit the possibility of emigration from Asia to America, we are 
led to believe that the Toltecans, and Aztecs arrived that way. They were however expelled by succeeding hordes, and during the 
struggle for occupancy the earthen ramparts may have been constructed ; but the frequent attacks, and the arrival of new hordes, rendered 
their destruction inevitable, if they obstinately persisted in remaining ; they therefore abandoned the country to the conquerors, emigrated 
southward, and became ultimately extinct. The descendants of the latter savage tribes, the conquerors of the ancient Mexicans, 
constitute at present the aboriginal inhabitants of North and South America, tribes, who though dissimilar in language, possess 
philological affinities, and are distinguished by the same predilections for a nomadic, or roving and savage life, and are given 
alike to war and to the chase. 
The Mongolian races of Northern Asia possess a similar disposition ; but we may infer a still stronger affinity between the Indians 
of North America, and the nomadic tribes of Northern Asia, from anatomical evidences. Indeed, the learned Author of the “ Physical 
History of Mankind,” Dr. Prichard, in alluding to the Mongolian races and the North American Indians, observes, “ we do not find 
that any clearly defined difference has been generally proved between the two classes of nations.” The present American race, blended 
with the Mongolian to the north, spreads over the whole of the New World, and however feeble their intellect may be, they surpass 
the more civilized, but now extinct races of Mexico, in their full belief of the existence of one Good Spirit, a future life, and the 
immortality of the soul. 
These tribes, to whom a roving life and a home in the forest are essential, contain several subdivisions, differing in customs, 
habits, and language; but an original affinity runs through them all, and shows that they were once intimately connected. Ancient 
customs have become modified by change of situation and circumstance, but after so great a lapse of time, the present aboriginal 
inhabitants of Guiana, and the adjacent territories, still resemble the Americans of the northern portion of this wide-spread race in 
their manners. 
It is difficult, if not impossible, to form a close approximation to truth in calculating the number of aborigines within the boundaries 
of British Guiana : our imperfect knowledge of the country, and still more their wandering life, increases this difficulty ; but I 
■estimate the tribes who inhabit the British territory at about seven thousand. The different nations consist of 
Arawaaks. Arecunas. 
Warraus. Wapisianas. 
Caribs or Caribisi. Atorais or Atorias. 
Acawais or Waccawaios. Tarumas. 
Macusis. Woyawais. 
The Arawaaks and Warraus live in the coast regions, and their small settlements scarcely extend one hundred miles inland: I 
reckon their number at above three thousand. The Caribs inhabit the Lower Mazaruni and Cuyuni; about one hundred are located 
at the Corentyn, eighty at the Rupununi, thirty at the Guidaru, and their whole number (though once the lords of the soil) does not 
at present surpass three hundred. The Acawais or Waccawaios inhabit the Upper Demerara, the Mazaruni, and Potaro, and amount 
probably to six hundred. The Macusis live in the open country, or savannahs of the Rupununi, Parima, and the mountain-chains 
Pacaraima and Canuku. Those who inhabit the British territory amount to fifteen hundred ; the whole tribe is probably not less than 
three thousand : they are bounded to the north by the Arecunas, who dwell in the mountainous regions and savannahs, at the springs 
of the Caroni, Cuyuni, and Mazaruni. They are a powerful tribe, but are more properly the inhabitants of the Venezuelan territory. 
The Wapisiana are a tribe belonging to the savannahs of the Upper Rupununi, and the banks of the Parima: I estimate the number of 
those who inhabit British Guiana at five hundred. The Atorais, at the Carawaimi mountains, and along their north-western foot, 
border on the territory of the Wapisiana; and, like the Caribs, are fast approaching to extinction, their whole number does not reach 
to two hundred. The Tarumas inhabit the tributaries of the upper Essequibo, and amount to no less than five hundred individuals. 
The Woyawais, a race who live in the regions between the sources of the Essequibo, and the affiuents of the Amazons, number about 
three hundred and fifty ; they are on the southern confines of the British territory. 
The Indians of Guiana who have come under my notice, are seldom more than five feet four inches in height, and although they 
on their first appearance convey the idea of strength, a closer inspection will show that they are not muscular. Their head is rather 
large in comparison with their bodies, and the same may be also remarked as to the trunk of the body in proportion to the limbs ; their 
necks are short, their eyes slope upwards towards the temples, and although the forehead is lower than that of Europeans, it is much 
