History of the Origin, Customs, Religion, Wars, 
and trauels of the Caribs, Savages of the 
Antilles in America. 
Written by Father De La Borde, employed with the Reverend Father Simon, 
Jesuit, to convert the Caribs. (Translated from the French, and 
condensed, by G. J. A. Bosch-Reitz.) 
\Introductory Note. — The narrative by Pere De La Borde which here 
follows is the first of a series of reprints of the literature of West Indian 
and Guiana Redmen which it is proposed to publish from time to time 
in Timehri. The present example has been kindly translated for the 
purpose by Mr. Bosch-Reitz. It is a delightfully naive and truthful 
picture of a very early view of that particular form of Carib life 
which was lived in the West Indian islands before Europeans 
had taken complete possession of those places. There is little, indeed 
no, doubt that the extinct Caribs of the islands and the existing Caribs 
of Guiana were merely localized branches of one and the same race. 
Almost everything that La Borde tells of the Caribs in the islands 
may be seen in Guiana at the present day. Our author seems, however, 
to have had to do with Caribs of quite unusually dirty and immoral 
habits. Nor can there be much doubt that he misread the superstitious 
notions of these people ; but then this particular misreading of these so- 
called savages has been made by almost all missionaries, as a conse- 
quence of the naturally prejudiced views with which they approached the 
study. Ed.] 
HERE are so many different histories of the 
islands that it is quite unnecessary to repeat 
what has so often been said of them. If, how- 
ever, it may seem that I -do so, it is where matters 
have been inaccurately represented or in some way mis- 
represented to us. I shall not speak here of the air, 
climate, and the nature of the country ; others have 
spoken enough about these. I shall only offer some re- 
marks, for the sake of those interested in such matters, 
on the customs and superstitions of the savages ; and 
I guarantee all I say of them to be true, having had. 
to deal with them personally, and paid great attention 
