The Native Races (Complete 5 Part Edition). Hubert Howe Bancroft

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СКАЧАТЬ Guatemalans, but also more superstitious. Scherzer thinks that they have all the inclination for becoming robbers, but want the energy. The Aztec remnants in Nicaragua are particularly patient and thrifty, but extremely shy and brooding. The Chontales, on the other hand, are said to have been a savage and debased race, while the Cholutecs were brave and cruel but subject to petticoat rule. Opinions concerning the intelligence of the natives and their prospect of advancement are varied, some affirming that they are dull and spiritless, incapable of making any progress, while others assign them a high character and intelligence, which, properly directed, would give them a prominent position.979

      THE MOSQUITOS.

      The Mosquitos, the second division of the Central American group, are at the present day composed in part of an incongruous mixture of Carib colonists and negro importations, and in part of a pure native element. Owing to the independent spirit of the tribes along the central chain of mountains, which successfully resisted the attempts of Spaniards to penetrate the territory, and to the unhealthy climate of the coast, this country, with the exception of the northern part of Honduras, has as yet escaped subjection to the white race. The country, aside from the sea-shore, possesses many attractive features. The transverse ranges, radiating from the principal chain, form a series of terraces which gradually lessen in elevation, until they disappear in a low coast region. Between them innumerable rivers, fed by the moisture-laden sea-winds, now rushing boisterously from heavily wooded heights, now sluggishly wending their way through luxuriant prairie-land, flow through a region of most pleasing variety, and at last empty into vast lagoons bordering the ocean. The aborigines still form the greater part of the population, and are composed of a large number of tribes which, while practicing agriculture to a limited extent, subsist chiefly on natural fruits and on the products of the chase. Excepting the small tribes of the eastern Mosquito country, Mr. Squier, who has given much patient research to their languages, includes the natives of this sub-division among MOSQUITO NATIONS. the Lenca family, at the head of which stand the Guajiqueros in western Honduras, essentially an agricultural people. East of these are the Xicaques, and Poyas, names given to a collection of closely related tribes, some of which have been brought under the subjugating influences of the missionary Fathers, while others still keep their ancient customs intact. The Secos on Black River are included by some writers with the Poyas. South and west of these are the Moscos, and in the western part of the Mosquito coast, the Woolwas, who still cherish a tradition of their emigration from the north-west. East of the latter live the Towkas and Cookras, who extend to Blewfields, and speak dialects varying little from the Woolwa tongue, but stand lower in the scale of humanity. Bell states that the Towkas are merely a branch of the Smoos, who have many points in common with the Poyas, though differing from them in language. Among other aborigines may be mentioned the Albatuinas, Tahuas, Panamekas, Jaras, Taos, Gaulas, Itziles, Motucas, and the Ramas on the Blewfields lagoon; of several others the names are either lost or unknown. Following the coast southward we meet the Caribs, a strong, hardy, but crude race at present, of varied negro admixture, chiefly descended from the turbulent natives of San Vicente island, whom the English transported in 1796 to the island of Roatan, whence they were brought over to Honduras. The Caribs, who have within a few decades spread from a small colony over the whole northern coast, driving other nations into the interior and southward, appear to be superseding the aborigines, now fast disappearing under the annihilating effect of drink and disease. South of the Caribs round cape Gracias á Dios are the Sambos, or Mosquitos proper, said to have sprung from the union of native women with negro slaves wrecked on the coast during the seventeenth century. Owing to their geographical position they were brought in contact with the buccaneers, and placed in a position to gain ascendancy over other tribes from the Poyas southward, but were at the same time inoculated with the degrading vices and disorders which are now so rapidly bringing about their extinction. Elated by their position as masters of the coast, they assumed the proud title of Waiknas, or men, in which conceit they have been imitated by the subjected tribes, which are gradually adopting the Sambo tongue. Adjacent to them are the Toonglas, a not very numerous offshoot of Smoos and Sambos.980

      Race-mixtures in certain localities have almost obliterated aboriginal types, which are portrayed as of medium stature, regular form, and varying in color from light brown to dark coppery. The people about cape Gracias á Dios are represented by the first voyagers to have been nearly as dark as negroes. The face is rather flat and oval, the head smaller than among Europeans; forehead high and cheek-bones not very prominent; hair long, straight, coarse, and black; beard scanty; nose very small, thin, and usually aquiline among the coast people, but larger and broader toward the interior. The iris of the eye is generally black, but often verges toward brown; mouth broad, with thin lips and regular teeth. The women present a full bust and abdomen; they are called pretty, but early marriages soon make them old. It is suspected that infant murder has something to do with the rarity of deformed people. The Towkas and Ramas present the finest pure-blooded type, the former being very fair, while the latter are large, athletic, and stern-looking. The Poyas are copper-colored, short, but muscular, broad-faced, with large forehead, bent nose, and small, mild eyes. The Toonglas are duskier; the Smoos approach the fair Towkas in hue, though they have a flatter head, accompanied by a stolid look. The darkest of all are the Woolwas, whose color seems a mixture of yellow ochre and India ink. Proceeding to Honduras, we meet the Caribs, whose varied admixture of negro blood separates them into yellow and black Caribs. The former are distinguished by a somewhat ruddy hue, with a hooked nose; while his duskier brother is taller, hardier, and longer-lived; with a nose inclining to aquiline. Children are prettier as they approach the negro type. The hair varies in curl and gloss according to purity of blood. The Mosquitos proper are more uniform in appearance, and buccaneers have no doubt assisted in bringing out many of the characteristics that have obtained for the Sambo race the leading position on the coast. They are all well-built, raw-boned, nimble, and of a dull, dark, copper color. The face is oval, with a coarse, lustful expression, the hair rough, wavy, and black, eyes bright and remarkably strong; women pretty, with large eyes, and small feet and ankles.981

      MOSQUITO PHYSIQUE AND DRESS.

      A piece of cloth fastened at the waist in a twist or by a cord, and reaching to the knee, constitutes the native male costume in these parts, that of the women being somewhat shorter. This cloth is either of cotton, sometimes woven with down, or of fibres from the inner bark of the caoutchouc tree, beaten on stones till they become soft, and is often large enough to serve for a covering at night. Some are quite fanciful in color and design, and formerly they were painted. Those of the Woolwas are usually six feet long by three broad, striped blue and yellow; they are passed between the legs and fastened at the waist by a thong. The Xicaques, on the contrary, wear the cloth serape-fashion, by passing the head through a slit in the centre, and tying the folds round the waist. Even this scanty covering is often reduced to the smallest apron, and is dispensed with altogether in some parts, for modern travelers speak of natives in a naked state. Women occasionally wear a small square cloth, having an opening for the head, one part of which covers the breast, the other the back. In some parts chiefs are distinguished by a cotton cap, and a long sleeveless robe, open in front and often nicely ornamented; in other places men of rank wear turbans decorated with plumes and feathers, and dress in skins of eagles, tigers, and other animals; these are also used by the common people on festive occasions. The Smoos' head-dress is especially pretty, with its embroidery and feather-work. Ordinarily the long loose hair is deemed sufficient to protect the head, and is kept sleek and shining by palm-oil, which they say furthers its growth. The women have longer hair than the men, and often dress it in ringlets, seldom in a knot or wreath. The people of northern Honduras wear a lock hanging over the forehead; some highland chieftains, on the contrary, shave the front of the head, but allow the back hair to grow long, while the Poyas part theirs in the middle, keeping it in position with a band. That of the religious men reaches to the waist, and generally falls in braids behind. In mourning, both sides of the head are shaved, a bushy comb being left along the middle. Formerly all hair except that on the head, even eyebrows and lashes, was pulled out, because it was thought fit for animals only to have hair on the body. All go barefooted, and it is only where the native has to travel over a rough road СКАЧАТЬ