BOOK of man. Neither the Malays of the great Ocean, nor any LXXXVII. of the tribes of America, have ever landed on these lonely shores. Dampier and Cowley observed springs, and even rivers, in some of these islands, the peculiar Spanish names of which have given place to English appellations, at least in all our modern charts. Santa Maria de l'Aguada appears identical with Fork island. The largest among the twenty-two that are known, are those of Albermarle and Narborough. Cowley describes the enchanted island, which presents a varied prospect of what appears to be a walled town, and a strong castle in ruins. Several harbours and roadsteads invite Europeans to form establishments there. Native tribes of New Grenada. Ancient tribes of Quito. There are many Indian tribes in the kingdom of New Grenada. The greater number still enjoy their independence, and almost all of them retain their language and particular customs. The Guairas or Guaigniros occupy part of the provinces of Maracaybo, Rio de la Hacha, and Santa Martha, and live on friendly terms with the Motilones who inhabit the lands watered by the Muchuchies and the river St. Faustin, as far as the valley of Cucuta. They infest the passes of the mountains; pillage, conflagration, and murder, mark their incursions on the plains. The Chilimes. and Guairas, are freebooters on the banks of the Magdalena.* The Urabas, the Zitaras and Oramisas form three independent states in the province of Darien, the first under a native prince or Playon, the two last under a republican government. The Curacunas dwell on the mountains of Choco and Novita; they attack small vessels, and travel sometimes as far as Panama in search of plunder. The ancient inhabitants of Quito, in common with the savage tribes of Africa, are said to have spoken many different dialects. Our missionaries calculated not less than a hundred and seventeen; it appears, however, that the language of the Viajero Universal, XXII. p. 298. + Hervas, Catalogo delle lingue. Quitos was spread over the interior, and that of the BOOK Scires along the coast. It is remarkable that the name of LXXXVII. the Scires should be the same as that of an ancient European tribe famous for its migrations and warlike exploits.* Hervas states, that the Scires who inhabit the new world, conquered the upper districts, and introduced their language into that part of Quito in the year 1000. At the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, the Peruvians were in possession of the country, and their language was generally adopted, but there is no reason to believe that the Scires spoke it before that period. In the year 1600, the Cofanes, one of the hundred and seventeen tribes of Quito, are supposed to have amounted to fifteen thousand souls; their language was that of the inhabitants of Anga Marca, in which a Jesuit has written an epitome of Christianity. Of the fifty-two tribes of Popayan, those of Guasinca, Tribes of Cocnuca, and Paos, had three distinct languages, which Popayan and Mayare still partly preserved in the writings of the mis- nas. sionaries. The Xibaros, the Macas, and the Quixos, at one time formidable tribes, occupied the eastern declivities of the Andes, in the province of Quito. Nearer the level of the sea, in the vast district of Maynas, are found the remains of unnumbered tribes, whose languages the missionaries have classed in the following order :-1st, Sixteen, of which the Andoa is divided into nine dialects, the Campa into seven, and the Mayna into four; 2dly, Sixteen different dialects that have no resemblance to any known tongue; Lastly, Twenty-two tribes, several of which are still extant, although their language is extinct. We have not included in this list the populous tribe of the Omaquas; its inhabitants spread over the whole course Omaquas. of the Maranon or Amazons, spoke a dialect comparatively simple in its grammar, and abundant in its vocables, from which we may infer that they had arrived at a greater degree of civilization than their neigh+ Hervas, Catalogo, vol. I. p. 68. *The Sciri, Scyri, or Skyri. VOL. V. 52 BOOK bours. The migrations of this seafaring people have not LXXXVII. been ascertained, but it is generally believed that they had settlements in Brazil. A civilized country surrounded by savage and wandering nations, is a phenomenon in the new world.* Santa Fe de Bogota rivals Cuzco, the city of the sun. As this town was famous for its religious and civil institutions, a short account of their origin may tend to illustrate the character of the people. Fabulous traditions of the Mozcas. Bochica a prophet and lawgiver. In the most remote period of antiquity, before the moon accompanied the earth, the inhabitants of Condinamarca lived like savages, without agriculture, laws, or religion. An aged person appeared suddenly amongst them, who came from the plains on the east of the Cordilleras of Chingaza. His long and thick beard showed that his origin was not the same as that of the natives; he was known by three different names, Bochica, Nemquetheba, and Zuhé; having, like Manco-Capac, hindered men from going naked, he taught them to build cottages, to cultivate the ground, and to live in society. His wife, to whom tradition has also given three names, Chia, Yubecayguaya, and Huythaca, was remarkable for her beauty, but more so for her wickedness. She opposed all her husband's labours for the happiness of the human race; by her magic she raised the waters of the river Funzha, and inundated the plains of Bogota. In this deluge, the greater number of inhabitants were destroyed, a few only escaped to the summits of the neighbouring mountains. The aged stranger, provoked by such crimes, drove Huythaca out of the country; since that period she became the moon, and illuminated our planet during the night. Bochica, pitying those that wandered on the mountains, broke the rocks which enclose the plains of Canoas and Tequendama. The waters of the Funzha having by this incans subsided, he brought back the people to the vale of Lucas-Fernandez Piedrahita, Obispo of Panama, in his history of Neuro Regno de Granada, a work compiled from the manuscripts of Quesada. Bogota, founded cities, introduced the worship of the sun, BOOK and named two rulers, whom he invested with religious LXXXVII. and civil authority. He then withdrew to Mount Idacanzas, in the sacred valley of Iraca; having lived at this place in the exercise of the most austere devotion for two thousand years, or two hundred muysca cycles, he disappeared at the end of that time in a mysterious manner. This Indian fable bears an analogy to some opinions contained in the religious traditions of different nations in the old world. A good and evil principle are personified in the aged Zubé and his wife Huythaca. The broken rocks, through which a passage is made for the waters, resembles the fable that is related of the founder of the Chinese empire. A remote period before the existence of the moon is taken notice of by the Arcadians, a people that boasted of their ancient origin. The moon was considered as a malevolent being that increased the humidity of the earth; but Bochica, the offspring of the sun, improved the soil, protected agriculture, and was as much revered by the Muyscas as the first Inca was by the Peruvians. There is a tradition that Bochica observed two chiefs of different tribes contending for the supremacy, and that he advised them to choose Huncahua for their zaque, or sovereign, a person distinguished for his justice. and great wisdom. The advice of the high priest was willingly obeyed, and Huncahua having reigned for two hundred and fifty years, made himself master of all the country from the savannas of San-Juan de los Llanos to the mountains of Opon. The form of government which Political the legislator gave the inhabitants of Iraca, resembled system of those of Japan and Thibet. At Peru the Incas held in their own hands the ecclesiastical and secular power, and were kings and priests at the same time. At Condinamarea, Bochica appointed four electors, Gameza, Busbanca, Pesca, and Toca, the chiefs of their respective tribes; these persons and their descendants had the privilege of choosing the high priest of Iraca. The pontiffs or lamas, being the successors of Bochica, were supposed to inherit Bochica. BOOK his piety and virtues. The people flocked in crowds to LXXXVII. Iraca, that they might offer gifts to their high priest. Many places, in which Bochica wrought miracles, were visited with holy ardour. In the time of war, pilgrims enjoyed the protection of princes, through whose territory they passed to repair to a sanctuary, (chunsua) or to prostrate themselves before a lama. The secular chief was denominated the zaque of Tunja, to whom the zippas or princes of Bogota paid an annual tribute. Thus the high priest and zaque formed two distinct powers, like the Muyacan dayri and emperor at present in Japan. Bochica was not Calendar, only regarded as the author of a new worship, but being the symbol of the sun, he measured the seasons, taught the Muyscas the use of their calendar,* and marked the order of sacrifices to be offered at the close of every fifth lunar intercalation. In the dominions of the zaque, the day and night (or the sua and za) were divided into four parts, the sua mena lasted from sunrise to noon, the sua meca from noon to sunset, the zasca from sunset to midnight, and the caqui from midnight to sunrise. In the Muysca language, sua or zuhe signifies the sun as well as a day. From sua, which is one of the sirnames of Bochica, is derived sue, a European or white man, a word that was first applied to the Spaniards, who landed with Quesada, because the natives believed them to be the children of the sun. The Muyscas computed their time by divisions of three days, hebdomadal periods were unknown in America, as well as in many parts of eastern Asia. The year (zocam) was calculated by lunations; the civil year consisted of twenty moons, while that of the lamas contained thirty-seven; and twenty of their years formed the Muysca cycle. To express lunar days, lunations, and years, the people made use of a periodical series, the terms of which were denoted by numbers. The language of Bogota has become almost extinct since the end of the last century; it was extended by the victories of zaque Huncahua, by A. de Humboldt, Vues et Monumens, p. 128, 244, etc. |