65. Clay cylinders, for supporting cooking utensils. ([Plate V.] c.)[2]
[2] Specimens of Nos. 1, 2, 3, 9, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 34, 36, 41, 47, 49, and 63, of this list, have been sent home by my friend R. Spruce, Esq., and may be seen in the very interesting Museum at the Royal Botanical Gardens, at Kew.
The Indians of the river Isánna are few in comparison with those of the Uaupés, the river not being so large or so productive of fish.
The tribes are named—
- Baníwas, or Manívas (Mandiocca).
- Arikénas.
- Bauatánas.
- Ciuçí (Stars).
- Coatí (the Nasua coatimundi).
- Juruparí (Devils).
- Ipéca (Ducks).
Papunauás, the name of a river, a tributary of the Guaviáre, but which has its sources close to the Isánna.
These tribes are much alike in all their customs, differing only in their languages; as a whole however they offer remarkable points of difference from those of the river Uaupés.
In stature and appearance they are very similar, but they have rather more beard, and do not pull out the hair of the body and face, and they cut the hair of their head with a knife, or, wanting that, with a hard sharp grass. Thus, the absence of the long queue of hair forms a striking characteristic difference in their appearance.
In their dress they differ in the women always wearing a small tanga of turúri, instead of going perfectly naked, as among the Uaupés; they also wear more necklaces and bracelets, and the men fewer, and the latter do not make use of so many feather-ornaments and decorations in their festivals.
Each family has a separate house, which is small, of a square shape, and possesses both a door and windows; and the houses are collected together in little scattered villages. The Isánna Indians make the small flat baskets like the Uaupés, but not the stools, nor the aturás, neither have they the white cylindrical stone which the others so much esteem. They marry one, two, or three wives, and prefer relations, marrying with cousins, uncles with nieces, and nephews with aunts, so that in a village all are connected. The men are more warlike and morose in their disposition than the Uaupés, by whom they are much feared. They bury their dead in their houses, and mourn for them a long time, but make no feast on the occasion. The Isánna Indians are said not to be nearly so numerous, nor to increase so rapidly, as the Uaupés; which may perhaps be owing to their marrying with relations, while the former prefer strangers.