In the states of Cauca and Antioquia there are scarcely any full-blood natives remaining, and the tribes after the conquest were so shifted about that it is difficult to know to which of them we should attribute the abundant remains of ancient art which are scattered profusely over this region. There are numerous sepulchral tumuli, especially in the Frontino and Dabeiba districts, which yield a rich harvest to the antiquary. They contain gold figures, vases and ornaments, stone implements of uncommon perfection, mirrors of polished pyrites, and small images in stone and terra cotta. There are also remarkable ruins in the valley of the Rio de la Plata, an affluent of the upper Magdalena. They consist in colossal statues rudely carved from stone, and edifices of the same material, partly underground, the walls of large slabs, and the roof supported by cylindrical carved pillars. A few of these still remain intact, but the majority have been wrecked by the earthquakes and by the vandalism of treasure-hunters.[255]
In an attempt to restore the ancient ethnography of this region, Dr. Posada-Arango thinks the former tribes can be classed under three principal nations:[256]
1. The Catios, west of the river Cauca.
2. The Nutabes, on the right bank of the Cauca, in its central course.
3. The Tahamies, toward the east and south.
In addition to these, there are the Yamacies, near the present city of Saragossa.
According to the early records, these tribes lived in fixed habitations constructed of wood and roofed with thatch. They were cultivators of the soil, skilled in the manufacture of pottery and stone implements, and had as domestic animals parrots and a small species of dog (perros de monte). Their clothing was of cotton, and they were much given to wearing ornaments, many of which were of gold.
From the unfortunate absence of linguistic material, I am unable to classify these interesting peoples.
In the valleys of the Sierra south of the Paezes dwelt the Guanucos, described by the first explorers as a warlike people in an advanced stage of culture. Their houses were of stone, roofed with straw. The sun was worshipped with elaborate ceremonies, including choruses of virgins and the ministration of thousands of priests.[257] The dead were buried and the funeral solemnities associated with human sacrifice. At present the neighbors of the Paezes on the western slope of the Cordillera are the Moguexes or Guambianos, partially civilized and carrying on a rude agriculture. They are much given to dissolute dances to the sound of the marimba, and to stupefying themselves with stramonium, which they also use to catch fish.[258]
The informant of the Abbé Hervas, Señor Velasco, asserted that the Guanucos were a branch of the Coconucos, who dwelt near the foot of the mountain of that name in Popayan, and figure considerably in some of the older histories.[259] Bollaert learned that some of them still survive, and obtained a few words of their language, which he was also told was the same as that of the Pubenanos.[260] I have found by comparison that it is identical with that of the Moguexes and Totoros,[261] and I am therefore enabled to present the following group as members of what I shall call the