BARBACOA LINGUISTIC STOCK.
- Barbacoas, on Upper Patia and Telembi.
- Cayapas, on coast near La Tola.
- Colorados, on Daule, Chone and Tachi Rivers.
- Cuaiqueres, on the coast about 1° N. Lat.
- Iscuandes, on Rio Patia.
- Manivis, head-waters of Rio Telembi.
- Sacchas, see Colorados.
- Telembis, on Rio Telembi.
I have, in obedience to a sense of caution, treated of this stock as separate from the Cocanuca; but the fragmentary vocabularies at my command offer a number of resemblances between the two, and I expect that ampler material will show increased analogies, probably to the extent of proving them branches of the same family tree.
In the roughest part of the Eastern Cordillera, about the head-waters of the two rivers Fragua, (between 1° and 2° north latitude), live the Andaquis. They are wild and warlike, and are the alleged guardians of the legendary Indeguau, “House of the Sun,” a cavern in which, according to local tradition, lies piled the untold gold of the ancient peoples.[268] At the time of the conquest their ancestors are said to have occupied the fertile lands between the Magdalena and Suaza rivers, especially the valley of San Augustin, where they constructed mysterious cyclopean edifices and subterranean temples, and carved colossal statues from the living rock. These have been described and portrayed by intelligent travelers, and give us a high opinion of the skill and intelligence of their builders.[269]
The only specimen I have found of the Andaqui language is the vocabulary collected by the Presbyter Albis. Its words show slight similarities to the Paniquita and the Chibcha,[270] but apparently it is at bottom an independent stock. The nation was divided into many sub-tribes, living in and along the eastern Cordillera, and on the banks of the rivers Orteguasa, Bodoquera, Pescado, Fragua and San Pedro, all tributaries of the Caqueta.
The home of the Mocoas is between 1° and 2° north lat. along the Rio de los Engaños or Yari, (whence they are sometimes called Engaños or Inganos), and other tributaries of the Caqueta.[271] They are partially civilized, and have seven or more villages near the town of Mocoa. They are the first natives encountered in descending the eastern slope of the Cordillera. Unfortunately, we have a very imperfect knowledge of their language, a few words reported by the Presbyter Albis being all I have seen. So many of them are borrowed from the Kechua, that I have no means of deciding whether the following list of the stock is correct or not:
MOCOA LINGUISTIC STOCK.
- Almaguereños.
- Engaños or Inganos.
- Mesayas.
- Mocoas.
- Pastuzos.
- Patias (?)
- Sebondoyes.
Of these, the Patias dwelt on the lofty and sterile plain between the two chains of the Cordilleras in Popayan. The Sebondoyes had a village on the Putumayo, five leagues south of the Lake of Mocoa (Coleti).