The Aruaca mentioned by Gilii were some tribes of the Arawaks who occasionally visited the southern bank of the Orinoco, and whose relations to the Maypures were not known to him. They are also mentioned by other authors.
Having thus reviewed the linguistic stocks named by Gilii, I shall proceed to mention some which escaped his attention.
One of the most interesting of these is the Betoi, or Betoya. This tongue derived its name from a tribe dwelling at the foot of the mountains of Bogota, between the rivers Apure and Tame, and are therefore included by some among the Indians of New Granada. From a number of authorities I find the following members are attributed to the
BETOYA LINGUISTIC STOCK.
- Airicos, on head-waters of the Manacacia, the Ele and Guainia.
- Amaguages, near Rio Caqueta.
- Anibalis, on Rio Apure.
- Betois, on and near Rio Casanare, about north latitude 5°.
- Correguages, on Rio Yari and head-waters of Caqueta.
- Jamas, on Rio Manacacia.
- Macaguages, on Rios Caucaya, Mecaya and Sensella.
- Piojes, on Rio Putumayo, and on the Napo and Caucaya (Cocayu).
- Quilifayes, on Rio Apure.
- Situfas, on Rio Casanare.
- Tamas, on the Rio Yari and Rio Caguo.
- Tunebos, in the Cordillera, adjacent to the Betois.
Of these, the Piojes and Correguages, of which we have vocabularies, do not show close resemblance to the Betoya, yet undoubtedly some;[420] so I place them in this stock partly in deference to old authorities.
The Piojes derive their name from the particle of negation in their language, this being their usual reply to all inquiries by traders or travelers. They are divided into two bands, speaking the same dialect, one on the Napo and one on the Putumayo, neither knowing anything of the other. Some of their customs are peculiar. For instance, it is their rule that a widow shall take her son, a widower his daughter, to replace the deceased consort.[421] They are somewhat agricultural, and are skillful boatmen.
The Tamas formerly lived on the river Aguarico (Coleti). Dr. Crévaux found them on the Caguo, a branch of the Yapura, and obtained from them a short vocabulary, but enough to mark them as members of the stock.[422] There are also some on the Rio Meta who speak Spanish only. (Perez.)
The Betoya has impressed me as showing some distant affinity to the Choco stock, and it may be that ampler resources on both sides would lead to the establishment of an original identity. The following words from the very scanty number which I have for comparison are noteworthy: