The Charruas were a barbarous nation living in the extensive plains which stretch from the banks of the Parana to the sea coast. They were savage and courageous, without fixed homes, and skilled in the use of the bola. One of their customs was to cut off a joint of a finger on the death of a relative, and there were few of the adults that were not thus maimed.[516] In appearance they were usually large in size, heavily built, with big heads and broad faces, narrow noses, small eyes and large mouths. Their color was dark.[517]
The members of this family as recorded by the early writers, especially Hervas, are as follows:
CHARRUA LINGUISTIC STOCK.
- Bohanes, on the Paraguay near the Rio Negro (extinct).
- Chanes, adjacent to the Bohanes.
- Charruas, on the coast east of the Rio Uruguay.
- Guenoas, east of the Uruguay.
- Martidanes, east of the Uruguay.
- Minuanes, between the Uruguay and Parana.
- Yaros, on east bank of Uruguay (extinct).
Dr. Paul Ehrenreich describes them as they are to-day, splendid riders and daring soldiers, but faithless and tricky;[518] so they have not much improved since Father Chomé in 1730 stigmatized them as francs voleurs de grand chemin.[519]
The Guatos or Vuatos were accolents of the upper Paraguay and Araguay, and had fixed settlements near Albuquerque. Travelers report them as an unusually handsome people. They are well-built, light in hue, with Roman noses and regular features, and the men with a well-developed beard on lip and chin. This appearance does not belie their intelligence, which is above the average. Polygamy prevails to an uncommon extent. Von Martius thought that they were of a northeastern origin, connected perhaps with the Malalis of Bahia, who are a Tapuya people.[520] There may have been some admixture, as from a small vocabulary I quote the following resemblances:
| GUATO. | TAPUYA. | |
|---|---|---|
| Water, | maguen, | magnan. |
| Head, | dōken, | dicran. |
| Hand, | ida, | danicra. |
| Foot, | apoo, | po, ipaa. |
| Tooth, | maqua, | aiqua. |
| Tongue, | chagi, | dageuto. |
A recent writer does not give so favorable an opinion of this people. He found them living about the junction of the Rio San Lorenzo with the Rio Paraguay, and in a depraved condition. Girls who were not more than five or six years old were used by the men as wives. Sterility and premature decrepitude were the natural consequences.[521]
On the western border of the Chaco, in the provinces of Tucuman and Catamarca, resided the Calchaquis, a tribe interesting as the only one in the South Atlantic Group who constructed walls of cut stone. At least, such are found in their country, as for instance, one about thirty miles from Andalgala, where there is a well-constructed dry wall about ten feet high, enclosing a space nearly a mile in diameter, evidently once a walled city. Stone built tombs are also frequent, from which the rifler is rewarded with mummies, ornaments of impure gold, and small idols of copper. But I doubt if the Calchaquis developed any such ripe arts as these. History tells us that they voluntarily accepted the rule of the Incas about the middle of the fifteenth century, and that their land became part of the Collasuyu or southern district of the empire. All these remains have a distinct impress of Kechua art, and we may be sure that their inspiration was throughout Peruvian.[522]
The earliest missionaries depict the Calchaquis with curious usages and with a certain barbaric splendor. A widow became the wife of her husband’s brother, as of old in Israel. So long as she was a virgin, a girl could dress in the gaudiest colors, but once prostrato pudore, as the monk delicately puts it, she must change to sober weeds. Their ornaments were of silver and copper, and the nobles wore a circlet of gold and brilliant feathers. Their seasons of mourning were accompanied with the most violent orgies. Over the dead they raised heaps of stones, and held that the souls became stars.[523]