San Carlos, on the Itonama, an affluent of the Itenez, peopled by Baures (6).
Magdalena, on the Itonama, an affluent of the Itenez, peopled by Baures (6).
N. S. del Concepcion, on the Baures, or Blanco, an affluent of the Itenez, peopled by Baures (6).
N. S. del Carmen, on the Baures, or Blanco, an affluent of the Itenez, peopled by Baures (6).
Reyes, on the Beni, an affluent of the Mamoré, peopled by Maropas (7).
San Borja, on the Apiri, an affluent of the Mamoré, peopled by Maropas (7).
There are seven tribes of Indians in these fifteen villages, each tribe having a language of its own. There are also differences in the dialects of villages speaking the same mother tongue, such as Trinidad and San Xavier, or Magdalena and Nuestra Señora del Concepcion; but while these differences serve to render the Babel of tongues in the Beni still more confusing, one is only able to detect the seven leading languages as numbered in the list. There is another tribe (of whom more hereafter) that inhabit the lands on the highest waters of the Mamoré; this tribe is called the Yuracarés, but they are never reckoned amongst the Indians of the Beni.
Of the seven languages, the following numbers and words are all that I had an opportunity of obtaining:—
| Mojeño, or Trinitario. | Cayubaba. | Canichana. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| One | Etona | Carata | Merca |
| Two | Apina | Mitia | Calila |
| Three | Mopona | Curapa | Carajaca |
| Four | Chata | ||
| Five | Mitaru | ||
| Six | Tariduboi |
In endeavouring to follow the sound of these words I have used the Spanish alphabet, that is to say, a broad, i to be e, e a short a, u like oo; j to be h, c hard before a and o, etc., etc. The Mojeños and Canichanas do not appear to be able to count beyond three; arriving at that, they commence again, and have to arrange all their calculations in sets of threes, which seems to be a most complicated proceeding; thus, for a peso, or dollar, that contains eight reales, they count “apina mopona” and “apina”, or two threes and two; how they get on in the higher numbers I could not understand, but as most of the Indians have learned the Spanish numerals, I observed that they invariably counted the first three numbers in their own language and then went off into cuatro, cinco, etc. I managed to get the Cayubabas up to “tariduboi,” or six, and then they would go on with siete, ocho, nueve, etc. The Trinitarios have a peculiarity with regard to their first numeral which is worthy of mention; if they are counting they will say “Etona,” but if there is only one article or thing to be spoken of, they say “Etonaricha,” the addition of “icha” appearing to be a kind of diminutive. The following are a few words that I noted.