| Mojeño, or Trinitario. | Cayubaba. | Yuracaré. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man | Jiro | Yasi | |
| Woman | Seni | Atoñanes | |
| People | Chani | ||
| Father | Taita, or Pilla | Taita, or Apana | Atata |
| Mother | Meme | Apipi | Ameme |
| Son or Daughter | Chicha | Chiromi | |
| Wife | Atoñanes | ||
| Husband | Até | ||
| My | Ni | Ni and Ma | |
| Boy | Miji | ||
| Girl | Mijiasi | ||
| Sun | Sachi | Maca | Puyne |
| Moon | Cóje | Injani | Chuvi |
| Star | Reyje | Pusichi | |
| Day | Sachi | Carachu | |
| Night | Yoti | Garra (g soft) | |
| Fire | Yuco | Doré | Ayma |
| Water | Uni | Quita | Sama |
| Earth | Motaji | Datu | |
| Horse | Cuoyo | ||
| To eat | Pinica | Pañani | |
| Come and eat | Pi ana pinica | Aviro pañani | |
| To drink | Nero | Pacogucoi (g soft) | |
| Bring fire | Piuma yuco | Picha doré | Cuncayama |
| Bring water | Piuma uni | Picha quita | Cuncayamsama |
| I go to drink water | Nero uni | ||
| Little | Paisarini | Irique | |
| Very little | Paisarichi | Padetai | |
| Go to sleep | Piana tinoca | ||
| Many people | Psinto poiachani | ||
| Let us go | Yánavori | ||
| Deep | Tupano | ||
| River | Cosará | ||
| Here | Pfjóca | ||
| Take hold | Anoca | ||
| There is not (no hay!) | Tajina |
The above words I have set down as near to the sounds as I could. It seems that many years ago the Indians had a method of writing by short strokes, signs, and hieroglyphics; but that method is now almost entirely forgotten, and those who can write use the ordinary Roman letters. I have seen many excellent writers amongst them. All of them who had done service in the churches as sacristans and choristers are able to write; they also can read music, for which they use the ordinary five-line system. There are small schools in all the principal Indian villages in which reading, writing, and Catholic prayers are taught in the Castilian language; and I was rather surprised to see the amount of rudimentary knowledge that is drilled into the Indians, who, as a race, are not at all deficient in natural intellect, being, I believe, of a much higher grade than the Brazilian negroes of African descent.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Festival of St. John the Baptist—Water-throwing—Morning mass—Church of La Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz—“Macheteros,” or Soldiers of the Cross—Decrease of the Indians of the Beni—Suggestions for the re-population of the department—A crew for Trinidad obtained with difficulty—Desertion of an Indian lad—Landslip and dangers of the port of Exaltacion—Changes in the courses of the rivers—Richness of the soil—Prices of provisions.
While I was staying in Exaltacion the Festival of St. John the Baptist occurred, on the 24th of June, and the village was in fiesta, and no work of any kind was done by the Indians. The chief duty on this day appears to be to throw as much water over each other as possible, this being a custom that has been introduced by the Bolivian patrons or masters who are of Spanish origin. The great object is to wet thoroughly the best-dressed man or woman who shows on the street or at a window; and possibly this is meant for a kind of baptism, for as one cannot be made to go to the river as St. John and his followers did, the river is brought, in buckets and other vessels, to the unbeliever, who must suffer the infliction of a good wetting with the best grace he may; and thus he is at all events made to practise the Christian virtues of patience and long-suffering, for there is no escape from the devout followers of the saint, the best plan being to put on an old suit of clothing and provide one’s self also with a bucket and squirt and set forth baptizing on one’s own account.
Morning mass was held with great beating of drums and blowing of horns, the water play being abandoned for the nonce. The church is a very old edifice built of adobes, and was constructed by the Jesuits more than 200 years ago, the “cura” of the town informing me that there were ecclesiastical records belonging to it which vouched for its age. The façade facing on the central square of the village is highly ornamented with figures in cement handsomely painted; the columns are made in a twisted pattern, and there are, on either side of the principal door, images of a Christ and a Virgin, about eight feet in height, elaborately moulded and painted. The interior has been highly decorated with relievo ornamentation in mud cement, but has now become much decayed, all the pictures, of which there were a great many, having fallen out of their frames.
The service of the mass was of most barbarous character, and has evidently been adapted to the customs of the aborigines of these parts by the Jesuits. There were two Indians with head-dresses of macaw’s feathers arranged so as to form a circle at the back of the head, and attached thereto is a long appendage, reaching to the ground and made of the breast feathers of the toucan, terminating with a real tiger’s tail. These men have a species of bell-anklets to their feet, and a large wooden machete, or cutlass, in their right hands. Thus accoutred they execute dances in front of the altar and the church door. These fellows are called “macheteros,” and are intended to typify, I presume, the soldiers of the Church fighting and conquering its enemies. The interior of the church during mass presents a good effect from the bright colours of the “tipoys” of the Indian women, the two plaits of whose long glossy black hair are finished off with bright-coloured ribbons called “ariches.” The “tipoy” is made of white or bright-coloured calico or print, and is a long and straight garment which hangs in graceful folds to the feet of the wearer, whose arms are always bare from the shoulder. The bright colours of these dresses made an effective contrast to the dark and sombre look of the church. The singing is of a squally character, the aim seeming to be to sing through the nose as much as possible; but every one seems to be thoroughly in earnest, and all cross themselves in proper fashion.
INDIAN GIRL OF EXALTACION.