The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes / The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

[989] Sivers, Mittelamerika, p. 167; Bard's Waikna, pp. 127, 298-9. 'Auf irgend eine Zubereitung (of skins) verstehen sich die Indianer nicht.' Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 190, 148. 'They make large Jars here, one of which will hold ten Gallons, and not weigh one Pound.' Cockburn's Journey, p. 83.

[990] Young's Narrative, pp. 11, 19, 76, 160-1; Martin's West Indies, vol. i., pp. 155-6; Dampier's Voyages, vol. i., pp. 35, 85. 'Der Tuberose tree der Engländer liefert die stärksten Baumstämme, deren die Indianer sich zur Anfertigung ihrer grössten Wasserfahrzeuge bedienen.' Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 116, 70, 147.

[991] The Mosquitos have 'little trade except in tortoise-shells and sarsaparilla.' Squier's Cent. Amer., p. 659. Compare Bard's Waikna, p. 317; Bell, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxxii., p. 252; Strangeways' Mosquito Shore, p. 337; Young's Narrative, pp. 16, 82, 86-7, 91, 126; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. iii., v.; Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 148, 171-4, 190.

[992] The Mosquitos 'divisaient l'année en 18 mois de 20 jours, et ils appellaient les mois Ioalar.' Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., p. 472. 'Dit konense reeckenen by de Maen, daer van sy vyftien voor een jaer reeckenen.' Esquemelin, Zee-Roovers, p. 152. 'Für die Berechnung der Jahre existirt keine Aera. Daher weiss Niemand sein Alter.' Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 142, 267-8. See also Bard's Waikna, pp. 244-5; Young's Narrative, p. 76; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. vi.

[993] Bard's Waikna, pp. 292-3; Cockburn's Journey, p. 37; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 63. The natives of Honduras had 'pedaços de Tierra, llamada Calcide, con la qual se funde el Metal.' Colon, Hist. Almirante, in Barcia, Historiadores, tom. i., p. 104.

[994] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. v.; Cockburn's Journey, p. 45; Dampier's Voyages, vol. i., pp. 10-11; Esquemelin, Zee-Roovers, p. 150; Delaporte, Reisen, tom. x., p. 406; Froebel's Cent. Amer., p. 184; Crowe's Cent. Amer., p. 49; Winterfeldt, Mosquito-Staat, p. 22; Bard's Waikna, pp. 231, 297-8; Bell, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., pp. 258-9; Squier, in Harper's Mag., vol. xix., p. 614; Id., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1858, tom. clx., p. 134; Young's Narrative, pp. 71, 98; Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 171-2. 'Sie stehen unter eignen Kaziken, die ihre Anführer im Kriege machen und welchen sie unbedingt gehorchen.' Poyas, 'Ihre Regierungsform ist aristokratisch.' Hassel, Mex. Guat., pp. 388, 390. Mosquito 'conjurers are in fact the priests, the lawyers and the judges ... the king is a despotic monarch.' Bonnycastle's Span. Amer., vol. i., p. 174.

[995] Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 335.

[996] Bard's Waikna, pp. 127, 129-30, 202-11, 236, 243, 299-300, 321-3; Strangeways' Mosquito Shore, pp. 332, 336; Froebel's Cent. Amer., p. 137; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 216. 'They marry but one Wife, with whom they live till death separates them.' Dampier's Voyages, vol. i., p. 9. 'Doch besitzen in der That die meisten Männer nur ein Weib.' Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 144-6, 133-9; Salazar y Olarte, Hist. Conq. Mex., tom. ii., p. 312.

[997] Esquemelin relates that the natives on the Belize coast and adjacent islands carried the new-born infant to the temple, where it was placed naked in a hole filled with ashes, exposed to the wild beasts, and left there until the track of some animal was noticed in the ashes. This became patron to the child who was taught to offer it incense and to invoke it for protection. Zee-Roovers, pp. 64-9, 149. The genitals are pierced as a proof of constancy and affection for a woman. Id., pp. 151-3. Compare Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. i., cap. vi., lib. viii., cap. iii.-vi.; Young's Narrative, pp. 73, 75, 123, 125; Bell, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxxii., pp. 251, 254-5, 257-8; Pim and Seemann's Dottings, pp. 249, 306-8; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., tom. i., p. 335; Delaporte, Reisen, tom. x., p. 409; Crowe's Cent. Amer., pp. 49, 245-7.

[998] Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. iii., vi.; Bell, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxxii., p. 255-6. The Woolwas 'haben gewisse Jahresfeste bei welchen weder ein Fremder noch Weiber und Kinder des eignen Stammes zugelassen werden. Bei diesen Festen führen sie mit lautem Geschrei ihre Tänze auf, "wobei ihnen ihr Gott Gesellschaft leistet."' Froebel, Aus Amerika, tom. i., pp. 407-8.