(12) Guaharibos, round the head-waters of the Orinoco; savage.
(13, 14, and 15) Guaicas, Pasimonabis, and Mandawaks, on the Casiquiare, &c.; agricultural.
(16) Yaruros.
Of these the Piaroas, Guarecas, Piapocos and Salibas, Pasimonabis, and Mandawaks are becoming extinct or are leaving Venezuela for neighbouring countries. It may be noted that many place-names, such as Guárico, Achaguas, Apure, Mucuchíes, are those of extinct tribes or of branches of those given above.
Tavera-Acosta finds the languages spoken by these people divisible into three main groups, but some appear to have an admixture of Parian or Carib words. It is interesting to note his statement that the common Chinese root chi abounds in all the dialects of Guayana, and the system of counting is Mongolian. In addition, he states that the languages show some Malayan affinities.
The most numerous tribes appear to be the Warraus or Guaraunos, the Banibas (a branch of the ancient Quichua stock of the Rio Negro), and the Arawaks; these last, however, are chiefly to be found in British Guiana.
The Warraus occupy the Delta of the Orinoco, and extend into the lowlands of British Guiana, having everywhere retained their racial characters to an unusual extent. Their language appears to be akin to the Carib group on the one hand and the Arawak on the other, while the people themselves have at times been considered as an offshoot of the Carib nation.
They are dark copper in colour, well set up, and strong, though not as a rule tall, and with low foreheads, long and fine black hair, and the usual high cheek-bones and wide nostrils of the South American “Indians.” Where they have not come into contact with civilisation they are particularly shy and reticent, but they soon lose this character, and some are said to show considerable aptitude as workmen.
Living as they do mainly in the Delta, their houses are of necessity near water and are raised from the ground as a protection against floods, being sometimes, it is said, even placed on platforms in trees. The roof is supported in the middle by two vertical posts and a ridge pole, and is composed of palm-leaves, supported at the corners by stakes. The sides of this simple hut consist of light palm-leaf curtains, and the floor is of palm-planks. The hammocks are slung on the ridge pole, and the bows and arrows of the occupants fixed in the roof, while their household furniture, consisting of home-made earthenware pots, calabashes of various sizes, &c., lie promiscuously about the floor. Some of the Warraus are nomadic and live in canoes, but the majority are grouped in villages of these huts, with captains responsible to the Venezuelan local government authorities.