D’Orbigny has established two divisions only in this family, namely, the Guaranis and the Botocudos.
Guaranis.—At the period of the discovery of South America, all that portion of the continent lying to the east of the Paraguay and of a line drawn from the sources of that river to the delta of the Orinoco, was inhabited by numberless indigenous nations, belonging to two great families. One of these families was that of the Guaranis, diffused over the whole of Paraguay, and allied with the wild tribes of Brazil; the other included the races occupying the more northern provinces, and extending to the gulf of Mexico. The Indians appertaining to both these families strongly resemble each other in features as well as complexion, and d’Orbigny attributes to them the same physical type, one marked by a yellowish colour, medium height, foreheads that do not recede, and eyes frequently oblique and always raised at the outer angle.
The entirely exceptional aptitude which the Guarany nation has evinced for entering on the path of social improvement, renders it one of the most interesting in South America. The Southern Guaranis, or natives of Paraguay, include at the same time the tribes who have submitted to the sway of the missions, in the establishments which the Jesuits have formed in the country, and others who still roam in freedom throughout the forests of that province. Besides the Guaranis, properly so called who are all Christians, and inhabit thirty-two rather extensive villages situated on the borders of the Parana, the Paraguay, and the Uruguay rivers, there exists a certain number of wild hordes belonging to the same race, who remain hidden in the depths of the woods. These tribes bear names derived in most instances from those of the rivers or mountains in whose vicinity they dwell, and among the principal of them are mentioned the Topas, Tobatinguas, Cayuguas, Gadiguès, Magachs, etc.
M. Demersay, who has visited the Jesuit establishments in Paraguay, also traversed the forests inhabited by the wild races of which we are speaking, and the results of his observations were published by him in the “Tour du Monde” in 1865. We shall avail ourselves here of those parts of his narrative which refer to the savage nations of Paraguay.
“The history of the American races,” says M. Demersay, “might be comprised in a few pages. Some have accepted the semi-servitude which the conquerors imposed on them; the others, more rebellious, preferred to struggle, and have been destroyed; those who still struggle will also perish. The nations which chose subjection rather than death, have, by mingling their blood in strong proportions with that of the Europeans, only disappeared as a race in order to enter as an integral and sometimes dominant element into the American nationalities. The great family of the Guaranis forms the most striking example of this intimate fusion offered to the notice of the ethnologist.
“But in its midst, side by side with the unsubdued hordes of the Grand Chaco, so remarkable for their fine proportions, there exists yet another tribe, small in numbers, whose ranks grow thinner every day, and which on the eve of its disappearance, has bequeathed intact to the present generation, along with its complete independence, its creeds, its customs, and the glorious traditions of its ancestors.
“At the time of their discovery, the Payaguas, as this valiant race is called, were divided into two tribes, the Gadiguès and the Magachs, who lived on the banks and numerous islands of the Rio Paraguay, towards 21° and 25° S. latitude. Their dwelling places were by no means fixed; masters of the river and jealous of its control, they started from Lake Xarayes, and made distant excursions on the Parana as far as Corrientes and Santa Fé on one side, and to Salto Chico on the other.
“A rather rational etymology which has been proposed for the name of these Indians, is that of the two Guarany words ‘pai’ and ‘aguaà,’ which signify, ‘tied to the oar,’ a meaning quite in unison with their habits. In the term ‘Paraguay,’ applied as the denomination of the river, before it became the name of the province, some have wished to perceive a corruption of ‘Payagua,’ a likely enough derivation, and one which seems to us highly admissible.
“Whatever there may be in this supposition, the value of which we shall not discuss here, this unconquered and crafty nation was during two centuries the most redoubtable adversary of the Spaniards. The writers on the conquest, the works of Azara, the ‘Historical Essay’ of Funes, and numerous documents preserved in the archives of Assumption, contain a recital of their daring enterprises.