Professor W. H. FLOWER, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. The following presents were announced, and thanks voted to the respective donors: FOR THE LIBRARY. From the AUTHOR.-Indian Migrations as evidenced by Language. The Tutelo Tribe and Language. By Horatio Hale, M.A. From the BERLIN ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY.-Zeitschrift für From the INSTITUTE. Vol. I, No. 4. Proceedings of the Canadian Institute. From the SOCIETY. Journal of the Society of Arts. Nos. 1595, 1596. Transactions and Proceedings and Report of the Royal Society of South Australia. Vol. V. From the EDITOR.-Bullettino di Paletnologia Italiana. 1883, Nos. 3, 4, and 5. Revue Politique. Tom. XXXI, Nos. 24, 25. Revue Scientifique. Tom. XXXI, Nos. 24, 25. VOL. XIII. T The election of ERNEST G. RAVENSTEIN, Esq., F.R.G.S., was announced. MR. W. G. SMITH read a paper "On Palæolithic Implements from Leyton and Walthamstow." The following paper was then read by the author: NOTES on the ABORIGINAL RACES of the NORTH-WESTERN By R. B. WHITE, Esq., F.G.S. THIS paper refers to a strip of country about 600 miles in length by from 100 to 250 miles in width, bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and extending from 1° north latitude to the 8th parallel. It is now embraced by the States of Cauca and Antioquia, two of the nine States of the Colombian Union, which was formerly called New Granada. The country is traversed by the great valleys of the rivers Cauca, Atrato, San Juan, and Patia, and these are enclosed by the Andes Cordillera and its ramifications, whose mountain peaks attain heights of from 15,000 to 18,000 feet above the level of the sea. Elevated tablelands lie in some instances on the flanks of the mountain ranges, at a height of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea. On the Pacific Coast, and in the valleys of the Atrato and San Juan rivers, it rains almost without interruption during the whole year, and the temperature ranges from 80° to 90° Fah. on an average. In the Cauca and Patia valleys the year is divided into two rainy and two dry seasons, and in the lower parts of these valleys the heat is excessive during the dry season. The seasons on the tablelands are similar, but naturally a low average temperature prevails. In some parts of Antioquia the mean temperature is 50°. Perhaps there is no country in the world, of equal extent, in which such surprising variations of climate are found. It may reasonably be supposed that these conditions must have a great influence upon the races inhabiting these regions, and I have therefore mentioned them at the outset. When the Spaniards first discovered this country, they found the kingdom of the Incas reaching to the confines of what is now the State of Cauca. To the east the most notable people were the Chibchas, under the sway of the Zipa, who resided at Bogotá. Northwards, through the Isthmus of Panamá, nume rous barbarous tribes held the country up to the confines of the great nation which existed in Guatemala and Central America. But the whole of the region under consideration was peopled by races of a low grade of civilisation, so numerous and varied that the Spaniards could make nothing of them. Distinct tribes speaking distinct languages occupied each a few square leagues of country. Their customs were different. They were constantly at war one with another, and these wars appear to have been made less with the idea of rectifying their frontiers than with that of replenishing their larders, for they were almost all cannibals. This region would appear to have been the Siluria of that part of South America. It was the refuge of the peoples whose want of organisation, or whose physique and habits, made them unable to cope with the civilised Chibchas and Incas. But although climatic influences must have assisted in producing changes in the races which were scattered over this country, yet in my mind they would not account for the diversity of language and of religious customs which were so marked. Distinct races must have immigrated and formed settlements, not always perhaps where they would wish, but where they were allowed by previous settlers. Defeated tribes would fall back before the conquering Incas, and in their turn win for themselves a new territory, probably evicting some weaker people, who, reduced in numbers, would seek an asylum elsewhere. The scattered remnants which are still left of these nations maintain their distinct character. Although they have no government, nor even a clannish organisation, they yet seem instinctively to keep together. The different tribes have as little sympathy one with another as they have with the Spanish settlers. In the hilly districts of the north-west of the State of Antioquia many rivers take their rise which communicate more or less directly with the Atlantic Ocean. These rivers run through lovely valleys in the upper part of their courses, having temperate climates and fertile soils. Here a great race of Indians existed, who were fairly well governed and federated. The pottery and goldsmith's work which we discover in their burial-places are very fine. The Spanish explorers rifled tombs containing enormous treasure, and they waged a war of extermination with these tribes because they barred the passage between the Darien Settlements and the interior. This people was the only one in the region under notice who buried their dead in tumuli. These they constructed on the hills and ridges, where they may be seen by hundreds. The ordinary size of a tumulus is 40 feet high, but some are very much larger. The entrance to the tumulus is always to be found towards the rising sun. In construction they differed, apparently, according to the rank of the dead. The poorer class were laid upon a prepared earth floor, made of some special earth, with their arms, tools, and provisions around them, and then the earth mound was raised upon them. Others, probably the rich, were protected by a rough vault, and were laid upon a pavement. They were buried with every convenience around them for the journey to the other land which they had undertaken. The Spanish conquerors did not take the trouble to find out where the Indians thought they were going: they charitably assumed that they were destined for Hades, and one old chronicler, in detailing the completeness of the dead Indian's travelling provision, thinks it was quite superfluous, because, he asks, "Is Hades so very far off?" The general tradition is that the chiefs had their wives buried alive with them, and certainly skeletons have been found in a sitting posture around a recumbent one, which latter might be the chief and the former his unfortunate wives. Although the Spaniards rifled many of these tumuli of their contents, and the present inhabitants of the country open a few now and then, yet quite enough remain intact to reward the scientific explorer. The notable graves were always dug out first, but the second class are full of objects of interest, though they may not have the intrinsic value of the gold ornaments of the Indian Dives. The whole district bears evidence of having been thickly populated, but the Indians built their houses of perishable material, and the sites of their villages and towns are with difficulty recognisable. Scattered over some 2,500 square miles of country there may be still, perhaps, 2,000 Indians in this part, living subject to the Colombian rule, in their own style. They are of fair stature, and their features present no special type worth noticing. They still affect bead belts, and go naked except when they present themselves in the towns. They paint themselves red and blue with anatto and indigo, and whilst ready enough to use a gun, they generally employ their blow-guns with poisoned arrows in the chase. They cultivate maize, and keep horses, cows, and pigs, but they only come to trade in the villages when they require some special article which they cannot otherwise procure. They are very suspicious, and even when they have been well received at a place, and asked to return, with an offer of a good price for their produce, they will rarely if ever come back until some time has elapsed. They seem to fear that some trap will be laid for them. They are very dexterous hunters, and are always prowling round in search of game without letting themselves be seen. Many a deer which apparently baffles the white man's dogs, and gets away, falls in reality under the silent arrow of some lurking Indian, who has heard the chase going on, and bags the booty for himself. At the time of the Spanish conquest these Indians worked many important gold mines in the district, but they have never returned to the pursuit. It is probable that they worked as slaves of their chiefs, and afterwards failed to see the good of working for the Spaniards. The negro, when quite independent, and when living in a state practically as savage as these Indians, will still search for gold, and recognises its use. The Indian seems indifferent to it altogether. No money will buy what an Indian does not care to part with. If an article is not for sale he will not sell it at any price. He consults his immediate wants, and if they are satisfied he has no idea of gain. But when he comes to trade, then he seems to hold it as a principle that he must try to get as much as he can for his goods, and he does not fail to ask preposterous prices for them. These Indians retain, so far as one can see, none of their old customs in matters of religion or burial. They conform to the present practices of the country. The valley of the Atrato, to the west of Antioquia, was inhabited at the time of the Spanish conquest by large and powerful tribes of Indians known collectively as the Chocoes. They had, however, various languages, and must have been divided into different nations. They were of a much lower grade of civilisation than the Indians of the north-west of Antioquia. The river Atrato, and nearly all the streams flowing into it, are navigable for canoes, and thus over an area of 5,000 square miles a great population might exist, possessing the easiest means of communication. Maize and plaintains grow with little or no cultivation, and fish abound in the rivers. Thus we may well conclude that the Chocoes would live on the banks of the rivers and streams, using their canoes for travelling, and being little addicted to journeys by land. We hear of their being a savage and troublesome people in their own country, but they do not seem to have molested their neighbours. The race is of a dark colour, short and squat, and with ugly features. They paint |