CRANIAL CONFORMATIONS.
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w o m e n o f t h e tribe o f t h e A t u r e s . Such mixed marriages sometimes take place in this z o n e , though they are m o r e rare than in Canada, and in t h e whole o f N o r t h A m e r i c a , w h e r e hunters of E u r o p e a n origin unite themselves with savages, assume their habits, and sometimes acquire great
political influence. W e t o o k several skulls, t h e skeleton o f a child o f six o r seven years o l d , and t w o of full-grown m e n of t h e nation o f t h e A t u r e s , from t h e cavern of A t a r u i p e . A l l these b o n e s , partly painted red, partly varnished with odoriferous resins, were placed in the baskets (mapires or canastos) which we have j u s t described. T h e y made almost the whole load o f a m u l e ; and as we knew the superstitious feelings o f t h e Indians in reference t o the remains o f t h e dead after burial, w e carefully enveloped the canastos in mats recently w o v e n . U n f o r t u n a t e l y for us, the penetration o f the I n d i a n s , and the extreme quickness o f their sense o f smelling, rendered all o u r precautions useless. W h e r e v e r w e stopped, in t h e missions o f the Caribbees, amid t h e L l a n o s , b e t w e e n A n gostura and N u e v a Barcelona, t h e natives assembled r o u n d o u r mules t o admire t h e m o n k e y s which w e had purchased at t h e O r i n o c o . T h e s e g o o d people had scarcely t o u c h e d o u r baggage, when they announced the approaching death o f the beast o f b u r d e n " t h a t carried t h e d e a d . " I n vain w e told t h e m that they were deceived in their conjectures ; and that the baskets contained the b o n e s o f crocodiles and m a n a t i s ; they persisted in repeating that they smelt the resin that surrounded t h e skeletons, a n d " that they were their old relations." W e were o b l i g e d t o request that t h e m o n k s would interpose their authority, to overcome the aversion o f t h e natives, a n d p r o c u r e f o r u s a change o f mules. O n e o f the skulls, which w e t o o k from t h e cavern o f A t a r u i p e , has appeared in t h e fine w o r k published b y m y old master, Blumenbach, o n the varieties o f the human species. T h e skeletons o f t h e I n d i a n s were lost on the coast o f Africa, together with a considerable part o f o u r collections, in a shipwreck, in which perished o u r friend and fellow-traveller, Fray Juan Gonzales, the y o u n g monk o f the order o f Saint Francis. W e withdrew in silence from t h e cavern o f A t a r u i p e .