Village books

Many a time, no doubt, thou hast
heard it hotly disputed that dogs existed in Guiana previously to the
arrival of the Spaniards in those parts. Whatever the Spaniards introduced,
and which bore no resemblance to anything the Indians had been accustomed
to see, retains its Spanish name to this day.
Thus the Warow, the Arowack, the Acoway, the Macoushi and Carib tribes call
a hat _sombrero_; a shirt or any kind of cloth _camisa_; a shoe _zapalo_; a
letter _carta_; a fowl _gallina_; gunpowder _colvora_ (Spanish _polvora_);
ammunition _bala_; a cow _vaca_; and a dog _perro_.
This argues strongly against the existence of dogs in Guiana before it was
discovered by the Spaniards, and probably may be of use to thee in thy next
canine dispute.
In a political point of view this country presents a large field for
speculation. A few years ago there was but little inducement for any
Englishman to explore the interior of these rich and fine colonies, as the
British Government did not consider them worth holding at the Peace of
Amiens.


Pages:
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105