The gale., 1888-02-25
VERY PECULIAR PEOPLE.
THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF
THE CANARY ISLANDS.
Their Customs and Morals-A People
who Practiccd Mummification-
Their Religion and Schools.

. very early period. They were re-
uowned for the mildness of their eli
mate, and had been called the Fortunate
Islands. The Champs Elysees were
tabled as being there, and the poets were
pmulous IN their celebration of them.
The name Canaries is mentioned for the
first time by Pliny, who says he learned
it from Juba, King of Mauritania. In
1902 the Norman, Jean dc Bethencourt,
conquered them in the name of Isabella,
the Catholic. The avowed motive was
to convert the idolators to the true faith,
and under this pretext he committed the
greatest rapines and cruelties.
In comparatively short time, by a
phenomenon of which history offers but
few examples, the Gouanchcs had lost
their nationality, their name, their Ian
guagc, their customs and their tradi-
tions. The chroniclers of the conquest
have informed us in their long accounts
of the exploits of De Bethencourt and of
his companions, but they have given
only incidentally details concerning the
unhappy inhabitants, whom they con-
slider as native barbarians that were not
worth the trouble of studying.
DR.. Chill, of Las Palmas, has devoted
himself during the last twenty five years
to the task of reconstructing, scientifi-
cally, the past of the Gouanches. He
has examined all the writings pertaining
to them, made numerous excavations,
and, stimulated by his initiative, sci
entiic society has been formed in that
city, and Canarien Museum, where are
grouped their collections.
Here are some facts which were OBJ
tanned during visit to DR.. Chill and the
Canarien Museum: The Gouanchcs are
large and robust. Their hair is browr
and sometimes blonde; the face is long,
and likewise the skull, with the chin
prominent. They inhabit yet almost ex-
clusively the mountains in the center of
the seven Canaries. Before the contest
and after the Fifteenth Century they re-
NAMED absolutely in the age of stone.
To manufacture tools and arms they
utilized the volcanic rocks which form
the islands, principally the basalt, be-
cause of its conference, and the obsidian
or glass of the volcanoes, which is very
sharp. Notwithstanding the intercourse
necessarily frequent with the navigators
of all nations along their coasts, and
who had been possessed of the metals for
q long time, they knew neither of their
use nor the art of producing them, and
were restricted to the natural material of
their islands.
The Canarien Museum possesses some
polished axes, of form and workman
ship perfectly similar to those of other
parts of the globe, besides the usual
knives, pincers, etc. The
Gouanchcs possessed domestic animals,
as the goat, the hog and the dog. but
not, as was thought, the camel. They
tanned the skins with art to the point
that the skins of the goat and hog with
which they enveloped their mummies are
perfectly preserved for centuries. They
were also very skIllful at sewing these
skins, although their needles were only
bones of fishes and the points of leaves
of the palm tree. They made with wo.
ven rushes real tissues, resembling
coarse cloth. Although they might
know of the wheel, their skill was great
in the potter's art. Their vases are
of large dimensions, of elc-
CANT forn.s and of red color, with de-
signs in bright red or in black. The
handles of some, says DR.. Chll, recall
chose of the pottery of the ancient
Sfhe Gouanches obtained fire by rub
bing hard piece of wood against q soft
piece. They cultivated wheat, and above
all barley. They consumed great guam
tity of figs and dates, which are only
little carncous and peculiar to the Cana
ries. The vine to them was unknown.
Although warriors, and often engaged
in civil war, their arms were of the most
rudimentary kind. The stone axes were
exceptional. They did not even know
the use of the sling. They hurled stones
by force of the arm, end this method of
attack was sometimes terrible. The de-
fcnsivc arm was the stick, which was re-
doubtable in their hands. Their breasts
were protected by cuirasses of wood. 1t
was with these elementary means that
they for long time resisted their Span
ish conquerors and accomplished ex-
ploits which are celebrated in the ac-
counts of their chroniclers.
The Gouanches had neither chariots
nor carts, carrying everything on their
backs. They possessed neither boats
nor RATS, but were skillful swimmers.
As the seven islands were too distant
to communicate in this way, their
populations remained isolated, and al
though they had essentially the same de-
gree of civilization, yet in detail their
manner was different. In the Islands OF
Fuelte Ventura the remains of Important
structures are found, which were called
palacio by the conquerors. They en-
balm their cadavcrs with care, but the
process has been lost for preserving the
flesh. The preserved body was sur
rounded with aromatic branches and a
number of tanned skins of the hog and
goat. The mummy was then placed in q
cavern, where it is preserved until oul
days, or in the open, under some little
tumulus. With the Egyptians of the
time of the Pharoahs and the Peruvians
of the lucas, the Goaanchcs were the
only people who practiced mummifica.
ton. They believed in Supreme Being
who chastised vice and recommended
virtue, particularly valor.
Contrary, however, to that which the
chroniclers assert--to Justify, without
doubt, the cruelties of the Spaniards-
they had no idols. Their religion was
very advanced. They had, notably in
the Grand Canarie, converts of men who
lived on public charity, and converts OF