450

450

CHI

dried flesh, hung up to preserve them from corrup-
tion. Their garments are a shirt without sleeves,
reaching down to the middle of their legs. The
married people wear drawers of baize with coloured
puckers for festival days, and those who enjoy
offices of state wear a baize jacket : they neither
use hatnorshoes, and no one of them ever goes out
without slinging round his neck some medals and a
rosary. The hair is worn short until they marry,
and when they become old they suffer it to grow
long. The women wear close gowns which reach
down to the ground, and which they call tapoyes:
they never swathe or bind themselves round the
waist, but carry on their necks, on gala-days, some
threads strung with glass intermixed with beads
made of cacao nuts, and coloured beans ; these
threads usually amount to 20 or SO rows ; on en-
tering the church they always loosen their hair.
The regulars of the company of the Jesuits taught
them offices, in which they assisted most dexte-
rously ; and it really excites admiration that In-
dians, acquainted only with their own barbarian
dialect, should be able to manage the compass of
the notes, understand their proportions and num-
bers, and apply the rules of music to its execution.
At certain times of the year they go a mdear, or
to hunt for honey among the woods : from thence
they bring back wax of two sorts, one which is
white and odoriferous, Jhe other of less substance,
as the wax of Europe, manufactured by a species
of bees without stings, called opernus; also an-
other kind of wax, made by a still different sort of
bees, but which are all properly denominated wild
wax. This wax is delivered to the curate, who
preserves it in his house to send to the provinces of
Peru ; and from the product of this article, and
from that of the cotton, which is made into woofs,
to the amount of two pounds weight yearly by
each Indian, he procures in 3xchange whatever is
necessary for the settlement, such as baizes, coloured
wools, bags, iron and steel articles, chopping
knives, wedges, hatchets, scissars, pocket-knives,
needles, medals, bugles, and other articles of hard-
ware and little necessaries, which, being stored up
by him, is distributed amongst the natives accord-
ing to their necessities, and in a manner that they
may want for nothing, but live happy and con-
tented. The settlements are as follows :

San Xavier, San Joseph,

La Concepcion, Santiago,

San Miguel, San Juan,

San Ignacio, El Santo,

Santa Ana, Corazon.

San Rafael,

CHIQUIZA, a settlement of the corregimiento
of Sachica in the Nuevo Reyno de Granada. It
is of a cold temperature, and produces wheat,
maize, barley, papaSy and the other fruits peculiar
to its climate. Its ijihabitants are so few as scarcely
to amount to 30 housekeepers, and about the same
number of Indians. Four leagues to the n. w. of
Tunja, and somewhat less from Velez.

CHIRA, a settlement and seat of the silver mines
of the province and corregimiento of Piura in Peru ;
annexed to the curacy of Paita.

Same name, another settlement of the province and
alcaldia mayor of Nicoya in the kingdomof Guate-
mala.

[CHIRAGOW. See Plein River.]

CHIRAMBIRA, an island situate in the large
bay of St. Juan, on the coast of the province and
government of Choco in the S. sea, which gives its
name to a small creek formed by this island and the
continent.

CHIRCA, a settlement of the province and
corregimiento of Sicasica in Peru ; annexed to the
curacy of Chulumani.

CHIRE, Santa Rosa de a city of the govern-
ment and province of Los Llanos in the Nuevo
Reyno de Granada ; founded by the Governor
Francisco Anciso. It is of a very hot and un-
healthy temperature, but affords the same vegetable
productions as the rest of the province. It is so
mean and reduced as to contain hardly 100 house-
keepers, and scarcely deserves the name of a city.
This settlement lies the furthest to the n. w. extre-
mity of any in this kingdom, and is bounded in
that quarter by the province and bishopric of Ca-
racas.

Same name a river of the above
province and government. It rises at the foot of
the lomas del Viento, runs e. and enters the Meta,
traversing the country of the Betoyes Indians.

CHIRGUA, a river of the province and govern-
ment of Venezuela. It rises in the mountain of Ta-
cazuruma on the s. runs s. and enters the Gamalo-
tal, after having collected the waters of many other
rivers.

CHIRIBIQUI, Santa Fe de a settlement of
the province and government of Cumana in the
kingdom of Tierra Firme ; situate on the coast,
between the rivers Mosina and Marecapana.

CHIRICOAS, a barbarous nation of Indians of
the Nuevo Reyno de Granada, to the e. of the
mountains of Bogota, and at the entrance of the
llanos or plains of Cazanare and Meta. They
lead a wandering life through the woods in com-
pany with the Guaibas ; they are crafty and very
dexterous thieves, but of a docile and pacific dis-
position. In 16.64; some of them were reduced into