When the West Indies were discovered, they were peopled by several races; but among them none were so formidable as the inhabitants of the southern islands of that sea, now called, from their supposed name, Caribbean. The Caribs dwelt also in the valley of the Orinoco; but seldom chose their home far from the sea. They were understood to have the habit of eating their fellow-men; and it is from a corruption of Caribal that we have the opprobrious term “cannibal.” Whether they did limit their diet to the orthodox fare or not, is by no means clear; for the Spanish conquerors did not scruple to indict, condemn, and put to death the innocent natives who opposed them,—and no stouter opponents than the Caribs did they find. Two distinct tribes are generally included under the name,—the black Caribs, and the yellow: the latter with straight black hair; but the former are no doubt the mixed breed of the true Carib (who was generally at war with the European intruder) and the African slaves who escaped to the protection of the aborigines from their tyrannical masters. In 1796 England removed these troublesome people from St. Vincent to Roatan,—one of the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras, whence they gradually emigrated to the mainland; and now their villages are found from Belize to Cape Gracios á Dios. [Illustration: A GROUP OF CARIB CHILDREN.] All along this coast they are of distinct and uniform character, to the casual observer differing little from the negro type; of good stature, firm, muscular build, and powerful limbs,—women as well as men. To one who is used to study the physical character of men, the outward resemblance to the negro is less marked. The hair is woolly; but the nose is less flattened, the mouth not so wide, nor are the lips so thick. The shoulders are broad, but so are the hips; and the narrow pelvis of the African is generally wanting. The fingers have large joints, and from the last all the fingers, but especially the thumb, taper sharply to the end. The heel is not so projecting, and the feet are very broad. Other differences are of interest to the student of the human form rather than to the public.