On the river Mamore, between 13° and 14° of south latitude, were the numerous villages of the _Canichanas_ or Canisianas. They were unusually dark in complexion and ugly of features; nor did this unprepossessing exterior belie their habits or temperament. They were morose, quarrelsome, tricky and brutal cannibals, preferring theft to agriculture, and prone to drunkenness; but ingenious and not deficient in warlike arts, constructing strong fortifications around their villages, from which they would sally forth to harass and plunder their peaceable neighbors. By a singular anomaly, this unpromising tribe became willing converts to the teachings of the Jesuits, and of their own accord gathered into large villages in order to secure the presence of a missionary.[477] Their language has no known affinities. It is musical, with strong consonantal sounds, and like some of the northern tongues, makes a distinction between animate and inanimate objects, or those so considered.[478] Between 13° and 14° of south latitude, on the west bank of the Rio Mamore, were the _Cayubabas_ or Cayuvavas, speaking a language without known affinities, though containing words from a number of contiguous tongues.[479] The men are tall and robust, with regular features and a pleasant expression. The missionaries found no difficulty in bringing them into the fold, but they obstinately retained some of their curious ancient superstitions, as, for instance, that a man should do no kind of work while his wife had her monthly illness; and should she die, he would undertake no enterprise of importance so long as he remained a widower.[480] Brief notices will suffice of the various other tribes, many of them now extinct, who centered around the missions of the Chiquitos and Moxos early in this century. The _Apolistas_ took their name from the river Apolo, an affluent of the Beni, about south latitude 15°. They were contiguous to the Aymaras, and had some physical resemblance to them. From their position, I suspect they belong in the Tacana group. The _Chapacuras_, or more properly Tapacuras, were on the Rio Blanco or Baures in the province of Moxos. They called themselves _Huachis_, and the Quitemocas are mentioned as one of their sub-tribes. Von Martius thinks they were connected with the Guaches of Paraguay, a mixed tribe allied to the Guaycuru stock of the Chaco. The resemblance is very slight. The _Covarecas_ were a small band at the mission of Santa Anna, about south latitude 17°. Their language was practically extinct in 1831. The _Curaves_ and the _Curuminacas_, the former on the Rio Tucubaca and the latter north of them near the Brazil line, were said to have independent languages; but both were extinct at the time of D’Orbigny’s visit in 1831. The same was true of the _Corabecas_ and _Curucanecas_.