The Térrabas and Bruncas or Boruca Indians are located on the Pacific
slope of the Talamanca mountains, and especially in the great valley
of the Diquis or Rio Grande de Térraba, although there are also a few
Indian palenques in the neighborhood of the Chirripo. The Borucas
or Bruncas are dolichocephalic. The men are large, the women short
and plump. They are more intelligent and active than the Tishbi of
Térraba. Professor Pittier counted in the Boruca valley and at Palma,
Punta Mala and La Uvita 65 to 75 ranchos scattered around, with about
389 inhabitants, while he found 50 to 60 ranchos with about 250
inhabitants in the town of Térraba and 25 to 30 ranchos with about
300 inhabitants in the town of Buenos Aires. There are also some
Indians near the Golfo Dulce.
Taken in all, about 4000 uncivilized Indians are estimated to remain
in Costa Rica.
VI.
POPULATION.
The population of Costa Rica is nearly all white and mostly
descendants of Spaniards from Galicia. The Indians are not numerous
and are completely distinct from the civilized race. The Negroes and
mixed breeds live almost exclusively on the coast-lands.
The Costa Ricans are a well formed, robust and healthy people
with regular features. The women are gracious, have splendid eyes
and abundance of hair, and appear affable in manner. The men are
intelligent, industrious, economical, honest and peaceable, as well
as polite, truthful and generous. They respect order and property,
love to work, and are proud of their wealth and of the independence
of their nation.
Every Costa Rican owns property of some kind. The better class of
women follow in their dress the fashions of Europe; the lower classes
have gowns of muslin or calico, and wear petticoats, rebozos and very
often panama hats. Some adorn themselves with earrings and other
jewelry and some wear shoes.
The men dress in European style. The lower class, consisting of
hard-working farmers, owners of small coffee plantations and ox-carts
and oxen for internal traffic, wear coarse cloth coats, drill or
cotton trousers, and straw or felt hats. Most of these people go
barefooted.
The houses of the wealthy have all modern conveniences. Those of
the poorer classes are nearly comfortless. They are mostly low and
built of adobes, with a roof of tiles, and are arranged in regular
streets crossing each other at right angles. The public buildings are
spacious and ornamental.
Among the principal buildings in San José are the New National
Theatre, in which about 1,000,000 pesos were invested; the National
Palace; the Palace of Justice; the Executive Mansion; the Episcopal
Palace; the National Distillery; the Market; the University; the High
School for Young Ladies; the High School for Young Men; the Custom
House; the Mint, etc.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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