GUANCHES, gwin'chis, GUANCHOS, GUANCHIS (from Guan, a person, and Chinet, Teneriffe; or from Berber acres, a son or young man), the inhabitants of the Canary Islands who are said to have called themselves Guanchinet, a term which the Spaniards cor rupted into Guanches. The name seems to have been applied only to the inhabitants of Tene rife; hut it became the general designation in use by the Spaniards for the inhabitants of all the islands. The word Guanches is, therefore, used in two senses, tfie original inhabitants of the Canary Islands and the people living on them when they first attracted the attention of the civilized races of Europe and Africa. The Ian guage of the Canary Islands is one tongue divided into many dialects which contain a con siderable admixture of foreign words. The people of the various islands composing the Canary group present quite different appear ances. On some islands they are tall, fair haired and handsome; on others they are darker and shorter and considerably different in features. On the various islands of the group there are different customs, habits, modes of living and development of arts and indus tries. Spanish reports show that on some islands custom permitted the women to have several husbands; on others polygamy was the rule; on still others monogamy. On some islands the inhabitants lived in caves, on others the priests, nobles and chiefs inhabited very substantial buildings of wood, stone or cement. Some tribes worshiped their chief gods on the moun tain tops, others built stone shrines, while still others erected temples of stone or wood. All this would seem to indicate a mixture of races or the imposition of outside influence, or both. But the general mythological ideas of the in habitants of all the islands seem to have been very similar. They all appear to have believed in a very powerful deity, variously designated the of earth and sky," the of the world,* the ((preserver of men,* the sus tainer of life.* In different localities he had
different names, which were often but trans lations of the same designation, as Abord, Alcorac, Alcoran, Acharnan, Eraoranam. To him and to the other Guanches deities there was dedicated an extensive and powerful priesthood whose influence seems to have been extended over all the affairs of the nation. In the Greater Canaries the priesthood seems to have been of as great or greater influence than the chief ruler ; and there they alone had the power to confer the honors of knighthood or the rank of nobility. It is evident, therefore, that the high priest, at least, must have been chosen from the ranks of the nobles or of royalty. When the people of the main islands came into con tact with people from the mainland of Europe and Africa this religious system had become highly organized; and it seems to have held in its grasp the political affairs of the people and to have possessed stone oratories and temples, though there is every reason to believe that the masses of the people were for the most part cave-dwellers, while the ruling class occu pied dwellings of some pretentions. In other parts of the islands, however, the people all lived together in villages and possessed con siderable community life. The variety of cus toms and modes of clothing were as noticeable in different islands as the other distinctions already mentioned. In some islands the natives went practically naked; on others they dressed in skins; while on others they appear to have understood the art of weaving and to have taken considerable pride in dressing themselves elaborately. In one respect however, they were all more or less alike. They had numer ous flocks and they grew different kinds of grain including barley and wheat. On some of the islands fruit was also cultivated, notably figs. The inhabitants of Canaries living along the coast were given to fishing; but they were not sailors and all their fishing exertions were confined to the shore.