Guanches , the aborigines of the Canary islands, extinct since the end of the 16th century. They are said to have been gigantic in stature, well proportioned, of an olive complexion, with long straight hair, and simple and mild in character. They believed in an invisible creator of the universe, an evil spirit, a future state, and a place of torment for the bad, which they supposed was in the volcano of Teneriffe. They preserved the bodies of their dead and deposited them in catacombs, which are now visited among the curiosities of the islands. They had solemn marriage rites, in preparation for which the brides were fattened on milk. Not more than 150 words of their language are known, and these have an analogy with certain Berber dialects. Their origin is disputed. Some regard them as Libyans who fled to these islands on the conquest of Barbary by the Arabs, and this opinion is supported by the similarity of several customs of the Libyans and Guanches. Humboldt supposes them to have belonged to the races of the old continent, perhaps to the Caucasian, and not, like the rest of the Atlan-tides, to the nations of the western world.