Ch II. SOUTH AMERICA. 25 



On llic 1 5tb we proceeded to the banks of the 

 river Barraut^, about a quarter of a leag'ue distant. 

 We easily forded it, under the direction of Chimba- 

 dores. It was now very h)w, and divided into three 

 branches, but being iuli of stones is always danger., 

 ous. About a league further is the town of Bar- 

 lanca, where the jurisdiction of Guaura begins. The 

 town is po])uh>us, and many of its inhabitants Spa- 

 niards, though the houses do not exceed 60 or 70. 

 The same day we reached Guaura, which from Gua- 

 manmayo makes a distance of nine leagues. 



This town consists only of one single street, about 

 a quarter of a league in length, and contains about 

 150 or 200 houses; some of which are of bricks, 

 others of baxareques : besides a few Indian huts. 



Thíí? town has a parisli church, and a convent of 

 Franciscans. , Near it you pass by a plantation, ex- 

 tending above a league on each sille of the road, 

 w hicli is every where extremely delightful ; the 

 country eastward, as far as the eye can reach, being 

 covered w ith sugar-canes, and westward divided into 

 fields of corn, maize, and other species of grain. 

 Nor arc these elcgTiut iiiiprovcments confined to 

 the' neighbourhood of the town, but the whole val- 

 ley, which is very Urge, makes the baine beautiful 

 appearance. 



At the niouth end of Ihe town of Guaura, stands 

 a large tower, with a gate, and over it, a kind of 

 redoubt. This tower is erected before a stone 

 bridge, under which runs Guaura river: and so 

 near to the town that it washes the foundations of the 

 houses, but without any damage, being a rock. From 

 the river is a suburb which extends above half a 

 league, but the houses are not contiguous to each 

 other; and the groves and gardens with which they 

 are intermixed, render Ihe road very pleasant. By 

 a solar observatiiui, we found the latitude of Guaura 

 to be ii" 3' 3(j'' S. The sky is clear, and the tern- 



peratuR* 



