i2apucliin Missions of' the Caroni. 9 



remained withia doors studying Guayana with my pretty com- 

 panions ; the padre retiring, according to custom, to his ham- 

 mock. Visited the plantations, however ; found them in bad 

 order and suffering from drought, but was much struck with 

 the neatness of a plantain-ground belonging to one of the In- 

 dians. The tobacco looked ill, leaves small and worm-eaten ; 

 but the cotton seemed to thrive, though ill laid out. There were 

 two kinds, the yellow blossom and the blue, the latter is reckoned 

 the better, but being more adhesive to the seed, is always left 

 to the private use of the Indians, who pick it with their fingers. 

 Returning, met an Indian riding on horseback to his Conuco, 

 his wife and daughters following submissively, with their tools, 

 ^c, on foot. At present cattle is the staple product of Tume- 

 remo. Besides those now here, 3,000 have been driven off to 

 San Miguel. Soil about susceptible of high cultivation and 

 well adapted to the plough, though not so rich as in some other 

 parts. A road branches hence to Cura towards the S.E., which 

 mission has been lately abandoned ; it was at no great distance 

 from the Coyuni, one of the tributary waters of the Essequibo, 

 and was among the latest planted : its date 1782. Arechica 

 and Currucuy, settled at the same period, have been also aban- 

 doned. The population of Tumeremo has been reduced to 286, 

 VIZ., men 36, women 125, children 125 ; that of Miamo to 405, 

 viz., men 25, women 250, children 130; the disproportion of 

 adult males is very great, owing to the large drafts for military 

 service. Cura, it seems, was abandoned only a few months 

 since, most of the people taking to the woods : but the road is 

 said to be still open. In the afternoon, the three men furnished 

 for the expedition to the Imataca returned, reporting their 

 failure in overtaking the fugitives, though they had found .the 

 bodies of the party slain in the pursuit. In these emergencies, 

 each mission, it seems, is obliged to furnish its quota, armed in 

 the best mode it can afford ; one of these three had a musquet, 

 the others spears, 8fc. Found in the garden many shrubs of Ca- 

 rappa, the seed of which furnishes an oil good for ulcers, and 

 of a purgative quality. The Indians use chips of a turpentine 

 fir for torches. 



