74 MEMOIR OF 



from the banks of the Orinoco to the foot of the 

 mountains beyond, givinw to the landscape that 

 grand and animated appearance which had so much 

 dehghted Humboldt. * 



As the object in the present abstract has been to 

 furnish an outline of his route, with such of the in- 

 cidents that occurred as appeared most worthy of 

 note, rather than any account of all that he visited, 

 and all that he saw, examined, and heard ; and as, 

 moreover, we have accompanied him to the extreme 

 point — the climax, so to speak, of his long and 

 arduous journey, — it will be sufficient, perhaps, to 

 state, that, after remaining three days at Esme- 

 ralda, Mr. Schomburgk with his companions em- 

 barked in canoes on the river Orinoco, on their 

 return homeward : that they descended this river 

 to its junction with the Cassiquiare, and, by way 

 of the latter, to the Rio Negro ; stopping at Barcellos 

 (once the capital of the Capitania do Rio Negro}, 

 and afterwards at the Ilha de Pedra, to examine 

 the picture-writing for which this little island is so 

 remarkable ; thence proceeding up the Rio Branco, 

 until, arriving at Santa Maria, on its eastern bank, 

 they landed at that settlement, and found a number 

 of the Indians who had been taken in the late slave- 

 hunt, or descimento. It appeared that the govern- 

 ment had ordered that the old men, women, and 

 children, captured on that occasion, should be re- 

 leased and sent to their homes. These, consisting 

 of two old men, five women, and two children, our 

 * See Views in Brit. Guiana, by R. H. Schomburgk. 



