THE MISSION OF URITANA, 185 



on the point of tlie island. "Wet by the rains, and sensi- 

 ble of the least lowering of the temperature, these deli- 

 cate animals sent forth plaintive cries, and attracted to 

 the spot two crocodiles, the size and leaden colour of 

 which denoted their great age. After long waiting, the 

 Indians at length arrived at the close of day. The na- 

 tural coffer-dam, by which they had endeavoured to de- 

 scend, in order to make the circuit of the island, had 

 become impassable, owing to the shallowness of the 

 water. The pilot sought long for a more accessible pas- 

 sage in this labyrinth of rocks and islands. Happily 

 the canoe was not damaged, and in less than half an 

 hour the instruments, provision, and animals, were em- 

 barked. 



They stopped a few days after at the mission of Uruana. 

 The situation of this mission was extremely picturesque. 

 The little Indian village stood at the foot of a lofty 

 granitic mountain. Rocks everywhere appeared in the 

 form of pillars above the forest, rising higher than the 

 tops of the tallest trees. The aspect of the Orinoco was 

 nowhere more majestic, than when viewed from the hut 

 of the missionary. Fray Ramon Bueno. It was more 

 than fifteen thousand six hundred feet broad, and it ran 

 without any winding, like a vast canal, straight towards 

 the east. Two long and narrow islands contributed to 

 give extent to the bed of the river. The mission was 

 inhabited by the Ottomacs, a tribe in the rudest state, 

 and presenting one of the most extraordinary physiologi- 

 cal phenomena. They ate earth ; that is, they swallowed 

 every day, during several months, very considerable 

 quantities, to appease hunger, and this practice did not 

 appear to have any injurious effect on their health. 



