102 A NATURALIST IN THE GUI AN AS 



tion as the soil of these countries is probably granite.. 

 From the great traveller's remarks it will be seen that 

 he succeeded in gathering but little reliable information 

 respecting this important river. He says that the bed of 

 the stream is twice choked up by rocks : these obstruc- 

 tions occasioning the famous Kaudales of Mura and Para 

 or Paru. He makes no mention of the rapids of Piritu 

 between them, nor of those rapids above Para, which are 

 ever so much grander and more dangerous than the 

 famous Eaudales of Mura. 



At eight o'clock we entered the mouth of the river 

 which the illustrious explorer had passed 100 years 

 ago. The night was dark, and, the river being low, the 

 pilot found it difficult to avoid the sandbanks which 

 encumber the bed of the stream, so that it was almost 

 impossible to obtain any sleep. Just as one would be 

 dozing off there would be a shock as if we had struck a 

 rock. The backing of the engines, the hurrying up and 

 down of the crew, joined to the persuasions of the captain 

 in language which, if not choice, was certainly effective, 

 precluded the possibility of sleep for more than a few 

 minutes at a time. Before daybreak we stopped at the 

 landing-place of the small village of San Isidro. One of 

 our fellow-passengers landed at this place. He had told 

 us that he was the agent of Mrs. Crespo, the wife of the 

 late President, who had been killed in an engagement 

 with General Hernandez's troops a couple of years before, 

 and that he was on his way to take charge of the exten- 

 sive cattle-ranch ' La Aurora,' one of the finest properties 

 of the heirs of the General. 



On the banks of the Lower Caura there are extensive 

 undulating llanos, diversified by narrow belts of wood- 

 land, bordering the streams or pools of water. It is a 



