106 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



with such a state of things for so long a period. The- 

 ' Apure ' left the port of Maripa in the afternoon, and 

 crossed over to * La Aurora,' where a further detachment 

 of men was picked up. They were cowboys from the 

 late General Crespo's ranch, and they had brought their 

 horses with them. Each man had a band of crape 

 around his hat ; strips of crape were also tied to the 

 shafts of the lances which they carried. They were 

 typical llaneros, sinewy, and brown from continued 

 exposure in the open savannas. I had occasion when 

 they landed on the banks of the Orinoco lower down, tO' 

 observe what excellent horsemen they were. When they 

 rode away there was a look of determination about them^ 

 and I felt that they meant to fight if any fighting came 

 their way. 



While the * Caura ' lay off the port of San Isidro in the 

 early hours of the morning, waiting for the dawn, I could 

 not help conjuring up images of my first eventful visit of 

 September 1897 to May 1898, which had resulted in my 

 spending nearly five months in bed. Once more I was 

 on that almost unknown river, determined to conquer the 

 secrets of the region around its head-waters. 



With the first streak of dawn we cast off from the 

 bank and steamed up towards Puerto Antonio Liccioni. 

 The countrj' on both sides of the river is similar to that 

 around Ciudad-Bolivar, the forest region beginning higher 

 up. Along the banks, however, there is a thin stretch of 

 wood which conceals the open llanos beyond. The large 

 ash-coloured heron {Ardea cocoi) is common enough in 

 these woods, where it spends the greater part of the day 

 sitting on some branch at the edge of the river. It is a 

 wary bird, rarely allowing a boat to get within gunshot.. 

 Its flight is slow and heavy and its cry loud and harsh ; 



