178 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



Facundo good-bye just as the boat was being pushed 

 off, and they were soon carried out of sight aided by the 

 swiftness of the current. It was a last good-bye, for the 

 poor fellow died a few days after, as I learnt when the men 

 returned. Even when he left us I could see that his life 

 was ebbing fast away, and as the little boat which bore 

 him hurried down the stream I felt that his journey lay 

 towards the river of oblivion. 



It was late when we left Cangrejo, Facundo's depar- 

 ture having delayed us. Between this spot and the 

 mouth of the Nichare, the river, although rapid in places, 

 does not present such difficulties as at Mura and Piritu. 

 •Curassows and penelopes were more plentiful than lower 

 down, and several were shot. Longacre killed two water 

 snakes, measuring nearly eleven feet each. These water 

 snakes appear to be common enough on the Caura and 

 its tributaries, and some of them, according to the stories 

 of both Indians and Venezuelans, grow to an enormous 

 size. There is a widespread belief among the inhabitants 

 of Venezuela and Colombia that there are snakes forty feet 

 long and as big as a barrel, and that these huge reptiles 

 can crush and swallow an ox. 



At nine o'clock on the morning of the 27th we reached 

 the mouth of the Nichare. On the right bank of 

 the Caura, opposite to the spot where the Nichare joins 

 it, masses of rock piled up in heaps, with large slabs 

 between, adjoin the shore, which is steep and densely 

 wooded. During the rainy months these rocks are under 

 water, but they were at the time of our visit fully exposed. 

 The boats were soon discharged of their cargo, as it was 

 my intention to leave everything not absolutely required 

 for the Nichare expedition at this spot, to be taken on our 



