BLOCK-HOUSES ON THE EUEAVATO 211 



had been born and the village which he had left so many 

 years before. From his accounts the Erewato must be 

 an exceedingly difficult and dangerous river to navigate. 

 As far as I could understand, this river rises in very 

 mountainous country; yet his people were in the habit, 

 he told me, of crossing over to the Manapiari, one of the 

 tributaries of the Ventuari, for the purpose of trading 

 with the Indians who reside on the banks of that river. 

 This agrees with Humboldt's statement that in going 

 along the River Padamo he noticed a road across the 

 forests and savannahs which he was informed was the 

 length of ten days' journey from Esmeralda to the sources 

 of the Ventuari ; and from those sources, by the Erewato 

 the missions on the Eio Caura were reached. The history 

 of this road is interesting, for on it had been established 

 a chain of military forts consisting of block-houses, called 

 casas fuertes, mounted with swivels and occupied by small 

 bodies of troops. 



The soldiers, left to themselves, exercised all kinds of 

 vexations on the natives {Indians of peace), who had 

 cultivated pieces of ground around the casas fuertes ; and 

 the consequence was that, in 1776, several tribes formed 

 a league against the Spaniards. All the military posts 

 were attacked on the same night, on a line of nearly fifty 

 leagues in length. The houses were burnt and many 

 soldiers massacred ; a very small number only owing 

 their preservation to the pity of the Indian women. 

 This nocturnal expedition is still mentioned with horror. 

 It was concerted in a most profound secrecy, and exe- 

 cuted with that spirit of unity which the natives of 

 America, skilled in concealing their hostile passions, well 

 know how to practise in whatever concerns their common 

 interests. Since 1776 no attempt has been made to 



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